Gaming has always been one of the hugest parts of my life.
When I was just a kid, around three years old (not sure if I was already in preschool yet), my mom bought me a Sega and a Super Nintendo. Whenever I was home or during the weekends at my cousin's house, we loved playing video games. When I was younger and Sega and Nintendo were our main focuses, I loved playing Sonic The Hedgehog, The Punisher, Zombies Ate My Neighbors (this one was my cousin's), Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures (this was hers as well), Comix Zone, Battletoads in Battlemaniacs, Super Buster Bros and more.
My mom then got me a Gameboy Color, Playstation 1, and Playstation 2. Over time, gaming started becoming my escape. Whenever I'd be having a hard time, especially at school, I always knew that at the end of the day, I'd be able to go home to my consoles, Gameboy, and whatever PC games I played from time to time. Whenever I wasn't at school or at dance rehearsal or cheerleading practice, everyone knew what I was spending my time doing.
Playstation 2 was definitely the console that I played the most, because it was backwards compatible, and I could play my favorite PS1 games on it as well. I believe I have a little over 50 games for Playstation. My top favorites were The Sims (Sims 1, Sims 2, The Sims: Bustin' Out, Urbz: Sims in The City, etc.), Grand Theft Auto (III, Vice City, & San Andreas), and The WWE: Smackdown v. Raw series. I had tons of other games that I loved as well. Fighting Force, Metropolismania, Def Jam: Fight For NY, Bratz (Rock Angels and Forever Diamonds), the Tekken series, the Twisted Metal series, Simpsons: Road Rage, Crazy Taxi, Backyard Wrestling: Don't Try This At Home....I could go on and on.
My mom then bought me a Wii for my birthday.
Up until 2012, these were the only consoles I had. Everyone else had moved on to PS3 and Xbox 360. Then, my first boyfriend ever bought me an Xbox 360 for Christmas, which I thought was wild because we had only been together for like two months and it was the first gift he'd gotten me. The first gift I had gotten from anyone outside of friends and family. I wasn't complaining though.
I've been playing Xbox ever since. I had wanted an Xbox that Christmas opposed to a Playstation, because I had done my research and I saw that Playstation would always get hacked. And now, as you all know, I have an Xbox One and I plan on getting the Xbox Series X AKA The Scarlett (because I think that name is cooler and they should've stuck with that) whenever that releases!
Nonetheless, my point in saying all of this is -- I grew up playing video games. Video games have always been a huge part of my life. Whenever friends would be over, we would play video games. After school, I'd be playing video games. Going over to family's or to a cookout? Okay, I'm bringing my PS2 with me. Going over to a friend's for a sleepover? My Playstation is sleeping over too, sis.
Believe it or not, it wasn't until I was in like high school that I realized it was a "big deal" if a girl played video games. Growing up, I had never known that. I thought everybody played video games. I didn't know it was a foreign concept for girls to play video games??? Huh?
Now, even to this day, as an adult.....guys still freak out when they find out I play video games. Whereas for me, video games have literally always been a part of my everyday life since I was two or three years old. 😂 And even when guys find out I play video games, they always seem to have some preconceived idea about the types of games that I play. "Oh, you play games? I guess you play Sims." and if it's not the Sims, it's always World of Warcraft or something, which for the record, I don't play. Sims, I've been playing for seventeen years, because I think you're kind of crazy if you're a creative and you don't play Sims. Like who in 2020 doesn't play the Sims??? 😂
Call of Duty is another one that people are either super surprised I play OR if I say I play it, they assume it's all I play. There was this chick who knew I would always talk about how I love COD, but she felt the need to say something along the lines of, "If Call of Duty is all you play, you're not a rEaL gAmEr". For the record, I think if you play any game on a regular basis, you qualify as a gamer in my eyes. Doesn't matter what you play on or what you play. However, yes, I love Call of Duty. I buy it every single year. But as someone who has hundreds of video games...I couldn't help but laugh when she said that about me, because in the back of my mind, I knew for a fact I was not only a more experienced gamer than her, but had more video games than she probably ever will! I'm not one of those people that streams on Twitch and pretends to like video games for views and money, so I'm not sure where she had gotten that assumption from, but I still laugh at it 'til this day. Haters gonna hate. 🤷🏾♀️
I remember during an interview for a job, I told the manager that I have a YouTube channel (it was a guy), and he said, "Oh you have a makeup channel?" I was baffled. No, I don't have a makeup channel and would literally never make one. 😐 I actually do a lot of gaming on my channel. I remember how dumbfounded he looked when I told him that. I saw the, "but you're a girl" in his eyes.
I've also noticed that if people think you're "pretty", you automatically can't play video games, because girls that truly play video games are supposed to be ugly bums that don't shower. How stupid is that?
Point being: yes, I'm a girl, and yes, gaming is my life! I love it. I'd do it every single day if I could, and I would be perfectly fine with it. I just think the assumptions that people have when it comes to women in the gaming community are so interesting to hear...the way guys freak out when they see a girl in a gaming lobby...the way people assume that if you're a girl and you have a YouTube channel, it can't possibly be about gaming...the way people assume that if you're a girl and you play Call of Duty, that must be all you play...the way people think that if you're even remotely pretty, you can't play video games because girls that play video games can't be hot, they're supposed to be a bum/"oNe oF tHe gUyS"...the way people assume that if you're a girl that claims to like games, the Sims must be the only game you're possibly interested in, because after all, you have tits and if you have those, the Sims is the only game you're gonna like. I mean, holy mother of pearl, the assumptions are out of this WOOOORLD.
I do see the idea of girls in gaming becoming more of the "norm" thanks to more lady gamers showcasing themselves on Twitch and YouTube, but the ignorance is definitely still there for a lot of people.
Anyways, thank you guys for reading. 😂 I would love to do a post in the future about my PS2 gaming collection because that holds a special place in my heart, for sure. ALSO, all of the consoles and what not that I mentioned above, I STILL have along with all of the games for all of them! I love going back and playing classics from time to time. People always ask me if I'm willing to sell any of my games to them. I think tf not.
If you're a girl, do you ever experience any of these assumptions from guys in the gaming community (AND girls)? If so, let me know down in the comments below! Don't forget to subscribe as well. ♡
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xo babes, Variety Princess
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