(Being a long time reader of Bitmob and many gaming-related sites, I figured it was time to properly introduce myself by creating a Meet The Mob page. Enjoy!)

Greetings everybody, I'm Eric Sapp. You may have heard my name around a few places, including Bitmob here. I have always been more of an observer and less of a speaker, but something happened to me recently in the past few months that converted me to start expressing myself by speaking (or typing in this case). This has lead to starting a 1UP blog and posting on Bitmob, as my second article made it to the front page here. The response so far has been absolutely amazing, but how did this all happen?

Let's rewind.

It wasn't until I was around 3 years old that I played my first video game, which was none other than Super Mario Bros. for the NES. Ever since then, I couldn't get my hands off games. My father was in the Air Force, so we had to move around the country a few times (and even to Germany once). Arizona, Germany, Georgia to Alaska (including an entire road trip from George to Washington), I've done a fair share of traveling in my childhood. 

Growing up during my elementary school days in Alaska, I have always tried to do some sort of activity that was deemed "cool" by the other kids in school. However, I always ended up failing those activities and was officially deemed a loner for a few years. Having barely any friends, I would walk home from school as fast as possible to get my gaming on and forget about all the other kids. This habit picked up so rapidly that it eventually became my life. So let it be, I say! Why do something that I'm not made for?

Then the Dreamcast hit stores across the world. It wasn't until the Dreamcast that I realized that I am a gamer, and nothing else. I eventually ended up meeting some new kids that were gamers such as myself, and we would all rush home after class to play Phantasy Star Online with each other. As some of you know, Phantasy Star Online was a life changing game for me. It was my true online gaming experience (besides classic first person shooters online) as it pretty much shaped me in to who I am today. Meeting countless new people, hunting rare items, slaying bosses. It was all there. And to top it off, it was sci-fi (hell yes).

We ended up leaving Alaska after being stationed there for 8 years, and retired to Utah. (I can't comment on Utah other than I really do not like it here). The cycle continued, as I started middle school here. I was once again a loner for a few months, until a group of kids who were also gamers had me sit with them at lunch. Throughout middle school and high school, I've been with this group for almost a decade. We have all changed in our own different ways, but our personalities bring us all together still. 

Right after high school, I became less of a gamer and moved more towards doing graphic design (since I done a lot of graphic work throughout high school). I started at a community college for a few months, and one day I had the urge to just up and quit. I had no idea what it was that drove me to do such a thing. I then fell in a state of depression, blocking out most of my friends and family, dwelling in my room for quite some time. Summer of 2008 rolled in, and I told myself the only way I could fix myself was to be myself.

I realized that I grew up on gaming, and it was without a doubt, my passion. I began gaming once again.

My friends were introduced to a new and improved Eric, who forgot about everything in the past and was ready to make the future bright. I changed my entire self to reflect on who I really was -- not somebody who wanted to fit in. Relationships with people have never been better until I have done so. I enrolled in another college to get a degree in graphic design which has made my self-esteem skyrocket. But what about my social skills? I have always been quite the shy guy, leaning more on the quiet side.

I have always wanted to be in a community of gamers such as myself, whose passion for gaming rivals next to nothing. But me being shy has always blocked me from doing such a thing. And then PAX 2009 happened. 

Surrounded by thousands of others who had the same mindset as myself, escaping their homelands to come forth and celebrate their love for gaming. It sounded too good to be true! Except, I was one of the few who really wanted to stand out the most and speak about my love for video games. Due to myself striking a frightening resemblance to Area 5’s Ryan O’Donnell, I made it to the Area 5 CO-OP panel and spoke about one of the most life changing games I’ve played, Phantasy Star Online, to a crowd of 200+ people. (If anybody remembers me from PAX 2009, bonus points to you. That took me a lot of guts to do something like that, as I was nearly shaking with fear waiting in line for that moment!)

After the panel, I talked to the Area 5 guys for quite a while. I told them my story, as they shared some of their own. It wasn’t until talking with Matt and Jason, to meeting other familiar (and new faces) at the 1UP MeetUp at Gameworks that I want to stay in this community of gamers forever. Everybody that I have met on the trip were extremely cool, and it wasn’t until the road trip home that I realized I left a part of myself back in Seattle.

The passion of gaming slipped away with the thought that I would never have such an opportunity again.

And here I am today writing here on Bitmob, 1UP, and a new spot on the Salt Lake City page of Examiner.com as the Video Game Community Examiner that I am destined to be a part of this growing community, as I have been in the back of it all for nearly my whole life. You could say this is a proposal to meet some new friends, and you would be right. My friends tell me that I'm made for something far greater than what has already happened, whatever that is. Who knows what the future holds, but I'll definitely be around for it.