0x17e566d9…e6c0sent to0xb795c13e…9701·#19,570,491·view on Etherscan
0x17e5···e6c0 # Saved by the Arcade
When I was 13, my dad lost his restaurant in Nice (on the French Riviera), and we had to move to Corsica, in a small village where my mom was from. This was a challenging time for me as I had to start anew there, knowing no one.
Fortunately, that small town had a local amusement arcade where the neighborhood kids would hang out; it was a dream come true for me. They had all sorts of arcade games, but the standout attraction was a fighting game (which I later discovered was Street Fighter 2).
Having no money of my own, I would go shopping for my grandfather (baguette and newspapers), and in return, he would let me keep the change. You can bet I saved every penny I could to play that fighting game at the arcade! To my surprise, I found myself naturally skilled at the game and quickly began defeating the CPU-controlled opponents (using the chinese fighter Chun-Li).
Funnily enough, the locals would gather around me and cheer for me every day! Suddenly, I went from being a nobody to being known as "the fighting game guy." Yet, the ultimate challenge remained: defeating the final boss, M. Bison, a feat that no one, including myself, had accomplished. I spent a significant amount of pocket money trying to defeat that mfer!
But one day, I managed to K.O. Bison, and I still remember the crowd of kids behind me going wild when we finally saw the (admittedly disappointing) ending screen!
The Street Fighter 2 arcade game helped me make my first friends, and even 30 years later, I still hang out with them when I visit my parents on their local island.