PSN Community Spotlight – Giving Back

According to all the stores, it’s time to get in the holiday spirit! Coincidentally, it’s also time for the PSN Community Spotlight. For the unfamiliar, this is where PlayStation gamers tell their unique stories/experiences/thoughts, as submitted to this section in the PlayStation Community Forums. Those that make it all the way to the PlayStation Blog will receive a $50 PlayStation Store voucher.

Last week we asked for your PlayStation stories, and gamer saionji1229 wrote in to tell us about his best friend (no, I don’t mean the PS3).

Giving Back

Back when I was in high school, I met my best friend during senior year. We happened to meet only because we were both transferees to the same school for our final year, which isn’t very common. We got along immediately because of our shared past time, which was of course, playing video games.

This was very late in the PS2’s lifecycle so we had a ton of games to talk about. Coincidentally, we enjoyed mostly the same genres as well. For the genres we didn’t share the same interest in, we both served as gateways for each other to trying more games of different kinds. He absolutely dominated people in the arcades when playing fighting games and I knew why because I had seen him practicing all his moves on the console. I was really into rhythm games of all kinds, from Guitar Hero to quirky little Japanese games that nobody knew existed. Because of this, we’d be playing all sorts of games and it was great.

I know meeting a friend who also likes video games isn’t exactly unique. But it was that combined with all his other characteristics that made us get along so well. Unfortunately for me, my old group of friends and I drifted away from each other during high school because they decided to get into things that I didn’t want to be a part of. Every weekend would be spent partying and getting into various kinds of trouble. They were my friends for a very long time and it wasn’t easy to say goodbye but I knew that I couldn’t hang out with them anymore. My best friend, however, would rather stay at home and marathon a video game. We’d still go out to party from time to time but playing games was our favorite thing to do.

I could also tell he loved video games because he had to do all his gaming on an extremely tight budget. His family wasn’t in a very good position financially. There were times that I would treat him out to play at the arcade because I knew he wanted to play but just couldn’t spare the cash. He was also afraid he’d miss out on the next generation of consoles. Luckily for us, my dad decided to get me a PS3 for Christmas! We basically shared the console like brothers. He had his own controller and his own profile on my system and he’d even pitch in to buy a game when he could. Everything was looking good gaming-wise.

A year later, I would find out that he and his family would be migrating to another country. This was heartbreaking to me. I had finally found an awesome friend that loved my hobby just as much as I did and he was going away. But we wouldn’t give up, and we were somehow comforted by the fact that online console gaming was really starting to take off. We could play with each other online instead! It would be just like old times, but on a headset. So with his first part-time job, he saved for months and bought a new PS3. We were set! And then my PS3 died on me. Because I was still studying at the time, I didn’t know when I’d be able to get a new one again. Our plan was ruined.

2 months later, my friend called and told me that he had something delivered to my house and asked if I got it. I asked my parents if anything for me arrived and they pointed to a table with a box. It was unmistakable, it was a brand new slim PS3. I was ecstatic but guilty at the same time because a gift like this isn’t exactly cheap. I asked him if it was really okay and he said of course. And that it was time for him to give back. Thanks to my best friend, I have my current and favorite console. And thanks to Sony, we still hang out every week. But not in a school. In a battlefield, a dungeon and who knows where we’re headed next.

Thanks for writing in saionji1229!

Next week we want to hear more general stories about the PlayStation brand. Click here to learn more.