Video Games and Their Imporance to Me

Personally, I'm very interested in all sorts of pop culture. Movies, gaming, comics, you name it. If I had to pick just one, I'd say I'm the most interested in the world of video games. I've been gaming since before I can even remember, starting as early as 3 or 4 years old. Some of the first games I ever played were the old Humongous Entertainment games like Freddi Fish, Pajama Sam, Spy Fox, and Putt-Putt. Eventually I moved on to things like the original PlayStation and the GameBoy (Happy 20th anniversary, Pokemon!).

Gaming has always been an important and major part of my life, and it's an industry I find extremely fascinating. By engaging in gaming and reading or hearing about the gaming industry, I get to learn about new events going on, new games coming out, etc. I get to have new experiences and explore new worlds.
I'm hoping I can learn more about the impact gaming has had in the US as a whole, and the different cultural aspects involved with gaming as compared to other countries like Japan. In Japan, the games there tend to be more focused to the trends of that culture, with "JRPGs" being one of the dominant genres. In the US, First Person Shooters and "Western RPGs" are very dominant, and Third Person Shooters like Tomb Raider and Uncharted have been gaining a lot of ground as popular genres. I'm excited to explore this topic in greater detail during Module 10 and further discussions. While we're on the topic, my top five favorite games of all time are as follows, from last to first:

Metal Gear Solid (PS1)

Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage (PS1)

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3)

The Last of Us (PS3/PS4)

Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal(PS2)