A reader shares their personal journey of playing video games from childhood in the 70s to serving in the army in 2001.

The world of video games has come a long way since the days of Space Invaders. As someone who is now 54 years old, I've had the privilege of experiencing the evolution of gaming and I want to take a moment to reminisce and share some of my fondest memories. My first encounter with video games was in the late 1970s, when my dad used to run the local football club bar.

As a young kid, I would often accompany him on Friday nights to help with preparations for the evening. One particular Friday, I walked in to find a new, shiny cabinet sitting between the jukebox and the fruit machine. It was Space Invaders, a game I had only heard of but never seen in real life.

My dad asked me to switch it on, and as I watched it go through its boot sequence, I was mesmerized. My dad had the keys and he let me play a few rounds, igniting my love for video games. In the early 1980s, my parents bought my sisters and me an Acorn Electron for Christmas, thinking it would be a great educational tool.

But of course, we were more interested in playing games on it. We didn't have a large collection, but the few games we had were played to death. I remember playing Snapper, a Pac-Man clone, Danger UXB, and of course, Chuckie Egg.

On Sundays, I was allowed to connect the Electron to the big TV and play in color, which was a huge revelation for me. By the early 1990s, I was serving in the British Army in Germany and the gaming scene was dominated by the Amiga. I didn't own one myself, but my roommate had one and we spent countless hours playing Speedball 2 and Sensible Soccer, which we considered the greatest football game ever made.

It became a nightly ritual for us and we even debated which joystick was the best – the Competition Pro or the Quickshot. Personally, I was a fan of the Quickshot, although I went through quite a few of them due to the intense gameplay. Then in the mid to late 1990s, I was serving a tour in Bosnia and I brought my PlayStation 2 with me as a luxury item.

My buddy and I went halfers on a TV and we spent our free time playing Destruction Derby 2 and SSX Tricky until the console eventually gave out from constant use. We even wrote to a PlayStation magazine, hoping to get a replacement, but unfortunately, it was beyond repair. Despite this setback, it was one of the most memorable gaming experiences of my life.

As I look back on my gaming journey, I realize how much it has evolved and how far we've come. From simple arcade games to high-tech consoles, the world of gaming has given me countless hours of entertainment and unforgettable memories. And to this day, I still enjoy playing and experiencing all that the gaming industry has to offer.