I’m blogging from 30,000 feet again, on my way home from NYC. I feel like I got to see a lot more of the city compared to the last time I was here. Even though I was very unfamiliar with the subway, or had never been to Little Italy before, I recognized buildings and details everywhere I went—recognized them from video games.

Every time I walked down the street of a new neighborhood, I had recollections like:

I remember jumping off of that building as the Hulk.

I remember beating up a SWAT officer on that roof.

I remember jumping through that plate-glass window.

I remember dodging obstacles from on top of the subway train.

Of course, most of the games I would think of were not actually set in New York. They were set in fake New Yorks, or fake Chicagos, or fake San Franciscos. One game in particular resonated more than any other, though, for two reasons: One, it was actually set in New York City, and two, it was the game that started my life as a gamer. Can you guess? It was Deus Ex.

I have nothing but the fondest of memories for that amazing game. It was my first time playing a first-person shooter, it was my first time playing an RPG, it was my first time pretending to be asleep so my parents would go to bed and I could get up and play until 4:00 AM. It is undoubtedly the game that made me a gamer.

On my first trip to New York last year, I actually got to see Liberty Island and Battery Park. Walking through them was like taking a trip through time to when I was a teenager, gaming on my first computer. Not my family’s first computer, but my first computer. It was in my room, it had my stuff on it, and no one else used it. I named her Doris.

But I digress.

Strolling through Battery Park last year, I remembered what my Cherry Coke tasted like and how the glow of the CRT monitor felt on my face in the dark bedroom. I could practically see Denton in front of me, walking around with his GEP gun (or crossbow, depending on which playthrough it was). I pictured the guards walking on their pre-programmed paths, and I remembered where the great hiding spots were. It was really an amazing feeling, and one I will never forget.

This year was similar, but because the games I’ve played since were not actually set in New York, the memories weren’t always as vivid. Still, scenes from Mirror’s Edge were playing back in front of me, even though the buildings in that city were all a stark, perfect white. I was looking for red pipes to run towards… but then I realized I was walking around with Damian and Neal, we were on our way to lunch, and I wasn’t an Asian free-runner.

Am I too much of a gamer? I don’t think so. Others might disagree, but I always remind them that I don’t live in a basement OR drink Mountain Dew.

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