My favorite video game console

It’s early spring 2009. I’m at my friend Jimmy’s house for the first time. He shows me his PlayStation 3, a console I had never seen in person. At that time, I was still playing my Nintendo Wii and my other Nintendo consoles, and I wanted something more. He launches Flower, a game by thatgamecompany. I had never seen anything like it. I was intrigued and wanted to see more. I was impressed when I saw the console itself - it just looked classy.

Later that spring, Jimmy became my boyfriend. He introduced me to all kinds of games I had never played, including Battlefield: Bad Company and Unreal Tournament 3. It wasn’t until I saw a trailer for Heavy Rain that I knew I needed my own PS3. Heavy Rain came out before I got my own PS3, but I bought a copy of it anyway. I just knew I was going to like it. I played a bit of it on Jimmy’s console, and then waited until my birthday the next month when I got my own console. I will never forget the first time I played Heavy Rain on my shiny, new PlayStation 3.

I lost track of time and played for hours straight, completely engrossed in the story. I had never had a gaming experience like that before. That’s when I knew that I had opened a door to a whole new world of gaming. This is going to sound silly, but my life changed when I got my own PS3.

This is pretty embarrassing to admit, but I was bad at video games when I got my PS3. Heavy Rain was easy enough, but I really started to challenge myself when I played games like Mafia II and Unreal Tournament 3.

I had never been a big fan of shooters, and as passionate as I was about games, I must admit that I was a very casual gamer before I got a PS3. Growing up, I played a whole lot of Mario games, Donkey Kong, Crazy Taxi, some sports and racing games...but I had never played a shooter or a story driven action-adventure game. When I first downloaded the Uncharted 2 demo, I couldn’t beat it. I couldn’t beat the Uncharted 2 demo. It’s hilarious to say that now, considering I platinumed the first three Uncharted games, which requires beating them on “Crushing” difficulty. I am so grateful that my boyfriend, who is now my husband, introduced me to so many games that were outside my comfort zone. He showed me the Yakuza series, and you all know how much I adore that.

As much as I love my very first console, the NES Top-Loader, the PlayStation 3 is, hands-down, my favorite video game console of all time. Because of the PS3, I began playing games that changed my life. I have had so many wonderful experiences surrounding games that I played on the PS3, and I can honestly say that I can’t imagine my life without having played the games on that console. From Uncharted and The Last of Us to LittleBigPlanet and Journey, I feel so lucky to have experienced these games that have impacted my life in such a real way.