IGN SEA Says: Our Personal and Amazing Journey in Video Games, So Far
It’s been a great ride, and it’s only the beginning.
We think we speak for everyone when we say that video games are as amazing as they are magical. They entertain, inspire and enthral us in ways that seemed almost inconceivable merely four decades ago. From the humble Pong in 1972 to epic adventures like Ghost of Tsushima in 2020, video games have the ability to transport us to faraway places in the comfort of our own homes.
And, just as we evolve, so too will video games. We may not know what the future holds for us but we’re sure as hell and damn well excited.
In conjunction with Video Games Day on Sept 12, the IGN Southeast Asia team share their personal stories chronicling their journey in video games and how their passion shaped not only their childhood but also helped carve their own path in the industry.
The personal accounts you’re about to read may sound familiar and even strike a chord among some of you, and that just goes to show the universal appeal of gaming. We hope you enjoy reading our stories as much as we did writing them.
Natasha Hashim, Content Producer at IGN Southeast Asia
My name is Natasha and some of you may know me as Tashbunny. I’m a Content Producer at IGN Southeast Asia and I am so lucky to be able to work in a field related to video games - something near and dear to my heart.
My journey into video games isn’t as early or as interesting as most of my gamer friends my age. I was only able to jump into the world of video games with both feet when I was 13 when my father got me a PlayStation 2 to celebrate one of my first huge achievements in life - 5As in UPSR (an important examination in Malaysia).
However, I did manage to get my feet wet earlier with other sorts of games. When I was between four and ten years old, my parents would buy me these educational games called Jumpstart to help me learn Math, English, History and Science. The game is heavily based on the American curriculum instead of the Malaysian one, which meant that half the stuff I learned from the game didn’t really translate well into what I learned in school but that isn’t really the point. The point is that it exposed me to video games at such an early age and showed me the basics of what a video game is.
Since then, I’ve always been fascinated by my cousins playing games on their Game Boy Color, the Game Cube and even the PlayStation 1.
If you asked me which game really set me off into the world of video games, it would be Kingdom Hearts. What made the game extra special is the fact that it was lent to me by a girl I became friends with on the bus to school. We weren’t really friends at the time but we eventually bonded over the games she loaned to me.
Prior to that, the only games I knew were mainstream games such as Tekken, Tenchu and Crash Bandicoot. Thanks to her, I was introduced to the amazing world of RPGs and JRPGs. Suikoden, Final Fantasy, Valkyrie Profile, Radiata Stories, Star Ocean - those were the types of games you’d see me play over and over again.
Growing up, I was very lonely. I have always been very chatty. I loved to talk and most kids my age didn’t like that. My parents were strict; they never let me go out and socialize with friends. Of course, my rebellious nature growing up didn’t make things better either - I was almost always grounded, which means I couldn’t go out and have fun with my friends at the park in the evenings.
That’s why I would always turn to video games to escape my loneliness.
Video games took me to faraway worlds, introduced me to amazing music and even got me interested in drawing and writing my own novels back in the day. It gave me so much in terms of creativity and inspiration.
Despite the fact that I was also bullied for liking video games, I stuck to it. My parents were often upset that I’d rather be on my computer or console instead of doing activities better suited to a girl.
I think a part of me decided to stick to this path as a way to show my parents and the world how wrong they were about me and video games. Another part is waiting for that feeling I get when I play “the perfect game” and finish it with this amazing and indescribable feeling in my heart.
Either way, I love video games and how they impacted my life. I am so lucky that it has brought me to where I am today.
Zahra AlHadad, Intern at IGN Southeast Asia
Hi! So I’m Zahra and I’m currently the intern here at IGN SEA. I was honestly so excited to start here and I’m honoured that I even was considered. I continually enjoy my time while learning so much because video games are such an important part of my life.
My beginning with video games included games on the polar opposite ends of each other. On one side, I did the normal thing a young girl would when she had a PS2: play every Bratz and Barbie game available. On the other, I frequently played against my father and old best friend in games like Call Of Duty, FIFA, and X-Men: Next Dimension.
