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Those Were the Days: A Final Fantasy Sick Day
It's Not Easy Sharing a System
by Sarah
Those Were the Days is a weekly article in which Gamervision employees share video game-related memories. If you’ve got a story of your own to share, please do so! We love hearing from the community.
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The year was 1999, and I was 16 years old. I was also a blatant Sony fangirl, having been in love with the first PlayStation since its launch in 1995. Nintendo 64? Pffft. What Nintendo 64? The PS1 was where it was at, especially with the Final Fantasy series making its home on the system. I had fallen in love with FFVII a year or two before, and now the next game in the series was about to come out. There was only one problem: I shared a system with two brothers, and between school, work, and whatever counted as a social life back then, it seemed like I could never get any gaming time to myself.
09.09.99 was the date that Final Fantasy VIII came out. Incidentally, it was also the date that the Sega Dreamcast launched in the U.S., but I could not have cared much less about that. It was the first game I ever remember having pre-ordered, and my brothers and I even picked up the strategy guide, which was a rarity. I was so ready for this game to come out. The only problem was, I had to work. I was working part-time at clothing store Annie Sez at the time, and it was my first real paycheck job. I hated every single minute of it. That night, during four-hour shift that felt like an eternity, I contemplated quitting, knowing that one of my brothers (both of whom are younger) was probably enjoying FFVIII without a care in the world. It was infuriating.
After a few days had passed and I still hadn’t even started Final Fantasy VIII, I was growing more and more impatient. I had been waiting for this game for almost two years, after all! Like most role-playing games, this wasn’t the type of thing you could just sit down and play for a few minutes; if you wanted to get started, you pretty much had to have at least an hour or two free. Finally, I decided that desperate times called for desperate measures. It was time to play the ace up my sleeve. It was time to play sick.
Of course, this was no easy task. My parents wouldn’t call me out of school unless I was running a fever or losing a limb most of the time, so I needed a plan. It started the night before, when I started complaining about a headache and stomachache. The next morning, when my alarm went off, I started moaning about how sick I was. “I can’t go to school!” I insisted. Finally, my parents gave in, probably more out of exasperation and a need to get to their own jobs. They called me out of school and went to work. My brothers went off to school. I was all alone in the house, and it was heaven.
I waited until everyone was gone, then went downstairs in my pajamas, grabbed some breakfast, and sat down in front of the computer room TV. I turned on the PlayStation. The epic opening cinema began. Finally! I had all the time in the world to play as long as I wanted! In reality, I probably only played for five or six hours that day, which was not even a dent in the 40-hour-plus game. Like most days off, it went by way too fast, and before I knew it my brothers were returning from school. I did eventually get more play time in, and FFVIII remains one of my favorite games to this day. In fact, now that I think about it, it’s been a while since I’ve played it all the way through; maybe tomorrow would be a good time to start again. I do think I feel a cough coming on.
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Comments
This is my favorite Final Fantasy game. It was also my first 3-D one. Many others had Final Fantasy VII, but I had this one. I enjoyed this quite a bit. I'm currently looking for another copy of it.
(Foolishly squandered it to Gamestop back in..., ..2001?)
So glad I never traded any of my childhood games in. They served me well when I was in college and too poor to afford new games. My PS1 got me through till about 2004. Even when I broke down and bought my own PS2 (the one I shared with my brothers had been left behind at my parents' house when I moved out), I still kept my PS1, and have it to this day. I replayed FFVII and FFX last year, so it might be time for FFVIII to get some love this year.
I remember ditching my stupid freshmen orientation class to pick this game up from EB on launch day. While not my favorite FF it was still well worth it!
i enjoyed this game a lot, it is easily one of my favorite final fantasy games and right up there as one of my favorite RPG's.
Skipping school to play games, i do remember those days. I had to share my system with my younger brother.
Skipping school for dorky things are fond memories, indeed. I remember the time that my friends an I "escaped" the student parking lot during lunch to go see Return of the Jedi when they re-released the original trilogy in theaters. It was an escape that can only be thought of as...
EPIC!
I did the almost the exact same thing, but it was with FFVI.
"I do think I feel a cough coming on." - Damn, you still live with your parents? And tell your brothers to piss off!!! :)
Great story Sarah, think we've all done stuff like that. Now that I'm an "adult" I can do stuff like plan 2 or 3 vacation/personal days a few weeks before a major event like Warhammer Online this past Sept. I'm definitely doing that when FF XIII releases :)
BTW, I started playing VIII recently to give it another chance (this would be the 4th chance over the years - I don't part with many of my games!).
I'm realizing why I never liked it. First, it's dull for a FF game. Not overall just the first couple of hours at the Academy. And then when it starts to pick up the party "passes out" and you have to play with other characters and that totally killed the momentum that was building up. It's back on my shelf.
DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!
FFVIII was and still is, my all-time favorite FF game (FFX is second, but kind of a far second....o.O)
It was also my first FF, so it does hold a softer spot for me (similar to how Devil May Cry was my first PS2 game).
I still remember playing the demo that came with Brave Fencer, and hating it. I put off beating it for a month and then gathered my courage, played it again...
...Loved every minute.
Then I kept begging and bugging the shit outta my parents to get me the game for Xmas. Some stuff happened and my parents punished me by saying I wasn't gonna get any presents that year. I tried hard to make up for whatever I did.
Christmas morning came and I found no presents anywhere....just when everything seemed bleak, I went to say hi to my dad. He pointed to a pile of boxes, one of which was....*le gasp* a present for me! I opened it and saw the back of the case, turned it over and it was FF8. I hugged my dad so hard.
I then took about 30 minutes to read thoroughly Bible-sized instruction booklet (my mom NEVER lets me get a game without instructions), popped the 1st disk in and.....the game was a blast from start to end.