Hello. I just registered here at the Vizzed Board, and thought that I should take some time to introduce myself, and to tell any other members who might be curious a little more about me, and how I ended up here. I am 29 years old, so I grew up during what I consider to be the Golden Age of Gaming; I love many modern games, but the first system that I ever owned was the original NES, and it will always hold a special place in my heart. At the time I got it, the NES came pre-packaged with a combo cartridge containing Super Mario Brothers and Duck Hunt. I still remember driving my parents stark raving mad by sneaking downstairs at 3 in the morning most days to play. Duck Hunt was, and is, one of the most addictive games I have ever found. Mostly because the condescending laughter of that obnoxious dog would drive anyone crazy. I can't tell you how many times I said to myself, "Forget the ducks. Can't I just shoot the dog, and be done with it?" Of course, I couldn't. That was part of the appeal, and the frustration.

Soon after, I discovered other great gems of the era, and the game that eventually led to my great gaming passion, the RPG genre. My very first was the original Dragon Warrior (Dragon Quest being the original series title in Japan, but unused here in the USA until the modern gaming era), and it was amazing at the time. Looking back on it, the first Dragon Warrior was nowhere near as good as the sequels, nor even as good as Final Fantasy, but at the time it captured my imagination in a way that no other game had, to date. The two franchises remain my favorite, though I enjoy them in different ways and for different reasons. Action games of various kinds also came to play a big role in my development as a gamer, in particular, I really enjoyed the Mega Man and Castlevania games, as well as games like Bubble Bobble (which, to this day, I have only beaten legitimately ONCE).

I wound up here because I was looking for communities centered around retro gaming, and this site was well spoken of in my circle of friends. I still love modern games, and spend a fair bit of time enjoying games on PC, consoles, and hand-held systems whenever work, the need for sleep, and my social life leave me the free hours to indulge, but I will always love the older games, and I am so glad to have found this community. I think that I am going to really enjoy it here, and hope that I will have the time to be a very active member of the boards. It's nice to know that there are so many other people who share my interest in the good old games, and who knows? Maybe I will find some gems that I managed to miss along the way.

Oh man, what an intro!  I laughed, I cried, and I sat on the edge of my seat!

Okay, so perhaps I didn't do all of those.  You can't blame a 25 year old sympathetic girl, now can you?  I grew up when NES and GBA's were all the rage, so I know exactly what you are talking about.  In any case, it's -wonderful- to hear from you, and I thank you for your lovely composition.  It's nice to read a bit more than "Hello I am noo" and move onward.

If you ever have any questions, feel free to pm me or any other staff member.

God bless!

To be fair, I think that any 25 year old female with your obvious maturity and style deserves to be thought of as a woman, but if you refer to yourself as a girl, that's your right. It is very nice to meet you, and thank you for the warm welcome. By the way, the background of that post was pure art; how did you get that in there? I would love to be able to add that kind of flair to my posts; style counts, at least in my book.

It's also nice to meet someone who understands and appreciates what I mean when I talk about my love of older games. Do you have any favorites from that era that you still break out once in a while? I still play all of my old favorites somewhat regularly... It's just nice to go back to the familiar, beloved adventures of my youth once in a while. Sure, they may lack the glitzy graphics, the shiny polish, and the voice acting... but I really think that those were days of genuine innovation, something that you see less often these days. Back then, video games were a new medium, and everyone was coming up with new ideas to test the limits of the technology, the player's imaginations, and all of our wallets (I don't know about you, but as a kid, I spent about nine-tenths of my allowance... which I worked hard for... on my Nintendo Power subscription and one or two new games a month).

Sorry to have rambled on, I always get excited meeting a fellow gamer, and particularly a female, since you seem to be a rare breed. Probably because there are too many elitist or rude male gamers who make their counterparts feel unwelcome or uncomfortable. Phooey. Anyhow, thanks again for being so welcoming; it makes me feel even better about my decision to join.

Oh, just to warn you, you don't want to encourage me -too- much.  I'm quite the rambler, and more questions just enable the bad habit.

So first:
Woman vs.girl?  I appreciate the sentiment..... it made me smile a bit, though all things considered, I'm rather young to have the esteem of 'womanhood' I think.  I mean, I've lived only about a fifth of my life (I hope)!  It's a very sweet thing of you to say, though I'm not sure how my last post exhibited maturity.  Are you a smooth talker?  Watch it, I'm married! (And I'm teasing you, just in case text doesn't convey that.)

As for older games, I unfortunately don't have the time to break out old games nor new ones.  I'm a high school math teacher and I'm usually found grading papers and writing lesson plans when I'm not doing work for the site or rambling.  I do indeed hope to spend this summer looking for some of those classics and teasing my mind with their memories.  Many of the games I played on the NES, I can no longer remember the names of.  Duck  Hunt was certainly one of the best though.  The sight of those orange plastic guns always made my heart leap with joy, as my parents were  bit reserved on breaking out the games.

Finally, as far as calling myself a gamer?  I'm not so sure it's a fitting title.  I'm a very casual gamer and I struggle to adjust to the more modern games. (FPSs?  Man, those get me every time!  I always end up staring at a wall and shooting my toe off!)

