Last week, Morgan asked about your experiences with Metal Gear Solid 4, since the game was recently patched with Trophy support. PlayStation gamer luciFOUR wrote in to tell us about his rocky start with the Metal Gear series. Don’t worry, it has a happy ending.

A MGS Fan’s Desire to Play MGS4

It was about 13 years ago. My brothers and I had just gotten a PS1 and we were very excited about the games that we would be playing in the near future. We had played before on a family friend’s system and had already known what we’d be getting into. We got some classic games like “FF VII” and “Ape Escape”. However, one day, my oldest brother had learned about this game that came out the preceding year. It was some title called “Metal Gear Solid”. I had no idea what it would be about with such an odd title name. Is it about combat gear that happens to be metal, which is obviously solid? I just felt I had to try it.

Sadly I couldn’t get too far because of one crucial moment in the game. Remember that CD case Baker gave to you that has Meryl’s Codec frequency? I thought it was on the back of that CD case (like he said), so I equipped it and kept calling Colonel to see if he could help. He didn’t. I had unfortunately abandoned the game for a while before trying again, my brothers thought the same. We feared the game was bugged and never thought of looking online (on dial-up! Oh the 90′s…). Any fan of Metal Gear will tell you that the Codec frequency is on the back of the case for the game itself! I feel like an idiot looking back now.

I had completely forgotten about the game until MGS2 was announced, then MGS3, but never bothered to try it again until I heard detailed coverage of MGS4. This was early 2008, almost a decade later! It looked amazing running on the PS3 (even to this day, I consider it one of the best looking PS3 games). To keep the story short, I played MGS1 all the way through and loved it. Then I got MGS2 and MGS3 and loved those as well. This was, of course, all in anticipation of MGS4. It was one of the main reasons I got a PS3, which was fittingly a PS3/MGS4 bundle. After playing through that, I had nothing but high hopes for MGS5, or whatever was coming next from Hideo Kojima’s mind. One of the most important aspects I look for in a game is a strong story, and it’s almost a guarantee that the MGS games will have that.

Being the first game I got for PS3, I was amazed that this title could even exist. I couldn’t put the controller down. I still have my first gamesave stored on my PS3, unwilling to delete it as it has so many memories attached to it. I loved everything about the game. The ending to Snake’s story was fitting and made me reflect on the first MGS, in addition to the journey I made through all four games, even if it was recent. You could say I was crazy about the series, especially MGS4. Playing through the games and buying each one the day after I finished the previous game, it was obvious I got pulled in. I regret not getting into the series earlier; I probably would have been drawn in a long time ago. 4 years later, here I am playing the game again, for those coveted trophies, and of course, the platinum. I couldn’t ask for a better anniversary gift from Kojima himself.

Thank you Kojima-san, and here’s to another 25 years of Metal Gear.

Thanks for writing in luciFOUR! Hope you enjoy playing through again with Trophies.
Next week, to celebrate the launch of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, we’re looking for stories and experiences from Counter Strike. Click here to check out more info on this call to action.

This week’s story comes from PSN member Calvin-The-Bold. With convention season in full swing, it was great to see a story about some of the most compelling attendees of these shows: the cosplayers! Read on to see how PlayStation influenced this gamer’s decision to step into the roles of some of gaming’s favorite characters.

My Big Fat Cosplay PlayStation Story

I’ve always been a PlayStation kid, and I’ve always been an outgoing person but the thought of dressing as my favorite PS characters in public was, for the longest time, just a dream. In my early teens, I’d rationalize to myself that the costumes are too hard, too expensive, or I’d just look lame in front of everyone. Never in my life did I think that I would one day be surrounded by throngs of excited fans with my hand raised squinting off into an imaginary desert at a busy Sony booth at Comic-Con. But like Drake quoted from T. E. Lawrence about the dreamers of the day, “they may act their dream with open eyes, to make it possible”. This, I did.

