My Gaming Past
I’ve been playing the King of Fighters ( http://www.kof10th.com/ ) games for damn long, since the very 1st game that was released in 1994. The latest KOF was released in 2005… Wow this series has been there for more than 10 years.
As I’ve been playing it for so long, I m more or less rather decent with using most of the characters. Well, not exactly pro, but decent enough to not get thrashed by scrubs.
I remember that when I was really young (Sec 1 or 2), I would go to a nearby neighborhood arcade and watch people play the early KOF games. And when there weren’t many people around, I’d throw in a token and try a game of my own. As arcade gaming was relatively new to me then, I sucked like hell and got thrashed by the 1st AI team… How embarrassing.
After playing for a few months, I started getting better and could actually make my way to the 3rd AI team. I managed to learn how to execute a few special moves or so, and I was quite pleased with my progress (hahaha what an egomaniac I m).
However, things took a turn for the worse… One fine day, this youngster (probably around 18 years old, which was a few years older than I was) appeared at the arcade I frequented. Ever since, whenever I visited the arcade, be it day or night, that guy would always be there! It’s as if he didn’t need to eat or sleep, or being the arcade’s security-guard was his occupation!
Initially, everything was pretty normal, and I continued to struggle fighting the cheapo AI opponents. That youngster pretty much left me alone.
Then one day, he suddenly approached the machine I was playing at, threw in a token, and then challenged me! I was super shocked then, being the noob and everything. Needless to say, he defeated me super easily. I was damn demoralized then, and I went off to try playing on another machine. Well, tough luck, I thought then.
Things got worse. Ever since then, whenever I stepped into the arcade and put in a token to play against the AI opponents, that youngster would appear out of nowhere and proceed to defeat me very very easily. To make matters worse, if I were to play another machine, he would abandon his game and come challenge me again! It was like, his whole aim was to bully me for fun, and not to actually play the game properly.
I was really really upset then, and finally gave up and stopped going to that arcade. Maybe I really wasn’t fated to play KOF, I thought. However, one fateful day, my elder brother bought a Sega Saturn gaming console…. And KOF was one of the games that were being ported over to the Saturn! I was overjoyed and spent good money to buy arcade gaming joysticks for the Saturn, so that I could play KOF the way it’s meant to be played. The joy of finally being able to play KOF, without some damned youngster harassing me!
A year or so passed, and due to my daily “training” at the game, I got a lot better (the opposite could be said about my academic grades in school haha…) and could actually defeat a few of my brother’s friends who I never thought I could win.
Then one day, while I was outside looking for something to buy, I passed by the arcade. THE arcade. I stepped in, and sat down in front of a KOF machine. How time has changed so many things. The feeling was damn different this time. I put in a token into the machine, and…. The youngster appeared (out of thin air)! Sometimes, I wonder if that guy was an immortal or what. He didn’t change in looks at all… And he still wore the same old clothes.
He stood there and looked at me for a while. It was like “There you are, kiddo! Where were you for the last many months?”. I must admit, despite the fact that I was a lot better in the game already, I still felt kind of nervous, due to all the thrashings he gave me a year before.
The youngster sat beside me, and put a token into the machine. He was challenging me again! He picked his fighters, and I picked mine. The next few minutes were a total joke. For those who don’t know, KOF is a 3 VS 3 team game. I used only 1 of my fighters and defeated all 3 fighters from his team. In my mind, I was like “Wow, so easy? How the hell did I lose to you long ago?”.
That youngster looked damn shocked, but he kept silent and left the arcade. I’ve never seen him since.
This whole experience left a lasting impression in my mind till this very day... which is why I will never challenge a player at the arcade when he is obviously a beginner, because I wouldn’t want to become a bully like that youngster. Besides, what fun is there bullying a person who obviously can’t fight back? Only people with serious testicular (or mammary) problems, such as that youngster of my past, would find joy in that.
As I’ve been playing it for so long, I m more or less rather decent with using most of the characters. Well, not exactly pro, but decent enough to not get thrashed by scrubs.
I remember that when I was really young (Sec 1 or 2), I would go to a nearby neighborhood arcade and watch people play the early KOF games. And when there weren’t many people around, I’d throw in a token and try a game of my own. As arcade gaming was relatively new to me then, I sucked like hell and got thrashed by the 1st AI team… How embarrassing.
After playing for a few months, I started getting better and could actually make my way to the 3rd AI team. I managed to learn how to execute a few special moves or so, and I was quite pleased with my progress (hahaha what an egomaniac I m).
However, things took a turn for the worse… One fine day, this youngster (probably around 18 years old, which was a few years older than I was) appeared at the arcade I frequented. Ever since, whenever I visited the arcade, be it day or night, that guy would always be there! It’s as if he didn’t need to eat or sleep, or being the arcade’s security-guard was his occupation!
Initially, everything was pretty normal, and I continued to struggle fighting the cheapo AI opponents. That youngster pretty much left me alone.
Then one day, he suddenly approached the machine I was playing at, threw in a token, and then challenged me! I was super shocked then, being the noob and everything. Needless to say, he defeated me super easily. I was damn demoralized then, and I went off to try playing on another machine. Well, tough luck, I thought then.
Things got worse. Ever since then, whenever I stepped into the arcade and put in a token to play against the AI opponents, that youngster would appear out of nowhere and proceed to defeat me very very easily. To make matters worse, if I were to play another machine, he would abandon his game and come challenge me again! It was like, his whole aim was to bully me for fun, and not to actually play the game properly.
I was really really upset then, and finally gave up and stopped going to that arcade. Maybe I really wasn’t fated to play KOF, I thought. However, one fateful day, my elder brother bought a Sega Saturn gaming console…. And KOF was one of the games that were being ported over to the Saturn! I was overjoyed and spent good money to buy arcade gaming joysticks for the Saturn, so that I could play KOF the way it’s meant to be played. The joy of finally being able to play KOF, without some damned youngster harassing me!
A year or so passed, and due to my daily “training” at the game, I got a lot better (the opposite could be said about my academic grades in school haha…) and could actually defeat a few of my brother’s friends who I never thought I could win.
Then one day, while I was outside looking for something to buy, I passed by the arcade. THE arcade. I stepped in, and sat down in front of a KOF machine. How time has changed so many things. The feeling was damn different this time. I put in a token into the machine, and…. The youngster appeared (out of thin air)! Sometimes, I wonder if that guy was an immortal or what. He didn’t change in looks at all… And he still wore the same old clothes.
He stood there and looked at me for a while. It was like “There you are, kiddo! Where were you for the last many months?”. I must admit, despite the fact that I was a lot better in the game already, I still felt kind of nervous, due to all the thrashings he gave me a year before.
The youngster sat beside me, and put a token into the machine. He was challenging me again! He picked his fighters, and I picked mine. The next few minutes were a total joke. For those who don’t know, KOF is a 3 VS 3 team game. I used only 1 of my fighters and defeated all 3 fighters from his team. In my mind, I was like “Wow, so easy? How the hell did I lose to you long ago?”.
That youngster looked damn shocked, but he kept silent and left the arcade. I’ve never seen him since.
This whole experience left a lasting impression in my mind till this very day... which is why I will never challenge a player at the arcade when he is obviously a beginner, because I wouldn’t want to become a bully like that youngster. Besides, what fun is there bullying a person who obviously can’t fight back? Only people with serious testicular (or mammary) problems, such as that youngster of my past, would find joy in that.
posted by cc at 4:25 AM
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