Around the internet people call me Kindrik. Outside of this internet thing people sometimes call me Marko. They’re pretty much interchangeable.

Gaming’s become my biggest hobby to the point where people have called it an addiction. However, I’ve never found myself absolutely needing to play a game or putting off any other things in my life just because I was in the middle of a game or anything like that.

My time spent playing games has actually gone down in the past couple years. More responsibilities with work, school, and at things at home, combined with my second hobby of soccer, and also just enjoying time spent outside of my house have cut down on just how often and how long I play games.

Soccer has continuously been a part of my life since I was 10 years old and whether it’s playing or refereeing I’m pretty sure it’s going to stick for the rest of my life. The other part of my life revolves around studying at the University of Manitoba. I’m in my first year with plans to go into Computer Science. I haven’t yet considered which area I’d specialize in but I’ve always enjoyed the programming aspects and would love to one day move that into developing games.

Thinking about that made me realize that I no longer fall into that pigeon holed category of “hardcore gamers” anymore. I’m not on the equally pigeon holed “casual” end of the spectrum either but fall somewhere in the middle.

Things started at about 9 years old when my dad bought me a PlayStation for my birthday. I didn’t own very many games back then and 99% of my collection consisted of either being sports games or demo discs. The one exception being Mega Man Legends 2 which I still hold fond memories of, but if my life has taught me anything it’s that things usually aren’t as great as you remember them. Which is why I haven’t gone back to try playing that game again since it would ruin my memories of the game (I sold my PS and the games a few years back).

About 4 years later my dad bought me a GameCube. And now that I think about it, I really don’t understand why. My dad was never big on video games and so when I just noticed that the GameCube got a price drop and they were giving away a free game with it I just went to him, asked, and before I knew it I was walking out with a new console. Being 13 I was still at the mercy of my parents whenever I wanted to make a big purchase so price was always a determining factor.

Mega Man Legends was sort of my stepping stone into truly playing video games, and not just constantly playing virtual sports. As a result my GameCube days gave me a new appreciation for all the other genres out there, most notably the Adventure and Platforming games. Before the Cube my exposure to Nintendo games was limited to a friend’s SNES and N64, but on the GameCube I became a huge fan of Nintendo’s franchises and it’s something that sticks with me to this day. I guess my lack of exposure to StarFox 64 also explains why I seemed to enjoy StarFox Adventure quite a bit more than anyone else. I’ve since played the N64 game and still prefer Adventures, but only because I’m someone who will almost always take an Adventure game over a Shooter.

Then 2006 came around and I was one of those people who got all excited about Nintendo’s promise with the new Wii controller. As I mentioned before, my parents had conditioned me into a state of not over spending my money. So again, a lower price wound up being the determining factor in my console purchase. The only thing that’s really keeping me from getting a 360 at this point is the mental barrier involved with the price of the system and everything that comes with it.

So here I stand as a rarity in the console gaming world, being someone who owns a Wii and nothing else, with a DS on the side. However, contrary to what the rest of the Internet will have you believe, I’m not someone who is starving for games. I’ve got my usual Zelda, Metroid, and Mario fixes, along with more than a handful of non-Nintendo software. So screw you Internet, I’m doing just fine and don’t care what you think.

… Damn, I’m personifying the internet. I probably need some sleep. So on that slightly creepy note I realize that I wrote more than I’d ever intended. So much for this just being a couple paragraphs. If you managed to read this far you deserve a reward of some kind so feel free to email support@microsoft.com and ask for a free cookie.