The Imaginarium

From the very start, all the tell-tale signs were there.

I’ve been a gamer and a geek for pretty much as long as I can remember. Whether it was playing Punch ‘n’ Judy on a system so old I can’t even recall its name, or the latest re-visit to The Sphere in Prey, games have always played a large part in my life. Without meaning to get too deep about it, I’ve come to the opinion in the last few years that games (in general) represent the height of artistic endeavour because of the way they can involve players more completely than any other art form. Games don’t just communicate their ideas, they allow players to communicate back, both to the game and with each other. Computer games currently represent the pinnacle of this ethic.

My passion for computer games however didn’t really start until I picked up Street Fighter II for the retro-esque Amiga A500+. No, before you ask, I don’t consider Street Fighter to be a great example of art. In my view its artistic merit is akin to cave paintings in that it is rudimentary and not very appealing, but was ultimately important to a larger movement. No, what was important about Street Fighter II for me was that I never got to play it. Instead, my Dad insisted that it was too violent for a kid like me and I had to take it back. I morosely exchanged it for The Secret Of Monkey Island, a classic adventure game about pirates and pirate-wannabes fighting ghosts and monkeys. If you haven’t played it I suggest you grab a copy from Ebay because there is a reason why its still featuring on Top 10 Games Lists almost 15 years down the line.

Monkey Island absorbed me completely and showed me how games could be. They weren’t meant to be lonely, violent experiences that worried your parents. They were supposed to be stories - stories that you might want to share or laugh and cry at. Its certainly what me and my brother did as we spent the best part of 2 years laughing ourselves through Guybrush Threepwoods hilarious adventures.

Now, more than a decade later and with all the Monkey Island games completed, that laughter still continues and I still play games. My parents taste must have changed however as a few years ago they bought me Postal II as a birthday present. Still, I now no longer just play games but write about them as well. People tell me I’m kind of good at it and its grown into something of an occupation, which nicely fits in with my degree and childhood dreams.

Nowadays, if you know me for anything its either for my journalism or for the time I won a Guybrush Threepwood look-a-like contest.