Gamer’s Day: Voxel recalls nostalgic moments with games

On August 29, two important dates are celebrated: the possible closure of Twitter in Brazil, and Gamer’s Day. Unlike Elon Musk’s social network, gaming culture continues to grow in Brazil and around the world — being a crucial part of a lucrative industry, which generated more than US$ 183 billion internationally in 2023 alone.

Here in Brazil, almost 74% of the population already plays games, with 47% of the public preferring mobile games — this according to data released by Pesquisa Game Brasil (PGB) this year. With such a high adoption, the importance of games for Brazilians becomes even more evident, with 85% of them declaring them as their main form of entertainment.

Despite all the success, if you don’t know the reason for celebrating this date, we’ll explain! The date was established in Spain in 2008 by a publishing group focused on games. Quite simply, the idea was to value gamer culture as a hobby, work, art, entertainment and its countless other applications.

@voxeloficial Gamer’s Day: what is your first gamer memory? #videogames #gamerday #games #games ? original sound – Voxeloficial

Continuing the legacy of our Spanish colleagues, Voxel celebrates this gamer’s day by bringing special stories from our collaborators — whether it’s the most memorable day with a beloved game, or the first memory with a console. Check it out!

Voxel Team recalls memorable gaming moments

Adriano Camacho (Editing Assistant)

Starting with this one, the youngest of Voxel, I must confess that my experience with the world of games began earlier than I could remember. Thanks to my parents, absolute fans of the Super Nintendo, there are photos of me with a controller from my first months. Although my first official games were probably Donkey Kong Country e Aladdin, it would be fairer to say that Super Mario World e Mega Man X They really won my heart — around the age of four or five.

Eventually, I was lucky enough to play Super Metroid, Castlevania IV, Zombies Ate My Neighbor e Sunset Riders on a giant Toshiba CRT. At the time, I had no idea that these were future classics, and in any case, they were unnamed titles—affectionately referred to as “Western games” or “zombie games” by friends and family. And of course, much of this variety was provided by the iconic video rental stores.

Sunset Riders, SNES.

While these memories are certainly memorable, nothing was quite as special as waking up on a birthday morning and being faced with a brand new PlayStation 1 Slim. Back then, at the ripe old age of 8, nothing looked as beautiful as the graphics on Crash Bandicootthe beloved “Little Fox Game”. From then on, it didn’t take long for me to fall in love with Resident Evil 3, Parasite Eve, Tekken 3 and many other games of the Season.

And then came the PlayStation 2 with Resident Evil 4, Xbox 360 com Resident Evil 5 and many other classics. In the meantime, I was lucky enough to play Nintendo and Sony handhelds, and even enjoyed Unreal Tournament 98 on Windows XP. It took me a while to adopt PC and Steam as my main platform for gaming, but the convenience and prices convinced me — significantly changing a hobby that was previously only possible through sustainable copies, rented or borrowed games.

Wesker, em Resident Evil 5.

Nowadays, the feeling of playing is no longer the same, I admit, but there is still a lot of that “nostalgic magic” when experiencing Dark Souls, Fire Ring, Life is Strange, The Witcher and so many other titles. The funny part about this is remembering the journey, sharing it here on Voxel, and only now understanding that maybe I love From Software so much for dying overly em Mega Man X.

Well, after chatting a lot, I asked my colleagues about their earliest or most memorable memory with the world of games — check it out below, first hand!

Matthew Mognon (Editor)

“Although I have many old memories of seeing relatives playing on the Mega Drive, Super Nintendo and PC, the moment with video games that marked my childhood the most was when I got a PlayStation 1. My father bought the Slim model used from my uncle and the delivery was without much fuss. The console came inside two supermarket bags with a CD holder full of pirated games, as well as a very heavy power supply.

Spyro, PS1.

Games like Spyro, Dragon Ball Z and the iconic Brazuk were very successful in the interior of Lagoa Vermelha-RS. Interestingly, the console was only retired when I got a first generation Xbox — yes, I am part of the select club that played Halo 2 and the like in this monster that tried to compete with the PS2.”

Derek Pupo (Video Content Editor)

“It was the 2002 World Cup Final. Since the games of that edition were at dawn, the whole family gathered at my grandmother’s house to wait. On the day, the match was early in the morning, so we killed time by having a soccer competition.” Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3on my uncle’s Super Nintendo.

Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3.

There were hours of gaming until the Cup Final, and that’s when my passion for Mortal Kombat started, with the Ultimate consecrating itself in my Top 5 favorite games of all time. It was a happy day: we played Mortal Kombat and Brazil became five-time world champion.”

Francesco Casagrande (Social Media Analyst)

“Although my most memorable experience was playing Mighty Morphin Power Rangers from my neighbor’s SNES, the first one I remember was going to my great-grandmother’s house on Sunday and borrowing the Nintendo 64 that was there to play Super Mario 64, Wave Race 64 and, mainly, Star Wars Episode I: Racer.

Star Wars Episode I: Racer.

It was always a hassle to be able to use the TV in the living room, since the whole family would get together to have afternoon coffee and watch the Videocassetadas, but whenever I could, it was my favorite part of the week.”

Renan Hamann (Editor-in-Chief)

“Although I still have my father’s Atari 2600, my earliest memories of video games are with the Nintendo — in this case, a shameless Family System clone! I played a lot Mario Bros., Mappy, Formula 1 Sensation when I spent the weekends with my father… Around 95 or 96, my sister and I got a Super Nintendo and then I started playing a lot Mortal Kombat Ultimate e Superstar Soccerin addition to Super Mario Worldwhich we must have closed a thousand times.

Game that only Hamann knew.

One crazy thing is that the console came with a very difficult and obscure Japanese game that I only discovered the name of MANY years later: The Guardian – Frustrated! I never even passed the next level.”

Stephanie Kohn (Content Manager)

“I remembered to play Enduro all night with my cousins ​​and my father, and he had tendonitis in his thumb because of the Atari controller (laughs).”

The real video game is the friends along the way

Regardless of the context, age, game or platform, video games are part of many people’s history. Of course, memories are happier when they involve a good title — something to be proud of. Concord will hardly be remembered —, but its importance is only consecrated by the company, the possibility of sharing a unique experience.

Whether it’s with a friend, a family member, a streamer, or anonymously on a forum, gaming tends to bring all kinds of tribes together — even if gamers Valuing e League of Legends disagree. And perhaps that’s why Gamer’s Day is so important to the community, even if it’s not remembered by them — after all, it’s not even a holiday.

In any case, it’s clear: the real video game is the friends we make along the way.