The Uncharted series struck a huge chord with me since it was released a few years back. Starting with Drake’s Fortune, I was introduced to a funny, confident, and capable treasure hunter, someone that his friends loved, and enemies hated. Naughty Dog and PlayStation’s awesome attention to excitement, story and lovable characters basically summed up everything I liked in a game, and a movie. I was beyond excited for Among Thieves and Drake’s Deception. I’m still secretly hoping for another Uncharted adventure to be announced =p.

So of course, being new to cosplay, I wanted to stick to something grounded to reality. As far as I’m concerned, any foamcraft for armor is voodoo magic that, like Bill O’Reilly and tides, I can’t explain, so Commander Shepherd and Monster Hunter armor was out. BUT, why not go as my favorite scoundrel, Nathan Drake? I style my hair like his anyway, and it doesn’t hurt that I rock climb too! In fact, why stop there? Why not shoot for my other favorite character, the greatest soldier that ever lived: Big Boss of Metal Gear Solid fame? As far as the gaming world is concerned, the name Snake is synonymous with manliness and superhuman will, which is what drew me to Metal Gear in the first place, and I like to think that I’m pretty physically fit, so why not?

It took a lot of time to get every piece of my costumes together, but in the end I was really happy with the final products. I have a hard time explaining what the feeling is like to people who’ve never done cosplay. I feel a rush of confidence, childlike fun, and excitement. When I clip into my STABO harness as Snake, I’m no longer Andrew to the world, I’m a war hero, a fighter, and a lover of cardboard boxes. As I hook my arms through my leather gun holster as Drake, I become a treasure hunter and a lovable smart aleck.

For me, doing cosplay has been one of the biggest joys in my life. I get to be whoever I want to be, and actually get praised and respected if I pull it off well instead of looked at like I’m crazy. Well, maybe I am a little crazy, but I love the boost in confidence that I get from the positive feedback from fans and people in the industry. This hobby also led me to meet tons of amazing of like-minded and enthusiastic individuals who dress up to celebrate their favorite characters. I’ve met game developers and cosplayers from around the country and it feels amazing to be a part of a group of people that are all a little crazy, just like me. And there is no other event in the world that has more of us crazies than San Diego Comic Con, my favorite time of the year. Whenever July comes around, look out world, Drake and Snake are coming to town. I throw on my costumes and head out feeling ten feet tall.

I’m walking to the badge pick-up line when before I know it I hear an excited gasp followed by a “It’s Drake!”. I turn to see this young girl snap a quick photo of me as her line shuffled past. This was only the beginning. Sure enough, in the crowded halls of the convention center, whole throngs of fans stopped me to pose for them. I felt overwhelmed by the response, it was amazing. I had a hard time to keep from blushing as girls (and….some guys ) asked to take their photos with the one guy who is cosplaying as the man of their dreams. It’s a blast to play the part in all the photos.

It was awesome to see so many fans of Uncharted and Metal Gear Solid. It made me feel good knowing that I wasn’t the only one who had a ton of passion and love for a series. And it was even cooler to see that fans of Nathan Drake came at all ages! There was a 4 year old boy who out of the corner of my eye, I saw staring for a long time when I was waiting in line to meet Blair Herter from G4. I smiled at him and asked “do you know who I am?” and he nodded with a shy grin. I looked up at his mom and with a nod of her approval he ran over to me to snap a photo. **click**, that one melted my heart.

This past Comic Con was the greatest of my life, as I met tons of new people, several other great Nathan Drakes and Naked Snakes, spent the weekend with the perfect Tifa and got the attention of some important people in the industry. All of this crammed into 2 days. The words “Big”, “Fat”, and “Crazy” don’t even begin to describe this cosplay story of mine. I am so thankful for meeting all these wonderful people that put so much time and effort into their work and who have make my life so much more interesting.

So what’s next for this Nathan Drake/Naked Snake? “I dunno, I haven’t thought of it yet”. But with PAX looming in August, the possibilities seem endless.

