This topic is going to date a lot of us, but I’m curious what everyone’s first gaming system was! What was your experience with it? Any fond memories to share?

My first system was the original NES, and I had all the classics: Super Mario Bros, Duck Hunt, Legend of Zelda (with the gold cartridge!!), etc. I specifically mention Zelda because I used to spend a lot of time playing Zelda II, only if I got a game over I’d have to turn the tv off really quick because I was really young and TERRIFIED of the game over screen. It looked like this:

And had a sound file of very deep, menacing laughter. It scared me real bad when I was a little kid but now I think that’s pretty funny of me.

Please share your stories about when you first started gaming!

Excellent subject, and one that I've put a lot of thought to recently. I 100% agree that TTRPGs (and, in my case, MMORPGs as well) feel like a safe way to explore my identity. It's an unfortunate reality that the world isn't always a welcoming place for LGBTQ+ people, but in a world created by me and my friends, I'm comfortable being myself. I can also experiment - I'm only very recently feeling comfortable acknowledging that I'm nonbinary, but for a long time I was creating and playing androgynous (or otherwise gender non-conforming) characters in MMORPGs. It made me happy while also helping me better understand who I am.

Congratulations! You're an extremely talented and high-level bard! You can play any type of music you like on any type of instrument. What do you choose to play?

Personally I'm going with the old standard acoustic guitar, only it's completely out of tune but that doesn't matter because I play folk punk so it's ok that it sounds bad because that's just the genre. Because my music is....audibly unpleasant...all of my spells are DOTs.

Share what you'd play and how that contributes to your party!

@Mariano LOVE the shoebox of game cartridges, what a cool thing to give someone! I remember going to a garage sale in my neighborhood when I was a little older and someone was selling a box of all different game carts - if I recall correctly it was a mix of Atari Jaguar, N64, and Sega Genesis, for dirt cheap. Lots of duds, but a few treasures (Clayfighter!). That’s something I’m really going to miss as gaming moves away from physical media.

@Ezra Ooooooooooooooooohhhhhhh I was gonna talk about Spyro (it was so so so so fun) but the mention of FFIX tosses that out the window. I think we’ve talked before about VII being my favorite but IX is neck-and-neck, and for a long time I considered it my favorite...I also have a tattoo of a FFIX moogle. I think I just really loved Zidane as a protagonist. It was so refreshing having a protagonist who was kind and charismatic and funny after how moody Cloud and Squall were. The world and music were also gorgeous. Definitely a huge FFIX fan here.

Partially inspired by the new Dungeons & Dragons movie, tell me about your favorite movie based on a game! Any game, be it TTRPG or video game or uh. I guess board games? Clue rules and everyone knows it!!! Anyway...

My all-time favorite is the Silent Hill movie, I think it's a rare video game movie that holds its own if you're not familiar with the source material. I'm also obligated, as a FF7 fan, to love FF7 Advent Children...regardless of things like quality or comprehensibility.

Share your favorites!

@TableTopProphet “female Danny Devito Pennywise” is so cool I don’t even know what to do, love it

@merlin I love all the details, it’s clear you have a very distinct mental image of him. Do you have any particular actors or otherwise real people who you picture as Severin?

@Ezra wowwwwwww EXTREMELY cool, I’m so envious of people who can craft whole universes like that! I don’t have the imagination for it myself but I’m always in awe of others who do.

@Alexander-Salkin didn’t expect to see a webcomic as a response but I’m geeked!!! That’s so awesome! Cool concept and I love that art, thank you for sharing!!

@Alexander-Salkin that’s a cool idea, like the Voynich manuscript but readable! Love that.

If I had unlimited time I’d for sure work on cosplays (I have one I’ve been “working on” since last year that’s only about a third of the way done - Testament from Guilty Gear Strive) and probably I’d get back into playing music. I actually tend to have more free time than most but I work in healthcare so when I get home after a shift I never really want to do anything. It would be very nice to be able to focus on my creative passions!

@Alexander-Salkin ooooh I've seen some really well done pixel-style tattoos! I really like Zelda heart pixel tattoos, like this:

To nobody's surprise, I am a huge Nobuo Uematsu fan! Uematsu is the composer of the majority of Final Fantasy music and is responsible for some of the most gorgeous compositions I've ever heard. Two of my favorite pieces of all time, "Aerith's Theme" and "Lifestream", were composed by Uematsu for the Final Fantasy VII soundtrack.

I also love the music from the Silent Hill series and Legend of Zelda series (BoTW in particular).

Tell me about your favorite music from a video game!

As I recover from a very fun weekend at an anime convention (Youmacon Detroit), I'm wondering if anyone else is a con attendee? I'm not hugely experienced with them but I've been to a few anime/comic/gaming conventions as well as some for oddities and tattoos. I've cosplayed a few times (Selphie from Final Fantasy 8, Vash the Stampede from Trigun, POWER from Chainsaw Man, some others I've forgotten, and I've got two works in progress). Tell me about your con experiences!

