In response to a question “When did you become a gamer?” On a form called SelectStart.
I don’t think I became a committed gamer until one day I tried to load Jak and Daxter into my PlayStation and was met with such disappointment that my Blockbuster rental for the week was ruined because I had the older system. I remember telling my dad about what was happening—after my older brother explained why the game wasn’t working and crying. Lo and behold my dad popped around with a shiny new PS2. I loaded that game so fast and watched the opening scene about 10 times. I remember my dad asking why I kept starting the game over from the beginning, I had learned from my brother that I needed a memory card to save my progress but was perfectly fine replaying the game over and over from the beginning. I would probably never get anywhere near the end, but I was getting faster, and better at the game. Once again my dad popped up with a little yellow memory card. At some point I finally became the proud owner of Jak and Daxter and eventually beat the game. I was there for the release of the second one and finally the third. I loved the universe, I loved the characters, I loved the legend and how the series ended, I even learned the weird language from the guidebook. I still have the little yellow memory card and Jak and Daxter to this day is still one of my all time favorite video games.
—Considering how much my dad drank. He was a pretty good dad when it mattered.