Awesome work Calvin-The-Bold; looks like you have an incredibly fun time in the gaming community; maybe we can hang out at PAX!

For next week, we’re looking for thoughts on new PSN release Dyad. For those who play it, you know it’s unlike anything else. I’d love to check out your thoughts/insights on the game and consider posting one for next week. Click here for more info on this week’s special request.

Feel free to review Calvin-The-Bold’s original forum post here, and we’ll see you next week!

This week’s story comes from PSN member jackwesten. His story shows that sometimes, you have to take a step back and be thankful for the things you have. In his moments of adversity, he was able to turn to PlayStation to help his friend JT.

PlayStation Helps

To understand the significance of my story I first must begin by saying that I have been playing video games for most of my life. Video games have been one of the things that helped me relate to my friends. Whether we were talking about Pokémon in elementary school or discussing Metal Gear Solid as time went on.

My best friend JT, was the kind of guy who could be playing Resident Evil one minute and then be ready to go out and climb a tree that was ridiculously tall. JT was the bravest person I knew, he wasn’t afraid of anything, and was always up to something to challenge. Though he enjoyed video games you could usually find him outside. I had known him since I was four years old and over my lifetime he was always a great person to talk to and willing to help a friend. We were pretty much inseparable.

My conversion to PlayStation as a major follower was caused by him. I had a PS One but lost it when a friend borrowed it and moved away. So for the most part I had a Nintendo GameCube and JT had a PS2. One day we borrowed each other’s consoles and I deeply enjoyed the time I had with it. While he was playing things like Super Smash Brothers, I was experiencing Metal Gear Solid 3 and Star Wars Battlefront 2 for the first time. It amazed me! This would later influence my decision into getting the PS3 and to buying my own PS2. When I did get a PS3 he helped me discover Uncharted, which was and still is my favorite game series of all time. Overall he helped me gain a new appreciation for PlayStation.

So JT was my rock, he was the friend that I went to when I needed to talk. He was the friend that got me into PlayStation. He was the friend that made my life more interesting. In truthfulness he was a brother to me. In 2008 after we graduated high school I received the worst news I had experienced. I was 800 miles away in my birth state visiting my dad in Delaware. A typical call to let him know that I was coming back in a couple of weeks and that I would be back in time for us to see The Dark Knight was uneasily silent.

“David, I have Cancer.”
“What? You’re joking right?”
“No.”

The conversation didn’t go on very much longer. In the summer of 2009 we received news that all of the cancer was gone. In the fall of 2009 he was hospitalized and discovered the cancer had spread and that there was no way to operate on it. The doctors said that maybe treatment could help it get to a more manageable point. I quit my job that fall so that I could make sure I would get the time off to see him. He was my best friend and I wanted to be there for him, like he was always there for me. In 2010 they said that they couldn’t do anything for him, and by that summer he had passed away.

Me (front left) and my friends keeping JT (rear left) company while playing games.

I miss him and probably always will. What does this have to do with PlayStation? More important than him helping me find a joy for it, it was a joy to us all when he was having treatment and couldn’t go out a lot. We used to play games like Little Big Planet and Resident Evil 5 together. We would watch movies together on the PS3. Where in the past we would go see a movie, or walk out to the old bat tree at midnight and look at the bats hanging in the tree, we still found something to enjoy. PlayStation had given me a way to connect with him and to see joy on his face during one of the worst times in my life. It was a light in a dark time, and to this day helps me remember my friend JT fondly. Here’s to JT.

Thanks again for sharing your story, jackwesten. It’s an incredibly tough thing to go through the death of a loved one, but you seem to have the right attitude about it all, carrying a positive message about JT.
For everyone else, you’re welcome to read the original submission here.

I know I’ve been leaning a bit on the family stories a bit, and next week, I’ll likely shift gears to some more traditional gamer themes, but I saw this story about how PSN Mom gamer Lil_Mermaid_Girl uses Trophies as a fun way of competing with her family and her son, and I couldn’t resist sharing.

