matt – Page 2 – Matt Wrench

I have killed countless innocents including women and children. My decisions have sown genocide across worlds. I have shot my allies in the backs of their heads. Worst of all, my atrocities amused me.

Fortunately, however, every one of those sins occurred digitally. After all, playing violent video games is fun. Hitting pedestrians with my car in Grand Theft Auto V frequently makes me crack a smile. What worries me more is when video games bore me.

Gaming has been a passion of mine since I first picked up the controller. In middle school, my afternoons were spent playing Super Smash Bros. Melee. Rather than talk to girls, my high school years were dedicated to Halo 2. The majority of my free time this past weekend was used to play Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. Yet despite this longstanding fascination, I find myself frequently bored with video games since I reached adulthood. Oftentimes, I will pick up the controller, play for less than half an hour, and then step away. The reasons for this are numerous:

And I heard your voice as clear as day. And you told me I should concentrate. It was all so strange and so surreal that a ghost should be so practical.

— Florence + The Machine, “Only If For A Night”

My sixth birthday was the best one of my life. I woke up and darted downstairs. A pile of gifts sat in the living room, but my attention was immediately drawn to the largest one. My mom was in the kitchen making breakfast, and I asked her if I could open my presents. She relented. My fingers tore into the blue wrapping paper, but I already suspected what they would find. Inside was a Nintendo 64, my first video game console. Soon after, I found a copy of Super Mario 64.

My dad connected the console to the TV. The rest of my morning was spent throwing King Bob-omb off the mountaintop and racing Koopa the Quick. I had played video games at friends’ houses before, but this was the first experience that was truly my own. The controller felt strange in my hands, but soon that foreign feeling would disappear, never to return.

Soon enough though, I had to set the game aside. My parents were taking me to Celebration Station. We spent the afternoon racing go-karts, eating pizza, and playing mini-golf. No day could have been better, but I was not disappointed when we reached the end. Super Mario 64 was waiting.

Author: matt (page 2 of 2)

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