Growing Up Gamer Girl

I can remember the first time I told a group of girls I liked to play video games. I had this berry pink Gameboy Color that I LOVED, and I was showing my friends the latest game I was playing. Now, granted, I was maybe seven years old at the time, and the game cartridge currently in that system was something like "Barbie Dress-Up" or whatever else I was into that wasn't classic Super Mario Bros.

I distinctly recall one girl asking me: "Why don't you call it a Game Girl?"

"What?"

"You know, since you're a girl? You're playing a Gameboy, but you're not a boy."

Well, needless to say, I did not call it a Game Girl. It was still my berry pink Gameboy, and I kept on playing Pokémon along with whatever interests I had as a little girl in the 90's.

Now, I'm 28 years old - and, unintentionally, have pink hair that's NEARLY as rosy as that old gameboy I had - and I have a different relationship with gaming now...mainly because I'm an adult with the responsibilities therein. But I still pick up controllers to unwind, and I've had possibly even more fun now that more of my friends pick up their controllers and mic headsets to play, too.

So, how has gaming helped shape my passions as an adult? I know that's a big ask out of a bunch of pixels cobbled together, but hear me out.

Games and narrative media have shaped the way I tell stories.

I'm an author. I have some short stories and a novella self-published on Amazon (with a novel forthcoming next year). Writing Young Adult Sci-Fi and Fantasy is a huge passion of mine, and I love creating characters and new worlds for the folks I create to play in.

Video games are not far off-base from that. In fact, character creators are usually my favorite part of gaming in general, even to the point where I've bought games solely because their create-a-character screens looked cool (I'm looking at you, Monster Hunter World). I put so much depth into those characters with a few swipes of a joystick and a few clicks on some bright colors that it brings a level of enjoyment I wouldn't otherwise have.

Not only are the characters important, but so are the plots. I've learned so much about exposition through video games (because draggy cutscenes are the worst), as well as how interactions from the audience can either make or break the game experience.

In my own writing, even if I can't exactly have the same reader interaction, my goal is to immerse those who encounter my work in a similar fashion.

Video games helped me bond with friends over long and short distances

I honestly haven't laughed so hard as when I played multiplayer games online. And now, in this climate we're in, it's helped me reconnect with some of my oldest and dearest friends.

Today's technology has provided countless venues that we can use to reach out to others. In a time that requires being home more than not, those venues have become more crucial than ever. Being able to "visit" friends online has helped me in this pandemic, and I'm sure it's helped others in the same way.

Being able to do something onscreen like whack a bunch of enemies, visit faraway islands, or race digital cars while catching up is just another way I can make new memories, even when I can't do so in person.

Last, but not least, gaming has become a hobby I can enjoy as an adult...one that carries endless nostalgia.

I can remember playing Mario Party with my uncle as a kid. I can remember my parents telling stories of how the classic Nintendo system - and, far before that, Atari's PONG - entered family homes. I can remember playing Paper Mario and Super Mario Sunshine and the first Animal Crossing and being completely engrossed in all the worlds therein, then sharing those worlds with others.

Gaming has improved vastly over the years; that much is true (just look at graphics on today's system in comparison to the countable pixels of yesteryear). But what remains the same is the memories I cherish and associate with gaming.

I wish I could go back and hug that little girl who was asked why she didn't call that beloved pink machine a Game Girl. There was never ill intent in those words, but I wish so badly that those childhood hobbies were celebrated more, not just relegated t0 "boy stuff."

Two things are true: gaming is for everybody - this Game[r] Girl included - and I'll be sharing this joy for years to come.