PS3 Trophies Are Fun For The Whole Family

Both myself and my husband have been gaming since we were around eight years old, so when we had our son we figured he would become a gamer too. He’s now seven years old and has been playing since he was four. We’ve always been PlayStation gamers, but since the inclusion of Trophies in 2008 we’ve had an extra way to compete (and play) together.

All three of us have our own PSN usernames because we like to have friendly family competition with our trophy counts. Our son just hit level 11 on his trophies and got his fourth platinum with Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars. It took him over a year, but he got it! He even started a real Lego collection to go right along with his favorite games, the Lego series.

We play games together on his account, but his trophies are all his doing besides the things we have done in co-op. We platinumed Up together in co-op, and it’s always fun playing the games with him. His aunt just got her own PS3 and he thinks she is trying to catch up to him so he’s been trying extra hard to not get passed by her!

The newest addition to our PlayStation setup is the PlayStation Move. He’s having a lot of fun “gaining muscle” as he says in Sports Champions. His favorite mode in it is beach volleyball and he’s trying to get 3 stars on everything for those trophies (and self pride). Even though I told him that will be quite difficult, he seems pretty determined. I’m thinking there’s a life lesson in there somewhere.

On the left, Lil_Mermaid_Girl’s son sits proudly next to his Trophy score, while mom and son celebrate Sports Champions accomplishments on the right.

Gaming really does give us something fun to do together as a family, whether it’s cheering for each other in Sports Champions or upping our trophy counts so the other person can’t catch us. I’m still the leader of this family, but as he gets older I’m thinking I will have a real run for it! I personally just think my husband and son are lucky to have a wife/mom who games too though, right, lol!? (At least I’ll be sure to use that when I do get passed!)

Congrats to Lil_Mermaid_Girl, who is now the recipient of a $50 voucher redeemable in the PlayStation Store! Send in your stories here, and feel free to read Lil_Mermaid_Girl‘s original submission right here.

Last month you may recall we had a special Mother’s Day PSN Community Spotlight. In the chaos that was E3 and the week that followed, I completely forgot to make a shoutout for all those gamer Dads out there for Father’s Day! So this week, check out this story from PSN member JoeTheBeast16. Read on to see how PlayStation plays a big part in his family’s life.

PlayStation, A Valued Member of My Family

I’ve been a gamer ever since the first time I picked up a controller but in the past few years, gaming has become a valuable part of my family life.

To start, I’ll give a little bit of background. I’m 20 years old, and a stay at home dad. In October of 2008, I met a wonderful girl, and fell in love rather quickly. She didn’t like videogames at all when she met me, but when I convinced her to play some multiplayer in Haze with me, she fell in love with it, playing everything from Far Cry 2 to Army of Two, as well as Call Of Duty (what can I say, she loves shooting stuff).

With the help of PlayStation, we bonded and grew together over the first year of our relationship, and then in December of 2009 we welcomed our daughter into the world. From helping her pass the time while she was recovering from giving birth, to giving us something we could do quietly while our daughter was napping, PlayStation served as an important comfort for us while we adapted to our new lives. I started working when our daughter was 3 months old, and for over a year she stayed at home, taking care of our daughter and taking care of the house while I was working, not to mention playing MAG, COD, and Battlefield, when she had time. We’d play a few matches together when I got home from work, and then we’d go to bed. This continued until she grew a little stir-crazy, so we decided to switch things up a bit; she got a job and I quit mine. Now she works during the day, and games with me at night. So I became a stay at home dad, and I’ve loved every moment with my beautiful daughter. I’ve even used my PlayStation Eye to capture home movies.

Our daughters first steps captured with PlayStation Eye. I’ll admit she took a few steps before I had the idea to start the video.

