My very first video game console was the Sega Master System, I was 6yrs old. I remember when my mother bought it for me I was so thrilled. One of the first games I had was Penguin Land. In the game you're a penguin that has to traverse all over the land with your egg and it can't crack. I'll admit I wasn't very good at the game and never even came close to beating it, but I still played it anyway.

After the SMS, came the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo. I didn't own a Super Nintendo (SNES), but I did own a Sega Genesis and Altered Beast. There were a ton of more great games for the SNES though. Lucky for me I had friends that had the system and was able to play games like Bubble Bobble and Super Mario Bros, both of which I never beat. The only two games I remember from my Sega were Ducktails and Sonic and yes I never beat those either.

Playstation was what turned gaming around for me. I'll never forget playing Final Fantasy VII. The story was so intense I had never experienced a game that kept me glued to my TV for hours. Games were becoming more involved and the graphics were much better then the older systems, but that was only the beginning.

In 1996 the N64 came out, and with it the classic title Zelda: The Ocarina of Time and games like GoldenEye 007. The N64 was named for its 64 bit processor. While Nintendo was pushing 64 bits, Playstation was on a 32 bit system. GoldenEye 007 was a first person shooter that had a multiplayer game in it called Deathmatch, which was a player vs. player game.

I'm sure everyone remembers the Dance Dance Revolution craze. A game that came with a dance pad that connected to the controller port. On the dance pad were arrows that you as the player had to match up with the corresponding arrows on the TV. To this day I still can't get higher then level 1, my coordination is way off. Let's not forget about the Karaoke games that had a similar concept as DDR but with singing. Grab the microphone and belt out classics like Dust in the Wind and your toon glows on screen.

When the Wii came out in 2006 it brought a new concept to gaming. The Wii controller makes playing games like tennis and boxing more fun then ever, with a motion sensor controller. By swinging the controller around like a mad man you can throw a left hook at your opponent. Watching my mother play Tennis on the Wii had to be one of the funnier moments. I have a nice visual of her saying "How do I work this darn thing!" and swatting the remote at the TV like she was trying to kill a bug. If you talk to other Wii owners you'll hear similar stories involving grandparents and toddlers.

Video games keep improving graphically and mechanically. The gaming industry is a huge part of our society's entertainment and it continues to grow larger and larger as the years go by. Right now I'm waiting for video games to go all virtual reality, I would love to be at an island swimming in the water, looking for Echo.