Why I Love (and miss) the Gamer in Me

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I've been a gamer ever since I was a very young kid. I remember, my game addiction kicked in when I was about 7 to 8 years old when I would play for hours on our Family Computer. I had my favorites - Super Mario, Contra (I can still remember the hundred lives combo to a tee), and Sparta.

My parents didn't bother to stop me from playing because I never gave them a reason to. I was an honor student, so they can't say that gaming has affected my grades. I wish I can say the same thing about my eyesight though. Nonetheless, they let me be. And I can say that gaming has played a big role in improving my mental skills over the years.

Studies have shown that gaming can improve your memory, focus, and multi-tasking abilities. No matter what game genre is your preference (role-playing, strategy, action-adventure, or action), even Foxy Bingo, or other online card games, they can help promote better brain activity.

I may be a natural problem solver, a logical and analytical human being, but I believe that gaming has helped sharpen my mind, my quick-thinking abilities. When I outgrew playing on our Family Computer, I moved on to other video games and then to PC games when we first got our 386 computer. Yes, that jurassic computer where you can only run MS-DOS programs. I distinctly remember the Smithsonian Institute game we had installed on there, which I can't seem to find anywhere now.

As soon as I got a better rig, I went for more complicated games. I got so hooked to Diablo at one time that I actually skipped classes for 2 straight days just so I can finish playing it (don't judge! It was a good game, and I wasn't using any cheats!). Then, my male friends convinced me to play this network shooter game, Counterstrike.

When I first played online games, I was a little hesitant. Maybe because it was on Oz World, a social online game. It was a no-brainer since all you need to do is flirt and socialize (LOL). But, when the game publisher here released Ragnarok Online ( I got to try playing on the international servers of the game), it was the beginning of a new era of my addiction. I've played a ton more online games after that, including World of Warcraft, Heroes of Newerth, and Crossfire, web-based games like Pet Society (too cute to pass up), and similar ones like on Bingoport, and PC games such as Plants vs Zombies.

The past 6 years though, my gamer self took a backseat when I started focusing on blogging, most importantly when I realized I need to seriously maintain our food blog and 2 others that were getting a following. I'm not sad about it since writing and sharing my experiences are two of my deepest passions in life. However, I feel like I'm losing my ability to focus on anything. I get easily distracted and, recently, I forget what I'm about to say even just a few seconds after I thought of it. Sadly, I can't go back to gaming now because of all my responsibilities, but I cannot wait to play Diablo 3. Maybe that'll be my comeback. Will you be playing?

How about you? What games do you enjoy?