My daughter is now 2 and a half, and she’s loving PlayStation as much as we are, from Eye Pet to Little Big Planet and Learning With the PooYoo’s, she loves to game. We now have 2 PS3s, so we can either play online matches on different screens, or play splitscreen on one, while our daughter watches Netflix or Hulu Plus on the other.

PlayStation is more than just gaming for us, it’s entertainment as a whole for our family. It enables us to do more than just game together. We watch 3D movies together on our PlayStation 3D Display, we exercise together with our PlayStation Move, heck, I even use my PS Vita and my laptop as a baby monitor using the Skype app to keep an eye on my daughter if I have to duck out for a minute. I could go on and on, reminiscing about all of the wonderful memories that our family has shared with the PlayStation brand, but that would do little to convey just how much we love it.

Let me put it this way, when E3 had arrived, we all sat down with popcorn in hand, ready to enjoy the PlayStation press conference – like a family sitting down to watch a loved one in a school play or a sports game, it’s always nice to see a family member shine. As much as I’d like to keep typing, I have some chores to do and then I have to go work on my PS Vita Pure Chess strategy since my wife gets home later tonight, and we’ve got a tournament planned.

Congrats to JoeTheBeast16, who is now the recipient of a $50 voucher redeemable in the PlayStation Store! Send in your stories here, and feel free to read JoeTheBeast16′s original submission right here.

PSN member HorrorGod brings us this week’s spotlight. Sometimes it’s tough to let your true gamer color show. HorrorGod details how he continued his gaming lifestyle into married life. But did it all work out? Read on to find out!

How My Wife Found Out I Was A Gamer

When my wife and I started dating, I was a gamer. I’ve been a gamer since I was a kid, and I’ll die a gamer. The funny thing is, she wouldn’t know that about me until after we were married. I rarely had time to play video games between work and our time together, so she never got to see that part of me. Looking back, I wouldn’t exactly say I was trying to hide it from her; it just simply didn’t come up.

My wife and I

Eventually we got our own apartment together and while unpacking our huge amount of boxes in our cramped little space we called home, she saw my PS2. Not thinking too much of it, she asked “Oh, is that yours?” which I simply replied “Yeah.”, and we left it at that.

After the honeymoon and 6 months later, I finally couldn’t stand it anymore. I needed to play my games! So, one night I whipped out my PS2 and hooked it up. When she got home from work and saw me playing Fight Night Round 3, she gave me this half smile, half “Oh-no” expression. “My goose is cooked! She’s going to leave me! Game over!” were all thoughts going through my head. Overreactions, I’m sure, but her expression was enough to make me feel as if she just caught me with another woman. She just chuckled and didn’t ask another question about it. I continued to play my PS2, but never while she was home.

The PlayStation 3 was shown off at that summer’s E3, and while watching some highlights of it on television one day, I looked at my wife with pleading eyes, as if to say “I want that.” The time had finally come. She knew for sure that I was a gamer. But instead of screaming “NO!”, she quietly said “Okay. Sell your car and you can use the money to get one.” This was almost a dare. You see, I loved my car. Since the age of 17 I had put a lot of money into customizing it (Tinted windows, rims, sound system, engine work, etc.) It wasn’t just a car, it was my car. But, I had plenty of time to decide. The PS3′s launch wasn’t until another 5 months later.

After seeing all the great games that were out, as well as the games scheduled for release in the future, I absolutely had to have one. In February of 2007, I caved. My wife had won. It only took a little over a week for someone to buy my car, and he was a tenant in our apartment complex. As soon as he handed over the money, I rushed down to our bank, deposited the cash, and went out to buy myself a PS3. I bought the 60GB console, an extra controller, and a few games.

Around a week after I sold my car, I saw my neighbor having it towed in the parking lot. When I saw the damage to the side of the vehicle I got a knot in my stomach. I walked over to him and he told me ran a red light and was side swiped at an intersection (thankfully nobody was hurt.) He then said instead of paying to get it fixed he was going to sell it to a wrecking yard as scraps. My car had now not just been sold to another person, it was to be gone. Done. Kaput.

