Are you a gamer? Who would you name as the "Most Popular video game characters?" I have a LONG history with video games. Our first console was the Odessy. It came out just before Atari (which is why my parents wouldn't buy me an Atari, dammit). The Odessy sucked next to Atari, but when we first got it, my sister, Mary, and I were SUPER EXCITED to play bowling and basketball in all its 8 BIT glory. I played Tapper on the Commodore 64. Loading games took FOREVER. The games loaded into the computer off of CASSETTE TAPES, I kid you not children. Then came floppy discs, so it all only took NEXT TO FOREVER for games to load.

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My first true love of video gaming platforms was the Playstation. South Park Rally got me through some winter months and early motherhood when my daughter was a baby and still sleeping a lot. When the PS2 came out, I knew we NEEDED it. My daughter, Mackenzie, and I played Scooby Doo Night of 100 Frights. It's still one of my all-time favorite games. We liked the storyline games... I still do, but since the introduction of multiplayer online games, the storyline games don't seem to be as popular.  I asked people on social media to "Name a famous video game character."  Here are the top 5 responses.

"Journey to the kingdom of Hyrule and discover the timeless battles between good and evil and the secrets of the all-powerful Triforce." There are (naturally) a TON of different Zelda adventures.  I found it interesting that while the game is "The Legend of Zelda" more people actually answered "Link."  Link is the silent hero. He is reborn throughout history always with the aim of defeating Ganon and his minions. Zelda's role changes from game to game.

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The OG VILLIAN. There would be no Mario without Donkey Kong. The first Donkey Kong was released in 1981. Fun fact: the princess that Donkey Kong captures isn't Princess Peach. It's actually Pauline.

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A blue hedgehog that zips around collecting gold rings.   Even Fall Guys got in on Sonic action with a play mode called "Gotta Go Fast" where players earned Sonic gear for their Fall Guy. But, don't get me started on the original movie Sonic. That hedgehog was a disgrace.

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Eat all the dots and avoid four ghosts... unless you eat a piece of fruit first. Pac-Man was released in 1980.  Asteroids and Galaxian were released first, but Pac-Man was the first game that had a true cultural impact.

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He is the man. Mario's history is crazy.  Peaceful mushroom people are invaded by black magic turtles who turn them to stone.  Only Princess Toadstool (Peach) can undo the spell but she's being held by Bowser, King of the Koopa.  Mario finds out and goes on a quest to save Princess Toadstool and return the mushroom people to normal.  Shrooms are clearly an integral part of this story development.  Having said that, my family 100% LOVES the Mario Games, especially the Mario Party games.  Mario has been a huge cultural influence as well.

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Fans of Halo 100% know about this guy.  Master Chief is the main character raised to be a soldier and kick some a$$.  Clearly, Master Chief has some serious fans.

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Q*Bert is actually the third most successful video game icon (behind Pac-Man and Donkey Kong... sorry, Mario!)  Q*Bert, you had ONE JOB... turn the pyramid blocks the same color.  Q*Bert was also a fantastic part of the movie, Wreck-It Ralph.  You're never too old for Q*Bert.

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South Park Rally - Playstation

Scooby-Doo Night of 100 Frights - Playstation 2

Sly Cooper series - Playstation 2

Ribit King - Playstation 2

Mario Party - Wii

Rayman Raving Rabbids - Wii

Splatoon - Wii-U

Splatoon 2 - Switch (Grizzco is my jam)

I can't wait for Splatoon 3!  I love this game series, obviously.

I was having a discussion about video games with the Queen of the Pokemon, Donielle Flynn, and the arcade classic Burger Time came up.  We both loved Burger Time. Burger Time is a great arcade game about a chef evading deadly food stuffs by applying salt to them. Stranger Things fired up lots of great memories and one of those was those great arcades. And it got me thinking about what's everyone's favorite video game. What is Michigan's favorite video game?

According to gamingamericas.com, Michigan's favorite game (as of 2021) is Among Us. If you've ever seen the movie "The Thing" you know the premise of Among Us is that there is an alien among the crew. This alien(s) purpose is to eliminate the crew and keep it from being discovered. Among Uswas created as a mobile device game in 2018 and then spread to consoles like the Switch in 2020. While the pandemic was awful, it did help increase the popularity of games like Among Us and Animal Crossing. Being shut in for so long led to many gaming adventures.  Among Us also made the term "sus" popular based on the idea of one of the crew being "suspect" or "sus" because, for numerous reasons, some can be as simple as just being the "red" guy.

The other contenders for top games across the United States also included Roblox and Minecraft. I have been subjected to all these games because of my wonderful 8-year-old son. Honestly, I have become a fan of these games while playing them with him. Roblox is number one overall and at first, I thought the crude graphics would not interest me, but there are many games far more complex than most studio-made games. Some are so popular that they have spawned their own merchandise and fan base.  And Minecraft, a build-your-own-world open-world, is an amazing game of complexity. If you have ever been a fan of SIMS or Legos, you'll probably love Minecraft too.

Other than comics, RPGs and art, I could talk about games all day. But here are some of my current and old favorite games I would highly recommend.

Okay, yeah I jumped on the bandwagon. With the old days of Halo 2 and Gears of War seemingly far behind, I looked into a new party fighting game. There is a huge learning curve for the "Building" process, but the game is just so funny. There are so many elements of humor and that you forget you are slaughtering each other. The violence is toned down a bit with gore being replaced by energy burst as you perish. There is a huge element of getting owned being a noob, but you really have fun no matter what. And the game is constantly updating and changing to stay fresh.

I'm still playing it, kill me! Anyone that loves The Witcher tv series I hope has played this game. Many of your friends may have already completed this game, but if you haven't, PLEASE play it. There are so many good stories that you'll have fantasy on your mind for months. One story that stood out for me was a sad werewolf whom you had to decide who was the real villain. I chose the werewolf of course! The video as a little bit of violence, but it's the least violent one since the game is wall-to-wall visceral intensity. 

I have the Game Pass on X-Box and it gives you a lot of games to look at one of the cool puzzle games I played was Dicey Dungeons. It's a nice, calming game between any massive gaming adventures you may be having. Or if you are just waiting for that annoying Fortnite update to finish. 

These are on Game Pass also, so you can give them a try if you haven't already in the past (It's been seven years?). The epic sandbox worlds created in Fallout are truly amazing. You can really customize both your character and how you approach your playing style. Maybe you like jumping into combat, maybe you like shooting from afar, maybe you like being sneaky. There are elements to do all of these things. I have not ventured into Fallout 76, but have heard mixed reviews. Suppose I have to give it a shot at some point.