I originally wrote this piece a few years ago for a friend's website but never published it. I thought it deserved a revamp and to be posted. This is a topic I could write extensively on but we'll start here. It all started with a Tamagotchi...or maybe it was a Nano Kitty. I can't remember which came first in my life.
What I DO remember is the beginning of virtual pets.
It started with Tamagotchis and Nano Pets (and the like) banned at school, and thus abandoned by most of us (I'm so sorry! I promise I'm NOT a horrible pet owner in real life!). Batteries died, they were lost, etc. Another trend slowly going down the drain.
Then came the internet gained a lot of popularity and grew exponentially. A little website called Neopets popped up.
I was introduced to Neopets by a babysitter of mine. She was 10 years or so older than I. Keep in mind that at this time the site was designed with an older crowd in mind and was JUST beginning to shift to a more "child friendly" experience.
What a place!
A pet that never dies! Fake money! GAMBLING! Puzzle games! So much fun rolled in to one site!
I spent HOURS upon HOURS. Trading, gaming, painting my pets (my signature pet is a Halloween Bruce, pictured above) , battling, learning the art of restocking.
I even owned a Macy Gray! (Pictured left) Woah! Eventually we had to say goodbye to those (they turned into “Kau”). I may have choked and stumbled when this happened. Eventually I would walk away. My account badge currently reads 19 years. I still pop on every once in a blue moon for nostalgic purposes.
Although the internet was gaining in popularity in my elementary years, I didn't have the internet at home growing up... we actually didn't get it until I was 15. I was that kid in elementary school who was rushing through their seat work to be the first at the classroom computer to check on my pets. Eventually it became a problem, the early age of screen addiction - the school board shut us down and blocked a lot of popular sites (good on them, really). We had work-arounds for awhile but eventually those stopped working too.
Neopets evolved as we did. Other sites began to pop onto my radar - Subeta, Marapets, GaiaOnline, and Habbo Hotel, just to name a few! While I'm not overly active on any of these sites anymore, I do periodically check in for the nostalgia value.
Eventually, we got the internet at home. I had made quite a few friends online at this point...many of whom I'm still in contact with today! At least one of which we're hoping to have on at some point. Hello friends!
So many ways to escape the "real world". I was always a fan of the Sims, but this was Sims in real life online... woah!
What was the benefit? We have to delve beyond the realm of screen addiction for a second. Many of these sites provided shy kids like myself with learning opportunities. Budgeting skills, negotiation, stock markets, social interaction, learning to run a "shop", advertising... the list goes on! Minecraft is one of the newer games that schools are now even using. Making learning fun beyond Math Circus or All The Right Type. Woah.
From Neopets a door was opened to blogging for me through Livejournal. Another site popped up called dailybooth (hello OG IG!). That's a tale for another day though.
Neopets was eventually bought out by Viacom and they buggered the whole thing up. Most of us left trying to find what we had lost in another site or game (Subeta, Marapets, Gaia, WOW...) and those who stayed back at just Neopets eventually got bored and left. Consoles and computer gaming had also gained momentum with the improvement of the internet. We moved on.
I eventually committed to collecting consoles in my late teens. Evan and I now spend a good chunk of time playing games together. Since he's in a different city, this makes our "date nights" really easy! We play everything together from FPS to Minecraft. So grateful that cross-platforming is continuing to improve as well.
Last year I read Felica Day's "You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost)". I've always been a fan of hers but really *felt* a lot of her experiences. Even if you aren't a fan of hers, or don't know her work very well, this is a read that I feel hits home for many of my gaming generation. She talks about how scary it can be to meet people from the web, and this is something that is generally frowned upon even today. She definitely doesn't discourage it though as she also made some wonderful friends online - there are safe ways to do things. I have to say, we never really had a bad experience so far. We're lucky. I'm also grateful many of my "online" friends are in places I can easily travel to visit. Have I mentioned how thankful for technology I am? nothing beats texting an old friend or FaceTime! I've loved watching some of them grow to become amazing people, some are even streamers on Twitch as well. (Hey Xy, we need more Paper Mario!)
I hope you enjoyed this jaunt down memory lane. The internet continues to evolve and expand. Games do too. Now you can get a Tamagotchi on your phone - woah. (Albeit it isn’t the same). Neopets is rumored to finally be going mobile as well. We want to hear about your online gaming experiences or how you grew with technology! Leave us a comment or voice memo!
- Cousin Laura (aka Notepad)
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