Five times video games made me emotional

There are few things I am more passionate about than video games. I could probably write a novel about all the times video games made me emotional, but there are a few moments that stick out in my mind.

Uncharted 4 announcement
It was a cold, COLD day in November. November 14, 2013 to be exact. I drove to the Sony outlet in Rehoboth (RIP) with my friend James for the midnight release of the PlayStation 4 right after I got out of a college class.

My husband, Jimmy, was working at the Sony store at the time. People were lined up outside, waiting to buy a shiny, new PlayStation 4 console. Jimmy was inside working, and he would be picking up our console. To celebrate the U.S. launch of the PS4, Sony held an event in New York City. There were two TVs set up in the windows of the Sony store, and on them played coverage of the event. Since it was so cold and lines were long, James and I decided to park close to the store so we could see the screens and just stay in the car. After a while, the screens went black, and a trailer started to play. Since we were in the car and couldn’t hear what was being shown, we had to try to guess what the trailer was for. I remember seeing a map and saying, “No, it can’t be Uncharted 4. That’s too good to be true. It’s probably another Assassin’s Creed.” The trailer continued, the screen went black, and the word “UNCHARTED” popped up on the screen.

There have been only a few moments in my life that have made me that excited. Simultaneously, I SCREAMED and opened and shut my car door about 3 times in rapid succession (James’ poor ears). I then began to cry. It was actually happening - another Uncharted game was being made. I didn’t care about anything else that was happening in the world at that time - I was just so happy that Uncharted 3 wasn’t the end for Nathan Drake & company.

Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection announcement
(I know I’ve been writing about Uncharted a lot lately. Sorry, not sorry.)

From the time that I got a PS4, I wished I could replay Uncharted 1-3 with updated graphics and brand new trophy sets. It’s my favorite game series, after all, and replaying those games on my new console was something I always dreamed about. One day, while sitting in my office at work, I got a Google Alert for Uncharted (yeah, I get Google Alerts for Uncharted). I read about something called the Nathan Drake Collection for the PS4. Once it sank in and I realized what it was, I let out a HUGE gasp from my cubicle; it slipped out and I couldn’t even begin to contain my excitement. My co-workers were concerned when they heard the gasp; they thought something was wrong. It took me a good five minutes to come back down and calmly explain why I was so happy. Since none of them are gamers, they didn’t really understand why I was smiling from ear-to-ear and crying tears of joy, but they were happy for me. There have been a few incidents since then where I have geeked out at work, and I think they are starting to understand just how important video games are to me.

P.T. reveal
I remember when P.T. was teased at Gamescom in 2014. I have a love/hate relationship with horror games, and I was eager to try the demo. It was a new IP by “7780s Studio,” and everyone was really intrigued by the Gamescom teaser. The game was available for download right after it was shown at Gamescom, so Jimmy and I downloaded it immediately. Neither of us completed it right away because it was almost too scary to play.

To this day, I have yet to play or see anything that scary in my life. We found out via the game news outlets that “P.T.” was nothing more than a teaser for the new game in the Silent Hill franchise, Silent Hills. It would star The Walking Dead’s Norman Reedus, and would be directed by the legendary Hideo Kojima and Guillermo del Toro. I was absolutely in love with the way the game was revealed and marketed. Everyone went into it having absolutely no clue what it was or who it was made by, and found it to be one of the scariest gaming experiences ever created. Unfortunately, the game was cancelled and will likely never see the light of day. (Thanks a lot, Konami.) I will always remember Lisa and how she nearly made me pee my pants. P.T. scared me so bad that I cried, and, oddly enough, I will always remember it fondly.

Meeting the giraffes in The Last of Us

The Last of Us is right up there with the Uncharted series on my list of favorite games, and it had a huge impact on me. I lost so much sleep when that game came out. I couldn’t stop playing it; its gameplay was so addictive, and I became immediately invested in the characters.

There is one part in that game that sticks out in my mind and in the minds of many others players: When Joel and Ellie find the giraffe herd in Salt Lake City. The giraffe has always been one of my favorite animals, and I loved that they were a recurring motif throughout the game.

The first time I played through the game, I stood there staring at those giraffes for longer than I can remember. It was a beautiful moment, and it reminded me that there is still beauty in every situation, no matter how hopeless things seem.

Completing Life is Strange
Life is Strange is a game that had a profound impact on me, and I definitely wasn’t expecting it to. I started the game knowing it was an episodic adventure where your decisions matter, and that it was somewhat similar to Heavy Rain and games by Telltale, but I didn’t know that it was going to make me think about the future and my personal goals in life. Upon completing episode 5, the final episode of the season, I smiled, knowing I made the right decision in the end.

I was livestreaming the game when I completed it, and I mumbled, “This is why I need to be involved in the games industry.”

It’s something I kind of blurted out at the time, but have since thought about often. Games like Life is Strange inspire me to make my own game someday. I want to give back; video games such as Life is Strange have done so much for me, and I want to create something that helps people and changes lives in that same way.

I have no idea where to begin, but for now I will continue to write my ideas in my journal, in hopes that, one day, I will have a hand in making my own video game.

Don’t ever be afraid of wearing your geekiness on your sleeve. If something makes you emotional and has a positive impact on your life, don’t ever feel like you have to hold that in or hide that from anyone. I’ll leave you with a quote from Simon Pegg:

“Being a geek is all about being honest about what you enjoy and not being afraid to demonstrate that affection. It means never having to play it cool about how much you like something.

It’s basically a license to proudly emote on a somewhat childish level rather than behave like a supposed adult. Being a geek is extremely liberating.”

What games are you passionate about? What makes you so happy that you cry? Let’s talk on Twitter: @gottosaurus.