For all you next-gen gamers thinking you’re living it up with your Halo’s and Killzone’s, let me remind you where it really began at. Yeah, Doom may been the OG of first-person shooters to really gather a following, but Goldeneye 007 really took it there. Never was there just a single game that made an otherwise worthless gaming console worth purchasing (yeah I said it). Take yourself back to the rainy days of 1998 for a moment. Go to your homeboy’s living room. Undoubtedly there was a Playstation, as they were ubiquitous with every household at the time. But in that other corner, inside that pancaked piece of plastic, sat the silver cartidge bearing Pierce Bronson’s likeness while he posed with that PP7 with the silencer attached.

You had to have to it.

I was fortunate to be part of the perfect setup. My boy had the big screen, I had 4 controllers and we’d play the most murderous rap music we had to accent the occasion. Nore’s “Body In The Trunk” blasted from the Sony boombox while we endured Pistols in the Stack. It was lights out for all players if someone got a hold of that RCP-90 when it was Power Weapons in the Temple. Master P’s “Let My 9 Get Em” did the rest of the talking. And it was double the torture singing along with Pun, telling your opposistion “You Ain’t A Killa” while emptying your clip into their lifeless torso while the blood trickled down their portion of the screen. And we didn’t play that power meter shit. If you came to our neck our woods, prepare to submit your “License To Kill” because them one-hitter quitter shots were bout as real as it got.

Fuck around and get John Blazed…

It was winner choose the scenario in our button mashing sessions that lasting for hours on end. And the shit-talking was endless. My favorite catch phrase was something silly like “Smoke ya like a pack o’ Kools…” while the homie Jason had infinite ways of referencing food from McDonalds to capitalize on a kill (smh). The characters we picked were shown no mercy either. Natalya – was always a bitch, Trevelyan and Bond? (Gimmie your best guess). And there was always someone thinking they was sweet, picking the “Helicopter Pilot” trying to be T-1000, only to get hit wit’ numerous shots with tha ‘44. Let our parents walk in, they’d here more curse words than “Tommy’s Theme” tenfold. (It was hard to keep it contained.)

I smell…

But, when reliving this game while getting inspiration for the post, I felt like I drunk a fifth of Henny and rode the Himalaya at the fairgrounds. The bit rate on that joint was bout as fluid as jello. I don’t know how we did it, but they’ll probably never be another game to consume as much my time as Goldeneye 007. Until Def Jam decides to remake this format and let the rappers shoot it out in their respective hoods that is…

BONUS – Ego Trip – Hip-Hop’s Greatest Singles: 1998 (Tracklisting Included)