Gaming Tales - Gameboy Color

G'day there guys and gals!

This is a brand new series that I'm bringing out here and on Youtube called, simply put, Gaming Tales. This is a short blog where I talk about key moments of gaming in my past; questions will be asked and your replies will be featured in the next episode. But here on Blogger.com, you get the written version BEFORE the video is out on YT. So enough of this, let's go!

One of the key moments as a kid was when I became hooked on gaming and one of main events in

my life that gave me that nudge was Pokémon. I was only 5 years old when the anime came out in Australia and I was instantly hooked. While I loved Dragonball Z and all the other cartoons on the kids morning show Cheeze TV, Pokémon is what made me get up every morning at 5am just to make sure I didn't miss the next episode. I was a huge fan, enough so to sing the theme song in front of my entire school! And thank god it wasn't filmed cause I was terrible: every note was hit with vibrato...trust me it was bad. When I eventually discovered the games my love for Pokémon grew even more. I come from a relatively poor family, especially back in the days of my youth: my parents lived paycheck to paycheck, budget foods and family friends helping us out, such as the local hairdresser Chizza of Chizza's Scissors (Which still exists today) would give us discounts or free haircuts from the trainees when we needed them. Being the youngest of three children, I was the Hand-me-down kid, all my clothes up to the age of 16 were all hand-me-downs and I was picked on relentlessly for being poor, chubby, having ratty clothes and all the mean things kids do. My saving grace was Pokémon, no matter who was playing it, kids would crowd around a person with a GameBoy to watch them take down a Gym Leader. Eventually the years went by and I'd spend every cent I earned to buy Pokémon stickers, books, colour-ins and guides despite the fact barely playing the game in ten minute intervals from friends.
By the age of 8 I finally decided that I would spend every second I could earning cash to buy a

GameBoy and cartridge. For months I pulled weeds, I worked with my parents, I washed dishes, I'd do tasks my siblings didn't want to, I worked my butt off to earn as much as I could. By Christmas, I was close but still too short of my goal so I approached my parents and handed every dollar over to them and said: "I don't care if I don't get anything else for Christmas just please get me a GameBoy."
And when Christmas Day came my parents handed me the few gifts I had. The joy on my face was just utter bliss. I finally owned a GameBoy and a copy of the newest Pokémon game at the time, Gold. That moment early Christmas morning truly did change my life for the better. Later in life I found out that the GameBoy I had was rare, a limited edition but even then I wouldn't mind. The amount of hours I spent playing that game over and over, I can't even fathom how many hours I've killed playing on that device. Eventually I had a collection of games that I enjoyed immensely but I'll forever remember how hard I worked to get that device. Where is it now you ask? I loaned it to my grandmother so her Foster Kids had something to play with and I haven't seen it since.
Yep.
I still have my Pokémon Gold cartridge but the chip inside has dislodged and is now forever unplayable. A sad thing but I'm overjoyed it lasted that long. Despite that I don't have kids (yet), I've been trying my hardest to get my nephews into Pokémon but he's still too young for that just yet. The eldest already has an iPad so I think I'll wait till he's a bit more mature.
The moral of this story is that no matter how old you get or what upbringing you have, remember to look back at your youthful years with fondness instead of misery and regret. So much good was poured into you to make you the person you are today.
Did you every play any of the earlier Pokémon games? Have a similar tale? Tell me in a comment down below.
And as always, have fun and game on!