The Waiting Is Almost Over

At 43 years old I am your typical Star Wars fanatic. I was 5 years old when I saw the first installment in the movie theater. I helped make George Lucas a rich man. My money was always cheerfully exchanged for the films, the books, the posters, the trading cards and especially the video games.

My first experience with a Star Wars video game was Parker Brothers’ Empire Strikes Back game in 1982 for the Atari 2600. I was in heaven as my snowspeeder faced Imperial Walkers in a game you really had to add your imagination to. The blocky graphics barely representative what was seen in the film, but as a kid I couldn’t stop playing.

Of course, if I wanted to play the cutting edge of Star Wars video games, there was the local arcade. The Star Wars arcade game by Atari gobbled up so many of my quarters made by mowing lawns it was insane. I could be Luke Skywalker and do the trench run on the Death Star and save the universe. The vector graphics are so charming and well done. I still visit my local arcade every few months to play this machine.

As I grew older I moved over to PC gaming. Lucasarts in 1993 finally produced its own Star Wars game for PCs, called Star Wars: X-Wing. It was a space combat simulator. I spent hours playing this game and upgrading my PC to get a greater experience. I also spent hours on the follow-up title, Tie Fighter.

I took about a decade break from Star Wars games while I focused on my career. The prequels came out and gave me a reason to get excited again about Star Wars. Battlefront came out, this is what I had been waiting for. Space Battles and a shooter? Yes please. I loved the first two installments of Battlefront and put many hours into the game. I moved to a PlayStation 2 to play Battlefront II, I was tired of constantly having to upgrade my PC.

Ten years after Battlefront II, it is back. This Tuesday morning just after midnight I will be playing the new Battlefront on my PS4. The beta was so fun, but I will get the whole space enchilada and will savor it. With the new film releasing in December, this is a year to rekindle my Star Wars fandom. My controllers are charged and ready. The waiting is almost over.