Capturing my moment of silence with my old friend.

As I walked back to my apartment to play my PS3 that day, reflecting on my decision to sell my car , only one thought kept coming back to me: “it was worth it =)”

Five years have passed since then. We’ve traded our small apartment for our own home, we’re about to celebrate our seventh wedding anniversary, and my wife accepts me as a gamer. Instead of rolling her eyes when I escape to the family room to play my PS3 she’s actually played some games with me, like Little Big Planet, Rock Band, and Sports Champions.

Sometimes I think about the next cool gaming item I’d want to get but all I can think is “What will my wife dare me to sell this time?”

Congrats to Horrorgod, who is now the recipient of a $50 voucher redeemable in the PlayStation Store! Send in your stories here, and feel free to read HorrorGod’s original submission right here.

This week’s spotlight is from PSN member echogridlock. Anyone with siblings can tell you that growing up with them is often riddled with fights. Echogridlock looks back on how gaming replaced fighting and led to a reconnection with his brother thanks to PlayStation.

Reconnecting with My Little Big Brother

When I was growing up, my little brother and I would get into the worst fights. It was the stuff of mother’s nightmares. To paint a better picture, I once ran a sewing machine needle through his right index finger and the needle tip broke off into his finger. As a trade, he broke my nose which healed crooked and to this day I have one large nostril and one tiny one that I can’t breathe out of.

It gets better I promise…

One Christmas when I was 12 (my brother was 10) my parents bought us a video game system and the violence stopped. The time spent knocking each other’s teeth out was replaced with game time and talking smack about each other’s video game skills. We were hooked; we worked together to buy all the games and systems we could get our hands on. Between the two of us we had close to 400 hundred games and over 13 different systems across the years. We started doing everything together like, going to the library and the park after school, we even went over to each other’s friend’s houses to do what else but play video games. We were inseparable.

I have to chuckle every time I hear or read a story from the news saying that video game violence causes children to be violent. In our case, it may have very well saved one of our lives; no joke, it was that bad.

When I left home for college my brother not only grew taller than me, we grew apart. When I came home from school he was often nowhere to be found. Then he started college and I didn’t see him for a few years. He sold off all his video games then he dropped out of school and went walking across the country. In that time, I moved out, married and had two children, and sold my games because I didn’t really have anyone to play them with; however I kept the PS2 and later bought two PS3s. My brother eventually got bored, moved back to my parent’s house and decided to continue his college career at a school just outside my neighborhood.

This last weekend, my brother needed some time away from my parents and wanted to spend the weekend with my family. At first, he just played with my son (age 2) and daughter (age 3) for a few hours. After awhile, my kids got bored and we fired up the PS3. He quickly became so addicted to Burnout Paradise, I couldn’t get him to put the controller down. My son walked in and sat on the floor listening to the music. He started to get tired and climbed into my brother’s arms and fell asleep. His sister soon fell asleep as well. After we put them to bed for a nap, we went back into the living room and I told him “You have to try this game Uncharted 3”. He asked “Does it have multiplayer? I mean can we both play together?” I said “Yes and we can play together online.” He went “Oooo.” It was as if we picked up where we left off 8 years ago. He started talking smack how skilled he was and how old age is making me slower. Every time our grouped wiped out in a match, I told him it was his fault. Which it was.

The PS3 provided me with some time well spent with my brother doing something we used to both love, playing games together. For one weekend we were young brothers again. After this spring semester, he will be moving south to Tennessee. Who knows when I will see him again? But maybe I’ll buy him a PS3 this Christmas so we can play online.

Congrats to echogridlock, who is now the recipient of a $50 voucher redeemable in the PlayStation Store! Send in your stories here, and feel free to read echogridlock’s original submission right here.

