A Moment That Changed

I have been a gamer for a good part of my life. I started gaming from the young age of six. On Christmas of 2003 I got my first handheld game console which was the Nintendo Gameboy Advanced SP. But it wasn’t until I got my PS2 in either late 2005 or 2006 which really changed gaming for me. If it wasn’t for Sucker Punch and Naughty Dog I would not be the gamer I am today. Sucker Punch made the Sly Cooper trilogy and Naughty Punch made the Jak and Daxter trilogy.

The two trilogies were for the PS2’s mascot characters. The Sly Cooper Trilogy was the first real game series I beat by myself with no help from my brother. The Sly Trilogy is an E-rated, cell-shaded platformer featuring an anthropomorphic raccoon seeking revenge after his father’s murder by a notorious gang who also stole his family book on thieving and the adventure begins. With Jak and Daxter on the other hand it was a much darker T-rated adventure platformer that featured more action and swearing.

These two series got me further into gaming. Sly Cooper got myself into the more light hearted side of gaming while Jak and Daxter brought me to the more mature side of gaming. Sly was more of the wise cracking thief who is kind of thief that only rips off other thieves. The worlds Sly visited more bright and vibrant worlds to explore like a nightclub in Paris to the channels of Venice and tropical islands. On the other hand Jak and Daxter had the more war torn areas and corrupt city streets. So after playing the two series I got to see the diversity in games.

Thanks to Sucker Punch and Naughty Dog I’ve gotten into more games like their other projects Infamous, Uncharted and Last of Us. Without Sly Cooper and Jak and Daxter I never would have played video games other than Pokemon (of course). Playing these games got myself into more story games instead of the repetitive shooters like Call of Duty and Battlefield. Luckily Sly Cooper is still getting new games like last years Sly Cooper Thieves In Time. Naughty Dog said they are working on a Jak IV so its good to know that the characters I grew up with are still relevant.