When I was a little girl my parents used to go down to Atlantic City and gamble. I recall sneaking into the casino (us Jersey kids have a streak like that) and playing the slot machines and getting thrown out for being underage. There were about 10 of us, we called ourselves “The Casino Kids.” After some time had passed, the hotel decided to open up an arcade, this was in the late 1970’s and the very spot I fell in love with gaming. I remember walking in and seeing all of my favorite games like Ms. Pacman, Centipied, Qbert, Galaxia, Galaga, Pole Position . . . and I was hooked!

Everybody had Atari at the time, but my parents decided to buy me Intellivision, my first console. There were some pretty good games but I still had the urge to play Atari with my friends, it wasn’t fair, they all had it! Finally Pitfall Harry came out on Intellivision and I spent literally hours a day playing that game til the image was burned into my TV screen, those damn alligators.

Then for a while I stopped playing, I got into music, reading, schoolwork, and of course boys, and out the window went the games for a bit. Occasionally I would go to the arcade and drop a few coins (alot of coins) but it was few and far in between. The I met this guy named Jason in the year 2000 at work. We became friends and he used to come over with his Playstation and we would play for hours at a clip. Well then the next thing I know he moves in, and guess what he brought with him, the Playstation! My downfall back into the wonderful world of gaming had begun once again. . .

I got hooked! I played everything from Parasite Eve to Silent Hill to Spyro the Dragon (you know the cute little purple dragon that’s still my favorite fire breathing platformer). Not to mention the day when Namco came out with their retro titles like Namco Museum, it was like being back in the good ol days of childhood. I played Ms. Pacman so much I broke at least 4 controllers! (and that’s not an exaggeration)

All of the sudden word on the street is that the next big thing is coming to videogames… Playstation 2 is released. I was all prepared to go snatch me up one of those bad boys when I hear my boyfriend warning me daily DO NOT buy a Playstation, wait for the Xbox. What the hell is an Xbox I thought, I’ve never heard of such a creature. Of course, knowing my boyfriend the computer nerd that he is (of course he prefers the term technical wizard), I said to myself…. “Self, you might as well wait, knowing him he’s right and I hate to be proven wrong“!

Come Christmas morning I open up my gifts and there it is, a big black box with the green jewel on it and two HUGE controllers, WTF is with those controllers? I had two games to start me off, Fuzion Frenzy and Oddworld: Munch’s Oddysee. I bought two more controllers, invited some friends over and played Fuzion Frenzy for a while, the Sumo game was fun but it got old quick. Then I opened up Munch’s Oddysee, and that’s were my love affair with the Xbox started. That game blew me away, it was fun, annoying, cute, and it made me laugh my ass off. I bought more games, rented more games, borrowed more games, I am an Xbox junkie.

Jason and I were so into the Xbox that we wanted to make a community of people that thought alike, had a love of gaming, and understood that gaming, while fun, has more meaning than just pressing buttons. As a female gamer I didn’t feel comfortable going to alot of sites, they didn’t take me seriously and minimized my thoughts and posts. So Jason being the web guru he is created Xbox Solution along with my support so people have a place to respect and value everyone’s opinions and thoughts, no matter what age, sex or creed they may be. It’s not easy being a female gamer, you walk in to pick up a game and they say “oh, your boyfriend like first person shooters huh“… no dumbass, I do!

Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, Microsoft went ahead and added Xbox Live into the mix. Luckily I was able to be a beta tester and recall playing the first games where you could compete head to head with gamers around the world, Revolt. It was such a cheesy game but you could tell the service had potential, and it has begun to live up to and exceed my expectations. It’s incredible talking to people after a year and a half to be able to speak to them on Live. Finally talking to the Green Haired Mohawk Freak, you may know him as Gronar, was really cool. It blows my mind that I can be racing on PGR 2 at 180 miles per hour while talking to Zrion in England, the times of gaming have evolved.

It’s not just about games anymore, it’s about building relationships, it’s about knowing your friends, on live and in the games. I love the fact that I can talk to people on the forums and know them almost as if I really knew them face to face. I know Jim has dogs like I do, I know Nadia was newly promoted and is doing well, I know Alpha waits til the last minute to do his reports for school, I know Amutt doesn’t talk much, I know I’d like to take a dip in Rockk’s pool, I know Gameman is funny as hell and has wonderful grandchildren, and they all know I just changed my job, I also know we all get hungry at 1:00 am and the gaming stops for 20 minutes or so to take a snack break. It’s a bit more than knowing they can frag me.

When I look back at it, it still amazes me. Some people say games are childish, I think not. People use many vices to get through the tough times of life… drugs, alcohol, criminal activities, what do I do, I read a book or pick up a game. It helps me relax, it helps me cope, and I like to think that I too help others in the process, and it’s something me and Jason enjoy that helps bring us even closer together.

If there are any female gamers that feel the same way I do, feel free to post here at Xbox Solution, the members don’t bite here! I’m 32 years old female, I live in New Jersey, I have a very successful career, and I love to get my game on with my friends around the world!!!

If you’d like to contact me feel free to add me to your friends list, my gamertag is Christina, or send me an email, or just look me up in the forums!

Filed under: Editorials

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