User blog:CoolGamer23/Computers I've used over the years

I have been making video games since I was a kid, as early as the age of nine. Over the years, I've seen technology change as we went from analog to digital. As a kid, I've always wanted to learn how games were created. What's the one thing you always need to make a video game? A computer. I've played video games my entire life, starting on a computer before I eventually got a Nintendo GameCube in 2006. Basically, I'm going to give you a history on all the different computers my family has owned over the years. I'm not going into the technical specs of them very much, just their aspects and how it impacted me. We're gonna have to go all the way back to the late 1990s.

Compaq Presario CDS
This was the very first computer I ever used. It was originally my maternal grandmother's and was lent on to us. It was just a basic computer with no internet, and it ran Windows 3.1. It had all the basic software to what you'd expect on Windows 3.1, that being MS Paint, MS Word, Solitaire, Minesweeper, just to name a few. Basically, that was the only computer I was allowed to use. Played a lot of games on it, including the early JumpStart titles from Toddlers to Kindergarten.

IBM Aptiva
This computer was my parents', my father got this machine in 1996 and all it just ran was Windows 95. However, I wasn't allowed to just walk up to it and use it, I had to get permission from my parents to use it. Pretty much had all of the same software on it, just but with the addition of FreeCell and Hearts. However, computers like this back then were pretty expensive, costing you more than $2,000. My father was also an experienced musician and had music software on it.

Gateway 2000
This computer was originally property of Canisius College in Buffalo, New York before they sold it off to my family. It ran Windows 98, and it got me through a lot of years and also being the machine where I learned how to use Microsoft Office on. But gee, my parents hated Clippy. Unfortunately, that computer's gone now, as my parents gave it away in exchange for a Compaq computer running Windows XP.

Gateway 600YGR
This was my father's machine, and he mostly used it for business. He lent it to me after he decided to get rid of it. It ran Windows XP with a Pentium 4 processor. Before he lent it to me, I wasn't allowed to just go up to it and use it. That was where I learned to play 3D Pinball by Maxis, one of the pack-in titles for Windows XP. I played a lot of games on it, and this was the machine where I played my first Touhou Project game, that being The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil. I also made quite a bit of games on it, at one point I tried to clone Super Mario Galaxy with a title called Super Stick Galaxy. I would talk a lot about it in school. The original name for Drillimation was titled NEPC Corporation.

Gateway MT3705
This was my mother's, and she also used it for business and school. Purchased in 2007, this machine also came with something titled Wild Games, and that got me through a couple of years. This was the ultimate machine to play games on. I remember playing games such as Polar Bowler, Blasterball, Penguins!, just to name a few. Unfortunately, it died within two years, as the operating system it came with was Windows Vista. When that came out, it was a buggy mess.

Acer Aspire One Netbook
This was the first computer my mother officially bought me. I got it in 2009 and she also got one for my brother. It was small and compact, got me through a few years. There weren't very many games I played on it, other than playing online Flash games. Also, it had a webcam, so I actually made movies on this thing. My only major gripe was lack of a front camera, which the Nintendo DSi had.

Dell Inspiron
I, unfortunately, can't remember the model number on this one, but this served as a better replacement to the Gateway MT3705. She got this machine for Christmas in 2009. It ran Windows 7 and had a feature not found on other Windows 7 machines called the "Dell Dock", which makes it look like a Mac. This was also the first machine I began making games on. The first game I made was an attempted clone of Super Mario Bros. titled Super Stick Adventure. I played lots of Flash games on it.

Well, in 2016, the machine died. I unfortunately lost a bunch of cool stuff on it, but this was the machine that taught me the basics of game design.

Acer Aspire X3950
Purchased in March 2011, this would be my most dominant computer from 2011 until 2018. Even after seven years, it still worked perfectly. Made a heck-ton of games on it, this was also the machine where the entire Drillimation company began and where part of Chuhou Joutai was made on, including the duo and some sprites. It got me through junior high and senior high. I also made a ton of movies on it too. Like the previous one, it ran Windows 7 and was considered to be the best computer my family owned. This was also the machine where I got Minecraft on. I was so excited when Minecraft came out because I wanted to make 3D platforming games on, something that Game Maker cannot always do.

A lot of stuff from 2013 until 2018 was made on this behemoth of a machine, like the IBM Aptiva, it cost roughly $2,000. This one was the best for me. I don't know about you, but for anyone else, not really. A lot of people at the time were getting into Intel i5 and i7 computers, which were more expensive and have more cores.

Dell G7
This is the computer I am using right now and my newest one, since June 2018. I was nervous when I bought this machine due to how expensive it was. I ended up spending almost my entire graduation money on this thing. I needed that thing to develop Chuhou Joutai on, and to tell you the truth, that game cost over $2,000 to make. I hope I'm ready to launch a Kickstarter campaign for the game.

This is Driller signing off.