We’ve been seeing amazing stories, but a few reminders. Remember, you can submit multiple stories to be considered. It’s not a one shot thing so if your story may not be getting any traction, feel free to PM me in the forums for advice (mochuuu in the forums), or submit another one. And secondly, try to write about something more than just loving PlayStation, or your PlayStation timeline. Whether it’s an amazing PlayStation related story, or commentary on PlayStation today, we want to ensure these posts are diverse week to week; and that can only come from your own tales and commentary on gaming. Remember to read the posting best practices for more info, or have a look at past week’s winners to get a feel of the types of diverse stories that make it to the blog.

This week’s spotlight is from PSN member Imputed7-14. He found a way to combine his passion for gaming and teaching, but not before he had to change a few perspectives on what gaming could be.

Sackboy Goes To School

I am an elementary teacher and I have always looked for ways to encourage my students using every avenue possible. In my classroom we have used toilet paper to experience what it is like to be caterpillars, mimicked Mary Shelly in an annual scary story contest, and created a seven foot model of the sun placing it over a hundred and fifty feet away from our two inch models of the earth just so my students could understand the size and distances we were talking about in class. So when I got LittleBigPlanet 2 last September my mind exploded with ideas to work the PlayStation 3 into my classroom.

I began work late last September in making a mini game that my students could enjoy based around sorting synonyms and antonyms. In January I asked my principal if I could share the project with her. We set up a meeting and I started to get cold feet that she would think it was lame or be disapproving because of the negative stigma around games. My wife encouraged me to be who I am as a gamer and be confident since I had done something original. The day of our meeting my principal sat, listened and watched as I played through the game. She asked what my goal was with doing this. I told her that I had several ideas for skill based levels in math and reading and that I would also like to start a club where the kids could design their own levels using LBP and other games like Modnation on the PS3 and games like LBP and Sound Shapes on the Vita. She told me that she needed to check on something before she gave me the okay to pursue any of those ideas, but that she was pretty impressed with what I had done.

About a month later she called me to the office to let me know that I could use whatever I created in my room and if I could find the funding that I would be permitted start an after school club. What more is she encouraged me to come up with a way to work it into a camp my school is doing over the summer.

At this point my kids have played LBP as a reading station twice and I will likely bring it in for them to enjoy before the summer. They are excited about all things Little Big Planet. In my free time, which is not much, I am crafting some things for them. I am also seeking different local businesses and organizations to see if I can get help funding the club. Nothing has happened yet, but I am hoping that in the near future that my school will learn through Playing, Creating and Sharing. Long live play, y’all.

How have you used gaming in your professional / academic life? Congrats to Imputed7-14, who is now the recipient of a $50 voucher redeemable in the PlayStation Store! Send in your stories here, and feel free to read Imputed7-14′s original post here.

Remember to read the posting best practices for more info.

This week’s spotlight is from PSN member renewman1. Stealing is lame, but read on to find out how this military man found a great way to rebuild his collection.

Thievery and Optimism: A Story!
Hi there PlayStation fanboys, fangirls, and fanpets (I know you’re out there!). My name is Renewman1. I am 22 years old, a veteran of the United States Air Force, a Computer Science college student, and a PlayStation fanatic. Akilleez Might (winner of The Tester Season 3) doesn’t have nothing on me! I wanted to start writing these entries as kind of a connection to my world and how I see all things Sony. However, like all good stories and police reports, we have to start at the very beginning.

My story begins back on June 6th, 2010. I was a fresh faced Air Force member on my way from Moody Air Force Base in Valdosta, Georgia going to Kunsan Air Base in Gunsan, South Korea. I was excited to be going to another country and like a good PlayStation fan, I packed my PS3 and my rather large collection of games in my checked in luggage and flew from Virginia (where I currently live now) to Seattle. Upon arrival I rechecked my luggage (never can be too careful) and resubmitted it to the baggage claim and went on my merry way. The next leg of the trip required us to fly to Anchorage, Alaska before finally making our way to South Korea.

