I’ve enjoyed playing video games for about as long as I can remember, but I haven’t always considered myself an actual gamer.

The first console I played on was the Super NES by Nintendo that my family owned when I was little and, next to reading and being outdoors, playing Tetris or Donkey Kong was a great way to pass the time. While we were traveling, my Game Boy Pocket saw so much use that the screen came off and it eventually gave up the ghost. I lost so many hours playing Tetris Attack and The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening.

But it wasn’t until I was a teenager and working that I purchased a console of my own; a GameCube, which would quickly become my absolute favorite console.

I had played on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360 with my brother and some friends, but they were into First Person Shooter type games and I was used mainly as bait, lol. This initial experience with these two ‘powerhouse’ consoles kept me from playing on them for years afterwards… they just weren’t fun for me.

My GameCube, on the other hand, saw me through many adventures; from Skies of Arcadia and Baten Kaitos: The Lost Ocean to The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Super Monkey Ball.