This is one of my 1UP blog posts I'm most fond of, so I'd like to post it as my first piece on Bitmob. Hope you enjoy.

Do any of your family members play videogames? I'm lucky to have two who do: my dad and my sister. My mom never joins into the gaming scene, and we all know who's missing out, right? She missed out on family gatherings during which we took on hordes of Golems in Gauntlet Legends and banished that good-for-nothing Skorne. She missed out on the Mario Party parties, during which we gleefully knocked each other off cliffs with rubber balls and frantically decorated cakes with flurries of strawberries. She missed out on all the fighting game drama, too: That in-house E. Honda/Guile rivalry was fierce back in the day.

Damn, should've Sonic Boomed a bit more.

The mention of fighting games makes me think fondly of my gaming relationship with my dad. I don't know why, but he and I seem to eventually compete in any game that has a Versus mode: Street Fighter II, Killer Instinct, Medal of Honor, Dynasty Tactics, you name it. We constantly find the dirty tricks that allow us to gain the upper hand, constantly find ways to establish the reputation of "best in house." I think our numerous one-on-one bouts instilled in me a strong sense of determination, because I always wanted to beat my dad -- and he would never let me win. There would always be a flurry of jibes and taunts thrown around when we would clash, and the taunting always made me want to be better than him at what we were playing at the time.

So when I got beaten, I would look up move lists on the Internet. I would memorize the button combinations for the Super Cradle Driver and Super Belly-to-Back Suplex, and I would practice relentlessly... just so I could beat my old man at Rumble Roses. That's the kind of person I am -- I like to look up strategy guides (I even wrote one myself!) and practice enough so that I can hold my own in the game I'm engrossed in at the moment. On a side note, I became pretty good at chess because of my dad. He would always sing an annoying song to me after he beat me, and I got so frustrated with his off-the-cuff songwriting that I started reading chess books to become good enough to exact my revenge. I beat him so badly now that he is unworthy to even mention the word "chess" to me.

My relationship with my sister is a bit different. My sister isn't as inclined to jump into the versus action; she prefers co-op even though she's awesome at competitive play. But I enjoyed the times when we went tramping through Champions: Return to Arms and when we took down baddies in Medal of Honor: Rising Sun. For me, playing through games is more enjoyable when there's someone playing right beside you, and I'm glad I always have a partner for the times when winning a war requires two minds.

Hands-down one of my favorite games of all time.

But when the friends come over, it's a veritable bloodshed among buddies. We partake in dastardly fare like kicking each other off Hyrule Castle in Super Smash Bros., sniping each other from "where the hell are you" spots in Call of Duty 4, and cutting each other off in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (oh man, you can play Double Dash!! till the wee hours of the morning -- it is such an addicting game). I wouldn't trade those times for anything else in the world.

I'm proud of and thankful for the bonds I've developed with my family and friends through videogames. People say that most games are more fun when played with people you're close to, and I agree wholeheartedly. That's the immense power of videogames -- videogames have an uncanny way of bringing people together. They are a singular kind of social device; there's no kind of enjoyment quite like that which videogames can offer. And that's part of what makes being a gamer so special.