I never played video games as a child/preteen. I was more into reading and playing outside with my sister and friends. I'd even combine the two and sit up in a tree reading a book. When I started dating my now husband, he loved playing video games and we'd play PacMan, Defender, Astroids, etc. on the machines his folks had in the dining room of the Dairy Queen they owned or we'd go to the local truck stop and play the machines they had there.
After a few years, we got married, had children and bought a PS1. Mostly my Son and husband would play it, but I enjoyed playing Spyro, Crash Bandicoot and Frogger on it. Now and then I'd try COD, 007 games, Madder NFL, or even GNome, Trophy Buck & Trophy Fishing on the PC, but that was more their thing.
I was still more into reading novels and doing things outside, amateur photography, raising our children, working as a 4-H Administrative Assistant, taking care of our home, etc.
When my oldest daughter begged us to buy her The Sims for her 13th birthday, everything changed. It was the building aspect that got me into it at first, I couldn't get enough! I'd play Sims in gameplay too, but that was the biggest draw for me. Once TS2 came out, it changed my life completely. I still loved building in it, but I loved the gameplay with that iteration too. It allowed my creative side to shine.
That was the period in my life where I ended up owning and running a very popular forum for TS2 and writing as well. It was the Golden era for me. I literally RAN outside to the UPS truck when TS2 base game was delivered. The driver must've thought I was a crazy woman, jumping up and down and wooting in glee. lol
By then I was the only one in my family still playing the Sims. Everyone in my family did for awhile, but stopped after awhile with other interests or had gone back to the PS in my Son and Hubby's case.
I skipped TS3 for a variety of reasons, mainly because I didn't have a computer to run it and couldn't afford to buy one. But I didn't like the look of the Sims either. I LOVED how beautiful the worlds looked though and the idea of an open world, color wheel, create-a-style.
TS4 came out and I loved the look of the Sims, the world, build mode, CAS, so I bought a used laptop from my DIL that could run it and started buying packs. Eventually that laptop gave up the ghost and Hubby bought me a gaming desktop PC as a wedding anniversary gift a couple years ago. Despite all it's glitches/bugs and missing elements, I love it!
So anyway, I'd say that the Sims got me playing video games, or I should say only this game for over 20 years, more than just casually, but not for the dollhouse aspect. Little girls don't actually build their dollhouses. lol It's enhanced my life in so many creative and fun ways, it would be hard to list them all and because of that I'll be forever grateful! <3
