A Gamers Birthday!

Every year, every month, every day, every minute a person is born. That person gets to celebrate that miraculous moment year after year. The first few years the parents might throw a party. Then at about 5 or six the child might be taken to a toy store to pick something out for itself for the next few years. Then at about twelve the child might start to make different choices for what it want's. Maybe a party. Maybe clothes. Maybe video games.

Picking video games is the path I inevitable went down. I was at a young age when I started playing video games. My first system was a Nintendo SNES which lasted for a few years until the games either stopped working or my adolescent self broke them. Then the systems started to get more expensive and costly.I would not pick out a video game for my birthday until I was thirteen years old. I don't remember what it was. Probably Madden or a Final Fantasy game. That wasn't the most important part. The most important part of this growing birthday tradition was my two little brothers. As we all got older we would all decide to get video games. Our birthdays are so close to each other. Literally two weeks from my baby brothers birthday is the middle child's birthday. Then a little over two weeks later is my birthday. My poor parents would break the bank to fund our wishes. As this tradition got older some of our birthdays would have to be shoved aside for the more momentous ages, like sixteen for example. What was supposed to be the surprise of the century was my mother getting me a 360 for my 16th birthday. Me with my own 360. Oh what a day. For the next few years the focus shifted to my baby brother. His birthday is in the middle of August. Usually around that time is the release of Madden. Another event that happens in the middle of August is training camp for the Philadelphia Eagles. We would go out to Lehigh and watch the Eagles. When we returned home we would light up the cake and let little brother open up the new Madden just to see his face ripe with excitement. This became the tradition for the next few years.

Now we are here. Present day. The baby celebrated his 16th birthday in the same fashion. He will certainly get Madden 12 sometime in the next few days. My middle brother is on the west side of Pennsylvania. His unlucky downfall with the law has caught up to him. The little dumb ass spent his 18th birthday in a new location. When I last saw him I told him he will end up like dad living, (in Chris Farley's voice) in a van by the river. I sit here about to turn 20 years old. I contemplate what I should do. Twenty is a big number. It is not as important as 16 or 18 or as raunchy as I know my 21st birthday will be but none the less it is a mark of two decades of life. Should I party? Perhaps spend some time friends and dive deep into the night. Should I spend it with the remaining family I have here with me. You know, take them out to dinner, something nice like that. Or should I continue a subliminal tradition that has been taking place from August 15th to September 13th for the last six years? My mother is always telling me that christmas and birthdays are the easiest thing to celebrate. "All you guys want are video games.Even when you are old you will want video games." She is right.

I command you to celebrate your birthday every year by buying a video game. If you don't then, well, happy birthday.

On a side note this year there are a plethora of games that are really catching my eye. Dead Island, Warhammer Space Marines, and Deus Ex all look fantastic.