Inspiration Friday.

I can't believe I was away a whole week, well not away, I did  check in on other bloggers, but I didn't post. I want to say at least this was not laziness on my part, but a giant influx of writing this week. I am trying to have Ashes ready for August and so it is taking a lot of work. Anyway I hope that I can manage both better this week.

I also want to mention that I did an interview for ELEMENTAL at Falling 4 Fiction, please go and check it out and say hey.

Alright onto my post. Inspiration Friday. Every Friday I find a topic and give three things from that topic that inspire me. This is not a favorites list necessarily, though they are some of my favorite things. This weeks theme is Video Games.

In the past three decades gaming has not only become popular it has become as relevant and influential as any other medium of entertainment. Yes I know 70s rocked the arcades, but once we got to have consoles and computers in our home that could be played minus the coin, the clothes and the need to walk/drive anywhere—gaming was here to stay.

As a child of the 80s, well 82 and up, I can still remember the Atari. I rocked it out to Zelda and Mario at friends houses. I got my first system—a Sega Genesis— with the game Sonic included and never looked back. There were so many games that influenced me in my creativity. I think today I will look at immersion when picking my three.

Okay first up we have Final Fantasy VII. If I am honest many of the FF games can fall into this category easily. The first game actually appeared in 1987 in Japan and was the creators last effort to find success in the gaming world. Boy did he succeed  FF is Square Enix's best selling game to date. I mean it holds Guinness Book world records and spawned an MMO. So why 7? Well I didn't have all the new toys growing up and was never on the cutting edge of what was coming out in the tech world. One Christmas I was lucky enough that my grandmother bought me and my sister a PlayStation and with it, this game. I honestly can't say if my sister ever even touched the thing, that was how much I was on it. I had never encountered anything like this before. The story, the world, the characters, it was really like I was in a book and more so than any movie or game I'd ever watched/played before. I remember after playing weeks and weeks, my girlfriend at the time deleted my file and it was like she killed my best friend. I loved the game so much that after I pulled myself together I restarted it all over again. I was on this amazing ride that I don't think I have ever experienced since in a game. When certain characters died I felt it. Now the game went on to have this "Fanboy" following which has earned it a bad name to some people, but for me I had no idea I was supposed to like it, I just knew I did. When they released news about the PS4, FF's creator came on stage and talked about how 16 years ago they joined PS with FF7 it hit me just how long this game has stayed with me. I still have my copy and will be thankful to this game for how it made me feel and what it taught me about story.

Okay I know lots of text on that one I will keep these next two short. Next is Skyrim. Much like the FF series, the Elder scrolls put out in depth stories with wide open worlds and tons of interaction with everything around you. Their last installment was no exception, in fact it blew all the others out of the water. Character customization and a world so open you literally are able to tell your own story, this game is a fantasy writer's dream. 

Last we have Tomb Raider. Now I know some of you may say, but you like strong female characters why would this game that offended so many woman inspire you? Well, I guess I saw past the over sized bosom and short shorts that brought so many guys in to play these games. Lara was strong, intelligent and resourceful and I dare anyone to romp around ruins in daisy dukes. The games had these great puzzles that would literally have people stuck for hours. The games started to wane in quality after a while. I sadly thought the franchise dead, but this last year I got to play the new tomb raider and it was all of the Lara Croft I loved without any of the male generated exaggerations  The story of this game was intense and the game play and graphics just aided in every moment of it.



Anway here is my list don't forget to go check out Falling for Fiction and say, Hi. As always have fun and keep writing.