Only video games

Only video games.

Only video games can make me feel this way.

Let me explain:

Earlier this week, I chatted with a co-worker about games. He told me that he had just recently started playing Uncharted 4, and that I was right about it; he absolutely loves it. We talked about the characters and their development throughout the game, the lush environments, the music ... and I started tearing up, and even got chills. Just from TALKING about Uncharted 4.

A couple hours later, I reflected on our conversation. I thought about how amazing it is that I can simply think about a game and become overwhelmed with emotion. I am a very emotional person in pretty much every aspect of my life, but video games really bring out my emotions like nothing else. Video games have a unique way of getting us emotionally invested in a really intense, special way.

Remember when I told you guys about the time I jumped up out of my chair, screamed, and ran around the office on the day Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection was announced? I think about that moment (and many other similar experiences I've had) when I think of what it means to be a "geek." Simon Pegg described it best when he said that being a geek means "never having to play it cool about how much you like something." I certainly don’t know how to play it cool when I’m excited about something I love, and I don’t want to. Freaking out over games, treating E3 like the Superbowl ... those things are part of what makes me, me.

As much as I love a game with a good story, a game doesn't necessarily have to have a plot for it to have a huge impact on me. I think back to some of the games I played growing up: Super Mario Bros. (1 & 3), Donkey Kong Country (1 & 2), Mario Party, Battletoads, etc.; I have fond memories of playing those games as a child. I played those games because they were fun, and because they made me happy. To this day, I get chills when I hear the music from the Donkey Kong Country series (particularly DKC 2).

Sometimes it’s not about the plot, or the graphics, but about the unique experience that you have playing a game for the first time. It is truly remarkable.

Being a gamer is something I am proud of, and I feel lucky to be a part of something that means so much to me and so many others. Not everyone is exposed to video games, and they don’t even know what they’re missing. We should feel privileged to have access to games, and to be a part of this subculture.

How do games make you feel? Have you ever cried over a game? Talk to me on Twitter: @gottosaurus.