I used to stay up as much as I could to grind on Bratz Girlz Really Rocks (a strange sentence considering the game itself) and used both controllers to play both teams in FIFA to make sure my team won and my rank in the league skyrocketed. However, I fell out of it when the PS3 was released because my family decided to not get a gaming console anymore.
It wasn't until I got my first smartphone when I was reintroduced to it by watching gaming videos on YouTube religiously since I couldn’t afford to buy any console or game. I came back right in during the era of indie horror games like Slender and Five Nights At Freddy's. And then, the release of The Last Of Us with its amazing story sealed the deal. From then on, I was pulled back to the deep end, introducing myself to all these different facets of gaming. I became an avid fan of the Overwatch League, downloaded Dragon Age into my laptop (that could barely run it), and cried at every slightly emotional story in a game. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg.
For the most part, I was never the most vocal about my love for video games due to the fear of judgement and ridicule. (I was called a Fake Gamer Girl one time too many.) But the love for the medium never waned.
Video games gave me an escape just like any other media, but it’s extra special because it puts me in the world so much more easily. It lets me forget about my problems for a while and sets all of my focus on the task at hand - whether it be to punch the living hell out of someone or make the right story choices (and then probably fail at both). I’ve even grown as a person because these games let me become someone else for a while and experience things differently in their perspective, which allowed me to learn and change myself for the better.
I think it’s easy to see that I wouldn’t be the same person without video games and honestly, I’m proud of that. It’s brought me to where I am today, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Adrian Lai, Chief Editor at IGN Southeast Asia
Back in 1999, I remember hunching over a computer inside a cyber cafe, playing my first ever multiplayer StarCraft match with a bunch of other kids. Being the idiot that I was, I spammed the chat with my go-to cheat codes like 'black sheep wall', 'power overwhelming', and 'food for thought'. You can imagine how flummoxed I was when they didn't work.
Cyber cafes back in the day were, well, actual cafes that served just about anything a regular establishment would. Hot food, cold drinks, you name it. But patrons didn't sit at dining tables; they were busy mashing their keyboard in front of CRT monitors with alarm clocks on them.
I didn't acknowledge it then, but I loved video games. It just so happens they were pirated video games. In 1997 Malaysia, video game stores were a dime a dozen. Being the idiot that I was, I thought my RM5 (US$1.20) copy of Command & Conquer: Red Alert was the real McCoy.
I also loved the litany of video games that were at my disposal. Sure, what you call retro games today were groundbreaking pieces of technology for a snivelling, weasel-faced 7-year old like myself. I played Duke Nukem 3D, Xenon and Paperboy on MS-DOS; Time Crisis at the arcades; SNES games on pirated cartridges and consoles, Sonic the Hedgehog on the Sega Genesis; Bomberman World on the PlayStation; pirated 16-in-1 Game Boy games; and who could forget the virtual pets in Tamagotchi and Digimon?
To channel my competitive streak, I've clocked over 10,000 hours in DotA and Dota 2, and I currently represent my company at corporate tournaments for Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. Looking back, video games are inadvertently the poison and cure for my soul but I'm not the least bit ashamed to say that this is the life.
Dale Bashir, Content Producer at IGN Southeast Asia
I don’t think there was a period in my life where I wasn’t playing video games. Starting with emulated SNES games through a computer software called Emulator King, video games were hand-in-hand with toys and cartoons throughout my childhood. In fact, my very first exposure to Final Fantasy was here, with a pirated Spanish ROM of Final Fantasy VI. Only years later would I find out that the “cool robot game” was one of the SNES’s best games.
One of my favourite memories was when I was five years old. My older brother was 10 at the time and he aced his exams at school. As a reward, my father bought him a PlayStation, with a plethora of fake games to go along with it. The first game we played was Beast Wars, an admittedly shoddy arena fighting game, but it was a pretty good adaptation of the TV show at the time.