Welcome to Gamerrazzi. I am a 29 year old gamer who has been playing games on computers and consoles since early childhood. I recall my father hooking up a medieval looking keyboard (the Commodore 64) to our old black and white television set. My brother and I were allowed to play dinky little learning games and pac man style games on this setup. In elementary school, I moved on to math games and the original Oregon Trail (no other version can compare to the primitive, pixelated verson of Oregon Trail).

Then, when I was 7 years old, we received the console that changed my life as a gamer, the original NES. Playing Mario began a long lasting gaming love affair that has seen me through so many gaming systems and thousands of hours spent gaming. My parents rarely limited my gaming for two main reasons. 1. I was a great student who put school priorities before fun time 2. my doctor recommended gaming as a way to maintain movement, strength and flexibility in my hands, fingers and wrists.

As someone with a progressive muscle disease, who is now in a wheelchair, keeping any of my limbs nimble was incredibly important. Considering I could never go outside during winter, I’d be the kid inside gaming while all the other neighborhood kids were out sledding and playing in the snow. While I liked gaming, I never truly appreciated how much gaming had done to keep my hands stronger and fingers stretched until I was in college. By then, graphic designing had vastly improved on games, and the introduction of more RPG based gaming provided gamers like me with amazing gaming possibilities.

Today, I own a Xbox 360, Wii, PS3, and DSi. I prefer gaming on Xbox the most merely because I feel the controller is best suited for someone with my muscular limitations. Still when I want a true workout, I cannot discount the Nintendo Wii. In all, I prefer my consoles above my handheld.

I’m a huge fan of FP & TP Shooters, Action/Adventure Games, RPG, Sports games, and Driving Games though I will play pretty much anything at least once. I thrive in single player games with powerful weapons and swarming enemies, though I am learning to appreciate the rewards of multi-player gaming experiences with every multiplayer game I own. My goal is to write about gaming not only from the perspective as a gamer with a disability, but as a long time fan who has truly been around to experience the evolution of gaming from the beginning.

Fast Facts about Dominick

Systems You Once Owned: Commodore 64, NES, SNES, Gameboy (earned it through fundraising), GBA, N64, Gamecube, PS2, PS3, PSP, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi, Xbox 360. I also used to play the original Sega system at my Uncle’s house.

Favorite Game Series’: Mario (of course), Legend of Zelda, Golden Sun, Assassin’s Creed, Call of Duty, GTA, Fallout, Madden, Halo

Favorite Games: Super Mario Sunshine, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Super Mario Bros, Fallout 3, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Fable II, Golden Sun (I & II), Assassins Creed II