Truthfully, it doesn’t need to be Spooky Season for me to talk ad nauseum about horror games. I’m so in love with the Silent Hill series (Silent Hill 2 in particular - iykyk), the Fatal Frame series, and Parasite Eve. It seems for a while in the late 90s/early 00s there were a lot of very eerie games coming out of Japan, enough that I can’t even remember the names of all the ones I played. I remember a really scary one where you played as a girl with a dog companion, trying to escape a mansion full of people hellbent on killing you, and I believe you had no weapon - you had to hide and/or run, which is scary enough on its own BUT there was a very interesting mechanic where you could be overcome with fear and lose control of the character. There are a lot of super unique mechanics in horror games that you really don’t get in other genres! What are your favorite horror games? Have you played any horror games with interesting gameplay? What’s the scariest game you’ve played? Tell me about it in the comments!

@Mariano The Uzumaki anime is FINALLY dropping - I don’t think there’s a solid release date yet, but before the end of the year. And there’s a new trailer!!! I’m so geeked ahhhhhhhh

Other than that I don’t really have anything in particular I’m watching at the moment, but I’m going to Youmacon (anime convention) in November and we’ll see if anything catches me eye.

And I have no idea when the new Berserk anime is releasing but the teaser looked pretty decent! I’ve been burned before by Berserk anime so hopefully this one is better.

Let’s imagine you get isekai’d into the world of the last game you played - video game, board game, mobile game, ttrpg, whatever. How do you do? Do you settle in happily or are you totally boned?

Technically the last game I played was Tetris (old ass) but as far as a game with a world, last I played was Parasite Eve and I’m gonna keep it real - I would probably not do so great! I act like a tough guy most of the time but if I wasn’t unlucky enough to be incinerated by Eve, the monsters would absolutely get me - likely because I was trying to get a closer look and got myself mauled. Maybe I’d be one of the NPCs who makes a break for it and manages to escape, but I really don’t trust myself not to try to check out a weird gross monster.

How about you? Let me know in the comments!

One of my favorite games ever! I still remember when I first started playing it (literally years ago) and was blown away by how BIG it is! It’s beautiful, unique, and endlessly fun to play. I recently introduced my partner to it - he’s not much of a gamer but is a big Zelda fan nonetheless - and he will play it for hours without actually advancing the plot in any way, which I think is a sign of a really well-crafted world. And of course the art and music are both gorgeous. I don’t know if I have a favorite shrine but I love the ones that require you to combine your powers in interesting ways. I also loooove the giant horse, the Lord of the Mountain/Satori, the dragons, the Great Fairies, and the sand seals!

That is SO COOL!!! What a great group of supportive friends!!!

Here we go. I’m not entirely sure how to define “fandom” but I do tend to go really hard with the things I love.

The Mountain Goats: Everyone who’s known me even a small amount of time knows my obsession. They may not know the extent of it: my largest tattoo, personalized license plate, bumper stickers, vinyl records, 23 shirts (that I can recall, I probably have more that I can’t remember), 11 posters (9 of them are tour posters and one is signed by the lead singer), countless stickers/patches/buttons, and limited edition promotional pogs for some reason. I’ve seen them live nine times and framed the ticket stub from the first time I ever saw them. I’ve met the lead singer (and cried).

Final Fantasy: I own and have played most of the games, have cosplayed FF characters, I have figures, music boxes, jewelry, game guides and art books, one tattoo (and another on the books for December).

Actually all but one of my tattoos are fandom adjacent: one from a book, three from bands, one from Final Fantasy. Another Final Fantasy one coming up (as mentioned above) and two more band tattoos planned but not scheduled.

I looooooooooooove love love to cook! I cook for myself and my partner fairly often, I love to bake, I watch a lot of cooking shows, all of it. I wouldn’t say I’m an extraordinary cook but I think I’m pretty good (my partner would say I’m Michelin Star-worthy). I try to challenge myself: I’ve made multiple full Thanksgiving dinners (5+ dishes and dessert), whole prime ribs, Beef Wellingtons, racks of lamb, pho, homemade cheese, layer cakes, meringues, crepes, all sorts of bread…I think the only things I haven’t had a go at yet are macarons (intimidated) and homemade pasta (no pasta roller…yet).

I think it’s really sweet that you learned from helping your spouse!! I consider cooking to be one of my love languages, it’s a very tangible way for me to show people I care about them and want them to be happy, so I think sharing that with a partner and learning from/with them is wonderful!!

Wow, I’d never even heard of it but it looks fascinating! The exploratory elements seem really cool. I probably won’t play it any time soon because my “To Play” list is…….extensive, but I’m interested to see what people think.

@Mariano I wasn’t allowed to watch Power Rangers as a kid because of violence (lol) but I was secretly obsessed with them because the PINK ranger (my favorite color at the time) was a PTERODACTYL (objectively one of the coolest dinosaurs ever) and her name was KIMBERLY (myyyy name!!!). I would sneakily watch it at my friend Allison’s house and then we would play Power Rangers in the yard (karate chop each other and yell).