My earliest memory of video games was when I was about four years old, watching my older brother and his best friend play Super Mario Brothers on the NES. There was a pool outside, and I stood in the doorway, soaked, enthralled, begging to play. And was promptly and completely ignored. We had a PC with games on it, but nothing like Mario Bros. or Duck Hunt.

.

A few years later the neighborhood boys, all at least four years my senior, had a Street Fighter 2 Turbo competition, bracket style, against one another. My brother let me enter as a joke. Much, much later that day- I beat all of them, at age 7, playing only with Chun- Li. I was hooked. Mario Kart, Super Mario World, Parasite Eve- whatever I could get my hands on to play, I did.

.

In high school I had emulators on my PC for all the games my brother never let me play (and plenty more that weren’t released in the US). I remember my first day of pre-calc in high school, and I had just gotten a new TI-83 Plus: Silver Edition. My teacher commented that I must really love math to have such a unique calculator, and once he discovered that I spent most of my class time playing Street Fighter or Zelda, he moved me to the back of the room.

.

In college I discovered GTA, played CoD and Rock Band on the Xbox 360, and these days I toggle between a Wii, an NES emulator for original carts, a PS4 and a PS3.

Now, as an adult, I can say collectively I enjoy both retro gaming and modern gaming, with the SNES being my favorite retro console, and the PS4 being my current modern fave.

.

Most loved retro games: TNMT 2, Super Mario World, Street Fighter 2 Turbo, Sailor Moon R Side Scroller & Sailor Moon Another Story

Favorite modern games: The Borderlands Series, Plants Versus Zombies Garden Warfare 1 & 2

.

Video games opened worlds for me, within their stories and outside the confines of graphic story telling. I’m amazed at how many people, many introverted like myself, that I’ve met simply through a mutual love of games. It’s an honor to be a part of JoypadandMe.

.

When I’m not playing games, I’m raising two little boys and making party supplies, mostly for gaming birthday parties (like Mario or Plants vs. Zombies- check it all out at 2geekgirlevents.etsy.com!). I love getting to blend two aspects of my life that I enjoy so thoroughly. My kids are growing up with games and learning hand- eye coordination, spatial awareness, problem solving skills, and how to enjoy fiction through video games. They’ll have a mom that knows you can’t pause an online game, and I have boys who are better drivers than me in Mario Kart and Battlefield.

.