And you're welcome for the .... welcome?  *chuckles*

Oh, I forgot!  As far as my posting background.... it's called a layout. As a newbie, you'll only be able to either buy them from the layout shop, ask other people to make them for you, or make a very SIMPLE one using the layout creator.  Until you gain trusted status, you will only be able to make designs which are split into three garish sections.  They can be worked with, but in order to make something which looks nice, you'd have to have some aesthetic sense with the limited coding allowed.

I code mine from a blank slate because I'm able to access the advanced layout editor. You can find some examples of my work here.  I'll be happy to make you one if you'd like me to. Just let me know!

And for future reference, if you want to alert somebody that you've responded to them, you can always type their name followed by a colon, like this:
Redrick Kento :
You have to spell their name correctly though, and it has to be on a fresh line of text.

EDITED for grammar errors.  lol

Singelli :

Testing... did that work? We'll have to see... Thanks for the offer RE: making a layout, but I think I will wait until I can make my own. While the sentiment is deeply appreciated, I prefer learning to do things on my own; I am stubborn that way. Plus, it will give things a more personal touch, and to me, that's the whole point of using a layout at all. As far as your question about whether or not I am a smooth talker, I have drawn those kinds of questions before, but I am actually just a friendly, sociable person with a strong appreciation for good people and good company. Besides, hitting on someone in a forum post is both mildly tacky and utterly lacking in creativity. Give me a little credit, please. :p

I understand what you mean about the "gamer" title, but I think that's partly because of the way in which it's commonly used. I consider the phrase to be a descriptor for anyone who enjoys games, to whatever degree, but I get that the word means something more specific to a lot of people. I also understand what you mean by busy... I work 10-12 hour days five days a week, and six days a week for the next month, so time is a precious commodity for me, too. The fact that I am currently single, and actually ENJOYING being single, has left me more free time for gaming than I usually have, so I am going to milk it for as long as it lasts... unless I am lucky enough to meet and fall in love with someone who shares this particular passion, I'm going to have to give up my prime playing time when I am ready for a relationship again, LOL.

I just checked out the RGR for the first time, and I am absolutely stunned by the huge library of games you can actually play on the site. I hadn't even considered that possibility before; I was joining for the forums. But I think that it's going to be a very long night for me... You have games here I haven't been able to find copies of in a decade, or even longer for some titles, so I'm taking a long trip down Nostalgia Lane in the fastest vehicle I can find. I am so excited... I feel like a kid in a candy store with a $500 dollar gift card. I suppose I am going to have to prioritize... Even with the few extra hours I have in a day, I can't afford to spend ALL of it them front of a computer. Or at least, I really shouldn't, and will do my absolute best to hold to that conviction.

Welcome to the land of "V!" 
  I am  Влади́мир. better known as Kyle. Here at Vizzed we welcome just about anyone, and we are always glad to see more and more members join.
  Personally, I just reached a 1,000 posts here, and I am excited to see those 1,000 posts you'll possibly achieve!

Redrick Kento :  I've got to say that you sound like a very intelligent person.    I agree that flirting on a forum is tacky, but then again, I -was- teasing you.  I figured from your posting style that you have more sense than that.

Sounds like you know the value of hard work as well.  I too work 10-13 hours 5 times a week, and 4 hours on most Saturdays.  All this of course, is assuming only hours on location count.  I spend most nights still working as I grade papers and such.

I'm surprised you didn't notice the library!  There are 15,000 Arcade games alone, and as you can see, there are many other systems on this site.  I hope you enjoy your trip down memory lane and come back to share your experiences with us.  

And yes, you're summon worked. Congrats!

BluemageKyle :

Singelli :

Thanks for stopping by, Kyle! It's a pleasure and an honor to meet you, and I look forward to hitting that benchmark myself. I am still having fun just navigating through the forums, finding out what's here. And of course, digging up some of my old favorite games to play. I can't believe Vizzed has Little Samson. Mouse bombs for the win! It's been an exciting time so far. Next week is the beginning of a month and a half of no free time AT ALL for me, so I am getting my time in here on the forums and in the game room while I can.

I like to think I am at least moderately intelligent, and I can definitely tell that you are not just well educated yourself, Singelli (as anyone in your chosen profession ought to be), but also intelligent (a completely separate thing from education, as I am sure you are all too familiar with). The few people I have met here have all seemed to be the sort of people I enjoy associating with; friendly, smart, and charming. I can tell I am going to really like this place... it's just a shame I will be gone so much between tomorrow evening and the beginning of April.

wow.. this thread has some of the longest responses I've seen in a while for a newbie thread.

Welcome to the site Redrick! Nice to see an older member posting here. I feel very outnumbered with the really young members around here.

geeogree :

Hi, nice to meet you! Well, what can I say... I am a rambler. It seems I have been fortunate enough to meet some other people who are also happy to talk at length. It happens with any good community, eventually... word starts to spread, and more and more new people join, and soon the veterans are looking around wondering who all the strangers are. But I hope that I won't be a stranger here for long. It's wonderful to be here; people have been very friendly, and the site's other features are frankly amazing. I just wish I had more time to spend here.

Most of the membership is good here. There are always bad apples in any bunch and you will run into them here too. Just don't take things too seriously with the people who want to cause problems

Glad you're excited to be here.