
We present todays moment of Geek Zen
The writer/company president agreed to take the time from his daily routine to give GEN the scoop on Peter and his boyhood pals ... and foes.
Moment of Geek Zen - Jan 5, 2009

We present todays moment of Geek Zen
Today marks the 10th year since Final Fantasy VIII was released in North America. The game has retained a timeless appeal, and remains as addicting and fun today as it was the first time I cracked open disk 1 and met Squall Leonhart.
Only a few long-buried bodies in the Nevada desert know this, but I was a hardcore Sega fan in my youth. I of course had all the Nintendos and a TurboGrafx-16 (Keith Courage FTW), but my outspoken, oft-times misguided loyalty lied with the Genesis, Sega CD, 32X, and my favorite console of all time, the Saturn. So when Sony launched their unprovoked invasion of the home console market, I was not only skeptical, I was resentful. There was a distinctively soulless and American flavor to the PlayStation launch titles that my mind rejected on every level. I wasn’t about to leave behind Panzer Dragoon and Guardian Heroes for 989 Studios’ shitty sports games or Warhawk and Syphon Filter.
But as time went on, the Sony PlayStation didn’t sputter out like the Atari Jaguar or the Panasonic 3D0. This only made me want it less, as it was now the popular system to own, and my Marilyn Manson posters and nonconformist clothing said I was a beautiful and unique snowflake who zigged when everyone else was zagging. Then, along came a little game by the makers of Street Fighter and Mega Man. A game that would define an entire genre and lead to many of the most memorable moments in video game history. A game that finally made me give in and get in line with the rest of the herd.
Not content to release a trickle of XBLA ports each year, Sega has compiled a massive collection of Genesis classics onto a single disc for an offensively low price. Some of the included titles are likely to elicit a warm, fuzzy feeling in your special place, while a few are games that even I haven’t heard of despite my years of Sega fanboyism. Be sure to read GEN’s exclusive, can’t-miss, exhaustively in-depth review after the jump!

