You probably have a lot of questions after reading that prologue. I'll explain the basics, and then I'll talk about what this book is actually like.
Firstly, I was playing Super Smash Brothers Melee. This game was released for the Nintendo gamecube on November 21, 2001, with associations to Hal Laboratories. It is a fighting game with practice modes, singleplayer modes, and multiplayer modes. All in all, it has a total of 26 characters, staring Nintendo stars such as Mario, Bowser, Link, Donkey King and Kirby. I was playing Marth, a Japanese swordsman, vs. Fox, captain of a band of elite space animals that protect the galaxy. (All of the technical stuff was the names of the moves I was performing. I will talk in depth about them when I talk about controllers; a very crucial part of how we play games. The controller cover, if you couldn't tell by the "Nintendo Gamecube" written on it, is the controller for melee.)
But what is so special about this "old and clunky" (as I often hear) game staring Nintendo's greats? It has had two sequels, and no one could possibly stick to a game for that long. But you know that if I say that, it is wrong.
You see, this game has a community like no other. A group of diehard fans, committed to dissecting the game that they love. Melee is so deep that new things are being found out still today! I am glad to say that I am part of this community. Since 2002, we have been holding tournaments that can have grand prizes of 20,000$! People play this game for a living.
This is why I still do not understand why gaming and us gamers are laughed at and discredited everywhere in common media. Everyone still thinks we're just a bunch of "basement dwellers" with "no lives." People don't understand that gaming could become something new, exciting, mainstream, if the older generations, everyone, just gave it a chance. I hope after you read this book, you will think the same thing. And if you don't, that's fine. You can think whatever you want to. I just hope you don't make ill - informed, brash statements about video games or us gamers.
Enough venting; lets get into what this book will be about. This book is about everything gaming; It's history, certain aspects, timeline, companies, legacies, myths, shining moments, potential crashes, and communities, casual to hardcore. Don't worry if you're new; I will be including a guide where I talk about melee and gaming to the beginner's eye. I will be using melee as an example quite a bit. (It is my favorite game; tied with Super Mario Galaxy and Earthbound.) This book is a lot nonfiction, but when I need to make examples that are fake, I will tell you. I hope you enjoy; even if you don't like gaming. Maybe you will.
P.S. Shoutouts to Naomi, heliopause, and Hannah6655232 for showing me this site and giving me feedback. I hope you enjoy this book!
