MEMBER BLOG

The year 2011 is turning out to be dedicated to making gamers everywhere feel old.

My favorite game in the world is The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Nintendo just released a remake of the game yesterday as of writing. Reading some of Nintendo's Iwata Asks segments on the game, I've come to realize, that I feel really old. I'm only 22. I was a 90's kid. And I feel old because of this game.

Let's think about it. Ocarina of Time, lovingly referred to back in its day (feeling older) as Zelda 64, came out thirteen years ago. Think about that. Thirteen whole years. This game's history has seen two generational transitions of consoles, and various generations of handheld gaming. Everyone reading who played this game when it came out... do you feel old? Older than you actually are?

It's hard to believe my favorite game ever has been around that long. And Zelda isn't the only game to make me feel old.

The Halo franchise is ten years old this year. Halo, the game that saved the Xbox, that set the standards for dual-analog FPS and armored teabagging. It's been around a decade now. That game is getting a facelift, too.

Alice: Madness Returns, is the first sequel to American McGee's Alice, one of my favorite PC games. And its been eleven years since the original game captured the minds of gamers, Caroll fans, and Hot Topic 'Goths' everywhere.

Of course, Duke Nukem Forever has finally come out after fourteen years. But its out now. I remember when it was announced. I didn't really care at the time, I was into other games. But still, I remember. And now after fourteen years of "when its done" and endless jokes on the irony of the game's title, it's finally out. It may suck, but its here.

Pokémon came out in 1996. 1998 if you're only counting the US debut. Five 'generations' of the game later, the franchise is fifteen years old now. That's four or five years older than the series' own protagonists. Fifteen years later, and I was there for all of it. I was there for the initial surge of the game's popularity, exploding more with the anime, getting out of control with kids everywhere, myself among them, scrambling for merchandise, trading cards, the movie... dying down during junior high and most of high school, and then rising in popularity again at the end of high school, going on to college.

I've been browsing Game Revolution since I was ten years old. Twelve years, I've been a Game Revolutionary. I remember the old homepage fondly, even though I'd skip everything on it and go straight to the cheats section, where I'd find my own personal Holy Bible, also known as Marshmallow's walkthrough of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

The walkthrough for a thirteen year old game.

So... does anyone else feel old?