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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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          <td align="LEFT" valign="TOP" width="100%"> <font color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> 
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              <h5 align="right"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#00025E"><img src="../../images/icons/boag_final.jpg" width="193" height="235" align="left"><loonystart>Vol. 
                2, Issue 2<br>
                November 16, 1999<br>
                </font></b></h5>
              <h5 align="right"><font color="#00025E"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> 
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              <div align="center">
                <p align="center"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000FF"><i><font color="#904C10" size="3">Birth 

                  of a Gamer:</font></i></font></b></p>
                <p align="center"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000FF"><i><font color="#904C10" size="6"> 
                  Are you sure you want me to do this?</font></i></font></b></p>
                <p align="right"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">by 
                  Heather &quot;<a href="mailto:heatherhazel@eudoramail.com">elki</a>&quot; 
                  Haselkorn</font></p>
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              <p align="left"> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><img src="../../images/letters_new/m.jpg" width="34" height="39" align="left">y 
                original intention was to stay as far away from loonygames as 
                possible. It just wasn't my scene, I didn't understand any of 
                it, and I just didn't care enough to, say, get pissed off about 
                Lara Croft. But I eventually found myself actually reading loonygames 
                and wanting to play some of the games that were mentioned in its 
                articles. On the whole, I thought it was very well done, even 
                though I still had no idea what was going on. Heck, I even wrote 
                in to the mailbag and won a t-shirt. </font></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">So when 
                loony called me and asked if I wanted to take over the &quot;Birth 
                of a Gamer&quot; column, my first response was yes. Followed by, 
                &quot;Are you sure you want me to do this,&quot; as though I'd 
                break the server or something. I guess part of my reaction was 
                because after months of being surrounded by his surreal world, 
                I sort of wanted in. I'd also finally have a legitimate reason 
                for spending hours in front of my computer for &quot;research&quot; 
                purposes. And of course, I can't deny the fact that I'm a pretentious 
                English major who just wants her own byline. Regardless of my 
                motives, here I am, writing what I hope will become a regular 
                column about gaming from a non-gamer's perspective. </font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">This column 
                isn't really giving birth to a gamer; it's more like a &quot;rebirth.&quot; 
                Up until the last couple of years of high school, I played lots 
                of games, mostly badly, and solely on consoles. When I was four 
                years old my dad bought me an Atari. Actually, I think he really 
                bought it for himself, but he told my mother it was for me and 
                my infant brother. I spent hours playing <b>Pac-Man</b>, <b>Donkey 
                Kong</b>, <b>Space Invaders</b>, you name it. I kept buying games 
                for that thing up until I was about twelve. I still quiver at 
                the memory of my mother throwing it away when we moved to a new 
                apartment. How I mourn the loss of my precious <b>Pong</b>! </font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Anyway, 
                said Atari was eventually replaced by the NES. From then on I 
                realized that the only two games I'd ever be good at were <b>Super 
                Mario Bros.</b> and <b>Tetris</b>, which I now have again, thanks 
                to my Game Boy Color. Anyway, I played these games to exhaustion. 
                I think that this was also about that time (correct me if I'm 
                wrong--I probably am) that the wars began and new consoles seemed 
                to be coming out in droves at exorbitant prices. My parents couldn't 
                justify shelling out the money to buy these for me--they said 
                I should spend my time doing other things.</font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">You can 
                imagine my ire when they bought my brothers a Sega Genesis later 
                that year. Video games weren't an appropriate pastime for their 
                tree-climbing, baseball-playing, mud-stained daughter, yet my 
                brothers could take out all their aggression on a television screen 
                any time. This was the first time that I realized there was a 
                double standard when it came to video games. I don't think my 
                parents meant any harm. They were probably looking out for my 
                best interests, and trying to steer me toward &quot;girl&quot; 
                activities that were more socially acceptable. I almost hit the 
                roof when they bought my brothers a Super NES as well, but I eventually 
                gave up the battle and settled into getting my ass whooped by 
                a six-year-old. </font></p>
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              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"></loonystart> 
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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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