As we were flying away from Anchorage, disaster struck. The left engine of our plane began to smoke! Fortunately, the pilot turned the plane around and we landed safely back in Anchorage. Since it was a malfunction of the turbine and needed a new part, we were grounded for the night in Alaska. Also unfortunately, we were not allowed to gather our luggage from the plane. After a restless night (I mean could you sleep with the sun beaming in your eyes at 12 midnight?), we jumped back on the plane and finished our journey to South Korea.

When I finally got to my base and settled in, I unpacked my luggage to assess my things. To my horror and amazement, a large gap of where my games and Blu-Ray movies were was missing. I thought that they had maybe shifted during flight but to no avail. Someone had come on board the airplane in Alaska and stole from my luggage. After doing some tallying of all the games and movies missing, I had hit the grand total of $1,300 worth of games and movies gone. Of course I was depressed. The culprit had managed to steal a whole bunch of brand new games and movies I had bought. Not only that, when the thief saw they could no longer fit any more boxes on them, they began to take games from cases and left the cases in my suitcase.

So as I sat there with my nearly empty collection of games I thought: “Well I don’t have any physical games, what can I play on PSN?” Apparently a whole lot! I started grabbing games I had never played before: Flower, fl0w, Everyday Shooter, just to name a few. My digital collection grew and I didn’t care anymore that my games got stolen. I never lost faith in Sony to be able deliver great content anywhere in the world online. Of course I went back and replaced all of my games and my PS3 game collection is now over 75+ games strong and that’s not including the slew of games I have on my PS3 from PSN. It definitely helped that this was right around the time PlayStation Plus was first being rolled out so I jumped on board and got even greater deals and games then I did before! When Sony says the PS3 “only does everything”, they really mean it.

Do you have more games on your HDD then actual physical games? How are the increasing options in the digital space impacting your decisions to buy games? Congrats to renewman1, who is now the recipient of a $50 voucher redeemable in the PlayStation Store! Send in your stories here, and feel free to read renewman1′s original post here.

Remember to read the posting best practices for more info.

My Mother, PlayStation, and Her First Journey
Last weekend, my mother had her first video game experience. My mother, aged 57, never really understood gaming. She saw gaming just as the mainstream media wanted her to. To her, and my father for that matter, games were only about brutally killing and stealing cars. With her slamming gaming for the majority of my life, I decided to finally counter back, and I began my research.

I tried to think of what game could show her that my passion wasn’t all about brutality and space marines. I wanted to let her play Portal 2, but the concepts were probably too complex for a first time gamer. After many thoughts and failed ideas, I finally realized the perfect game: thatgamecompany’s Journey.

Starting at 9:00AM on a beautiful Sunday morning, I pulled my mother aside and handed her a controller. I told her that I would not be helping her, and that she was free to do whatever she wanted in the game. The results were astounding. Even for a first time player, Journey’s narrative pulled her along, and she knew exactly what her goal was from the get-go. Though let it be known that the process of jumping was hard for her.

After the game finished and the credits rolled, she saw the list of players she met along the way. She didn’t realize that the other characters in the world of Journey were real people online, and she was stunned. She couldn’t believe that another player would help her through a world, come back for her when she fell, and hold her hand through some of the toughest areas. I snapped a picture of their names on my phone, so that I could send them a thank you message later.

Hours later, after my Mom had left, I typed a message to them on my Vita, which I then posted to the website Reddit. You can see the post here.

At the end of the day, it had 250,000 views, 3000 upvotes, and even a retweet from Jenova Chen and the official Twitter account of thatgamecompany!

My Mom’s first game experience not only was awesome for her, but also inspired many to buy Journey and play it for themselves. What an awesome Sunday.

So what are your thoughts on HarrisFoster’s story? Is your Mom cool with gaming, or is it something that she may never get into? Congrats to HarrisFoster, who is now the recipient of a $50 voucher redeemable in the PlayStation Store! Send in your stories here, and feel free to read HarrisFoster’s original post here, and lest we forget, Happy Mother’s Day!