By Aeth Finch

Everyone has a question running around in their minds every day, sometimes two questions. Actually, I have two questions. The questions I have are: 1) How am I going to describe my favorite game, especially on a nearly empty Google Doc, and 2) How does someone make a big impact on, well, anything?

I’m Aeth, the newest intern for the New York Videogame Critics Circle. While I did like going outside and playing with friends from time to time, when I discovered video games it felt like a whole new passion was birthed. From trying to make first place in Mario Kart on my Nintendo DS to playing Super Smash Bros. Brawl on the Wii with my brothers and cousins to playing Marvel Ultimate Alliance on my PlayStation 3, it felt like there were endless amounts of thrilling experiences to find.

Overall as a kid, it always felt like I had a deep connection to technology and digital media, and as the time went on, this connection grew more and more. A few years later, I got a PlayStation 4, and a phone. This not only strengthened my connection to technology, but led to my love of gaming. While I still did have the balance of going outside and playing with friends from time to time, most of my time went more towards playing video games inside with my brother. We got closer because of games. I really liked competitive games at the time, and bother a rivalry and a bond formed with my brother over time.

As the years went by near the end of middle school, COVID arrived and it made everyone go inside. While my love for gaming was dwindling down due to having to do school online at the time, I got a Switch Lite and a Chromebook. Although the Chromebook was a hand-me-down from my brother, this was my first access to PC gaming. Though the laptop-tablet hybrid couldn’t run a lot of games, it did for some and it rekindled the love for the medium, and gave me access to PC exclusive games and resources.

A year later, I got a Windows laptop. The PC wasn’t the strongest, but it allowed me to show my appreciation for the medium as an art form in another way, and this was through commentating. Because of my love for competitive gaming, but not good enough to win with the top competitors in the space, and my PC not being the strongest, it was the best thing I could do to show support. I enjoy this so much.

Of all the games I played on PC, one connected to me in a more personal way, enough to give me an enduring love of indies and single-player games, and this game is unarguably my favorite of all time. It’s Celeste. Before I had it, friends who played it said it was amazing and that they related to the story, but I shrugged it off for a while. I didn’t think I would feel the same way. From afar, it just looked like another ordinary platformer that you would beat and move on. But a few months later, one of my friends gifted me the game on Steam. So I accepted the gift, played the game and after completing the main game, the extra chapters, and getting all the achievements, it felt like I had a whole new perspective on life overall. To put it simply. there’s something more important about Celeste than platforming. Madeline, the main character, deals with anxiety and depression. After finishing, it felt like Celeste unleashing a voice that said all the things I probably knew about myself. But didn’t know how to word it. That’s what Celeste did perfectly for me.  

I first learned about the New York Videogame Critics Circle from my high school Game Dev teacher, Mr. Ahmed. He made us do the Minecraft Writing Challenge, an city wide NYVGCC contest in conjunction with the Minecraft Battle of the Boroughs, as an assignment. I didn’t think I would do the best, but seeing as it was a major assignment, it had to be done. I was a little nervous about doing it, thinking that the people in my class would do better. But when the time came for the grade and the results, I was very happy. I got a 100 for the assignment, and I was one of the 3 winners of the challenge itself. While the prize was $300, I also had the potential to get an internship from the Critics Circle itself.

Before claiming the prize and going to the event, our school’s Minecraft Team, led by Mr. Ahmed, was interviewed by Fox 5, Pix 11, and News 12 because of their winning build for Battle of the Boroughs. Needless to say, the pressure of being there was already going to be big as a spectator. But at the time, I was doing commentary for two years at that point, and someone reached out and asked me to commentate the Battle of the Boroughs Finals. It was hosted by the City of New York, so it was kind of a big deal. Not only be able to claim my prize of $300, but also be able to showcase my commentary skills. It did shake me up a bit inside. But on the outside, I kept calm and did the job well. Afterwards, I reached out about the internship to the Critics Circle, and here I am!

Currently I’m 16, heading onto 17 in less than a month, and going into my senior high school year. Though my life is only just about to begin, especially with this new chapter regarding being an intern, I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for me, both as a writer – and as a person!

Aeth Finch is a senior at John Dewey High School in Brooklyn. This is his first story as an NYVGCC intern.

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