What was your favorite plaything as a child? Do you see any connection between your life now, and your favorite childhood toy?

Source: http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/09/12/daily-prompt-memento/

My favorite toy when I was a child was my Game Boy Color, the first handheld portable gaming system I had. More specifically, my favorite game was Pokémon – I owned the Yellow and Gold versions.

During my generation’s childhood, not only were Pokémon games considered companions that kids could take with them where ever they wanted to never get bored, but they were also a way to demonstrate social status. Having the strongest and widest variety of Pokémon was how you earned the respect of your peers, and you settled disputes by linking up your Game Boys and having Pokémon battles.

Since then, I haven’t actually purchased more Pokémon games. However, I did do competitive Pokémon battling for a while during the fourth generation of games, and have played some of the newer games using emulators on my computer.

I feel like having Pokémon as my favorite game as a child has affected my current life because it has shaped what I enjoy doing for entertainment. I am still more of an indoors person, and would prefer to play computer games or read books rather than do stuff outside.

It has also affected the type of games I enjoy playing. I prefer not to play games that are instance-based (where you start fresh each round), or one-time play through games where you can “beat” the game. Instead, I like to play games where you can continue to build upon your past work, and can continue to work towards a seemingly impossible goal, finding pleasure and satisfaction simply from making progress.

This is apparent from the other games I play. During middle school, I played Neopets, which is a very open-ended game that can’t exactly be “beaten.” Starting from seventh grade, I played RuneScape, also a very open-ended game where your progress is permanently saved and there’s always something dynamic to do.

Outside the realm of games, my approach to real life has become similar. I don’t like to do things that are momentary, and provide enjoyment or pleasure just for the duration of the act. Instead, I like to do things that will ultimately improve me in the long run, and help enhance my life in a larger scale.

For example, rather than traveling, I would prefer to spend that money on something like a high-end computer, that will last for years, rather than just the duration of the vacation.

This is also why I never discard anything I do. I keep archives of all the work and content I produce, and save it. If it’s contained on paper, I always scan everything and save it as electronic files before discarding any paper. This way, I am able to look back at everything I’ve accomplished in the past, and have remains of what I invested my time into doing.