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      <h5><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">//<a href="../../../index.html"><font color="#7C420E">loonygames</font></a>://<a href="../index.html"><font color="#7C420E">issue 
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                      <p><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000FF"><i><font color="#904C10" size="3">Birth 
                        of a Gamer: Are You Sure You Want me to do This?</font></i></font></b><br>
                      
                      <div align="right"> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">By 
                        Heather &quot;<a href="mailto:heatherhazel@eudoramail.com">elki</a>&quot; 

                        Haselkorn</font></div>
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                    <h5 align="right"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#00025E">Vol. 
                      2, Issue 2&nbsp; <br>
                      November 16, 1999&nbsp; </font></b></h5>
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              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><loonystart></font></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">My gaming 
                days began to wane during high school and finally came to an end 
                after my freshman year of college. I moved into my own apartment 
                and had to choose between buying games and eating. Since starving 
                to death would obviously not have been a good thing, I chose to 
                eat. I spent the next three years virtually gameless and clueless, 
                and the gamer in me died. Do you hear the violins? Do you feel 
                sorry for me yet? It's a sad story, one of the saddest, I tell 
                ya. But it does get better.</font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">In the 
                beginning of my senior year of college, I met our illustrious 
                editor, loony himself, in a history class. I thought he was insane. 
                I thought he was completely out of his mind. I thought he was 
                having a hell of a lot more fun than me. I mean, there he was, 
                carving out a career for himself, doing something that most of 
                us just do for fun. I was amazed that people could actually devote 
                their entire lives to developing, playing, and writing about games. 
                And that was just what they did for a living--after that they 
                went home and played more games! Adult men (and they are mostly 
                men) spent their entire lives doing this. </font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Once again, 
                the double standard struck me. Where are all the women? Sure, 
                I know some women who love to play, but I've heard enough of loony's 
                stories about male-dominated LAN parties to wonder what happened 
                to the other half of the population. How many other women were 
                told when they were younger that they should find something more 
                appropriate to do with their free time? Things are a bit different 
                now, as it seems to be more acceptable for girls to play video 
                games and to learn how to use computers for more than just typing 
                papers. But that's about ten years too late for me, and for many 
                other women in their twenties and older. </font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I have 
                to wonder, in fact, if it's any coincidence that the &quot;Birth 
                of a Gamer&quot; column is being written by a woman, and that 
                the person who did it before me was also a woman. This isn't due 
                to deliberate reinforcement of old stereotypes about how women 
                can't play games. Rather, it kind of turns out that way by default--how 
                many men in my age group can say that they've never played a video 
                game? So I guess it makes sense to have a woman write this column, 
                because it's much more common to meet women who are new to gaming. 
                </font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">When loony 
                asked me to write this column, it was because I was the only person 
                he knew who really could write it. My hiatus from gaming means 
                that I've missed out on so much development that I might as well 
                be starting from scratch. And it's true...some of the stuff I've 
                been seeing is absolutely amazing. I used to be able to pick up 
                a game and know exactly what to do with it. Now I'm so busy just 
                taking in what's on my screen that I have to remind myself to 
                actually play the darned thing.</font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I don't 
                really have a plan for how I'm going to write this column. I'm 
                assuming I'll just get a bunch of games, play them, and write 
                what I think. If you don't like my rantings, well, sorry. I tend 
                to get very opinionated, like it or not. If you think I'm a complete 
                idiot, you're probably at least half-right. If my references are 
                dated and my terminology is, well, nonexistent, you'll just have 
                to forgive me. And I tend to digress into flowery prose that leads 
                nowhere. But hey, I'm a pretentious English major, and now I have 
                a byline. And yes, Lara Croft's perky breasts really do piss me 
                off. </font></p>
              <p align="right"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><i>-Heather 
                &quot;<a href="mailto:heatherhazel@eudoramail.com">elki</a>&quot; Haselkorn 
                actually enjoys this.</i></font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"></loonystart> 
                </p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="index.php"><font color="#7C420E"><b><font size="+1">&lt;&lt;Prev</font></b></font></a></font> 
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<p><i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-2">Credits: Illustration 
  &copy; 1999 Dan Zalkus. Birth of a Gamer is &copy; 1999 Heather Haselkorn. All 
  other content is &copy; 1999 loonyboi productions. Unauthorized reproduction 
  is prohibited, you cartoonish villian, you.</font></i></p>
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