I never want to get to the point where games are not a part of my life. Sure, I'll get old, and one day I may not have the time to play all of the newest and hottest games. Because of that, I wanted to have some kind of capsule of a time when games were at the forefront of my life.

So, I got a tattoo of video game controllers. Here they are, in order from top to bottom:

NES -- This was my first experience with video games. I can still feel the rush of the first time I made Mario jump.

Sega Genesis -- I remember going to Toy "R" Us to pick this up. I must have stared at the in-store CRT TV that ran Sonic the Hedgehog's opening for months. If only my mother knew the path she set me on.

Sega Dreamcast -- 9/9/99. This date is important for two reasons. One, it was my first day of high school. But more importantly it was the day the Sega Dreamcast came out. My mom let me miss the first day of school to pick it up. I remember standing in line with fellow nerds and talking about how great this machine was going to be...and how Sony did not stand a chance against Sega.

Sony PlayStation 2 -- This is the console that cemented my life as a video-game nerd. I spent all my own money to buy it. I got it at a midnight launch. And the icing on the cake was that my mom allowed me to skip school to buy and play it all night. Some of my favorite games are from this era, many of which I still own.