Hey fine folks; it’s time for the PSN Community Spotlight. For the unfamiliar, this is where PlayStation gamers tell their unique stories/experiences/thoughts, as submitted to this section in the PlayStation Community Forums. Those that make it all the way to the PlayStation Blog will receive a $50 PlayStation Store voucher.

Last week we asked for your PlayStation stories, and gamer zixpk wrote in to tell us about his first gaming memories (hint: It wasn’t on the PS3).

A Fine First Moment in Gaming

Yes. I know.

Another first gaming moment story.

*groan*

But, hey, my first gaming experience wasn’t at a friend’s house, or in a gaming store with all of the playable consoles and special deals. You want to know something outlandish? My first game wasn’t even Call of Duty (which I didn’t play until last year)! So, call me crazy, but I’ve never even played any ‘classic’ games. Yeah, I’ve missed out on the best of the best: Bioshock, MGS4, LBP1, and even all of the Final Fantasy’s. I’m obviously no ‘real’ gamer, at least in my mind. So, you ask or mumble, what was your first gaming experience then Mr. Chronologically Past Gaming Inexperienced? Boys and Girls…

“That’s right. The other portable gaming device.”

One dusty, used, and old cellular phone. Sleek. Sexy. Affordable. Portable.

That’s right. The other portable gaming device. Of course, back in 2001 through 2005 or so, many new or casual gamers would play WHATEVER was pre-installed on their phones. I can remember battling it out with my siblings (verbally, of course) about who would get to play with Mom or Dad’s awesome’ _______the Adventurer Goes on a Daring Quest to ______’ sort of phone game. And then of course, there were the times when I would sit down for a super intense eyeball-melting-onto-the-LCD-screen sort of arcade experience (read: Snake) that I have come to know and love. It was the start of my passion for gaming.

And then, superflashfowardpastalloftheunessicaryhistoryofmy, *ahem* ‘gaming’ life.

The PS3 Slim.

I’m no sucker for good looks, but I am for a clearly well engineered piece of awesome. I knew I needed one from the first time I mistook a PS3slim for alien technology at my friend’s house. PlayStation was my savior from the well-trampled ground of Snake. Not that it’s a bad game and all, but, you know, after 4 years of it…

“I’m no sucker for good looks, but I am for a clearly well engineered piece of awesome.”

I got my first PS3 when I heard of LittleBigPlanet 2. I loved the first, and the fact that (at the time) 3 or so million levels were online: I had to get it. At the time I had saved up just enough money to buy a console and one game. It was too perfect. Except…

I live in China. As part of a Consulate family, I move every three years. So naturally, as far as luck goes, it only made sense that Amazon.com put on a Lithium Battery shipping ban spanning the same time it would take to ship the PS3 for my birthday or Christmas, effectively wiping out the joy of holiday/birthday shopping. But that wasn’t going to deter me from getting it. Enter summer vacation.

Every summer vacation is a 2 month joyride through the hottest months of the year, which I conveniently spend away from one of China’s hot and polluted cities. The moment I could get to a store, I bought the PS3 and LBP2. I remember sitting in the car with it on my lap, taking it into the living room of my grandparent’s house, and plugging it in. As all gamers and techies should know, it’s that first moment, the turning on of the first console you’ve ever owned that makes you think: “Yes. Tis Sweet Glory.” I spent my afternoons playing the first 20 or so levels, and fashioning a sack person to look like my grandparent’s dog.

In the end, I love it. I’m no full-on gamer, but hey! Stick a young man on a 15-hour plane ride to China with his soon to be favorite console and an instant classic game and call him a gamer, for everything the moment’s worth. So, thank you PlayStation!

Happy Halloween Community!

Thanks for writing in zixpk!
Next week we want to hear more general stories about the PlayStation brand. Click here to check out more info on this call to action.