Growing up Gaming: Storytime From Wii To PC

On Christmas day in 2010 Santa gave 7 year old Mikaela the best gift she could possibly wish for at the time, a Wii. From that day on Wii Resort and I were inseparable. Most of my core memories are from when my parents and I spent hours after school playing different sports. My dad would play baseball with me while my mom would settle for bowling. This game showed me how fun video games are and where I had my first taste of competitive gaming. 

Around the age of 10 my parents bought an iPad. After months of begging and convincing, my parents finally caved when they noticed everyone around us had one. This opened a new world of gaming for me. Back then my parents were not tech savvy, and honestly still aren't. So much so that we did not have wi-fi in our house. In order to download iPad games I would take my iPad to my friend's house, connect to their wi-fi, and download internet-free games like Makeover Studio, Nail Salon, and more. I would download all types of games, if it looked interesting I would install it and play it at my own home. During this time my parents also gifted me a Nintendo 2DS because all my friends had one and I would get lonely watching them all play Mario Kart and being the only person who couldn't. We would all gather together and play during long road trips, summer vacations, and hangouts. 

I was also introduced to Minecraft at this age since I noticed my friends consuming a lot of Minecraft content and was curious to know more. At first, my parents were hesitant because this was the first iPad game I had to pay for. As usual, after constant begging, they finally bought it for me! I would only play in creative, but now that I am older, I am finally not scared of slender man anymore... (I will go to sleep before night to avoid mobs). 

Teenage Years

At 13 I started playing Sims Free play on mobile. This introduced me to cozy games where I can control what goes on. My friends and I shared an account so we can all play with the same Sims but in our own different styles. I would base the creation of my Sims on my friends and boys I had crushes on. If I'm being honest, I still prefer mobile Sims since it lets me be more creative and has lot of features you now have to pay for on the desktop version, but that is a rant for another time. 

In high school I made a lot more friends, especially those who played competitive games. In science class of grade 9, I noticed a group of boys who were constantly playing a game on their phones. The game PubG kept them occupied from the boredom of learning how to balance chemical equations. When I finally decided to give it a try I instantly fell in love with the tactical gameplay. I would play during class, in between classes, during lunch, and after school with friends or by myself. I also got into Fortnite mobile since it let me play with my friends who had PCs. 

Young Adulthood

During Covid I gave gaming a break, which is ironic because a lot of people picked up the hobby during the time in isolation. I was confident I played every game mobile had to offer me. Before university started, my generous boyfriend gifted me his old computer for my birthday. This not only started my serious gaming addiction, but gave me an opportunity to become a content creator to stream all sorts of games. With my computer, I can play thousands of different games I could only dream of playing before. I downloaded games my friends recommended, such as VALORANT, Stardew Valley, OVERWATCH, and even downloaded The Sims 4 and Minecraft since I grew up playing those games. 

Now you will see me playing all of these games on my stream. Some nights it will be cozy gaming where I can light a candle, relax and take care of a farm, other nights will be competitive games where I'll rage and get upset but will not stop playing. 

That is the timeline of how I started playing games. As you can tell, I was growing up gaming, starting from the Wii console to now a PC computer. This journey shaped me to the person and creator I am today. Did any of these games unlock a core memory for you? Contact me and let me know, I would love to hear your stories as well.