I think as a child you need a balance between digital entertainment and "real" entertainment. Maybe the worl of Super Mario Bros. is amazing, but there's nothing like playing in the woods with your friends and discover the world for yourself.

I opted to focus on pursuits that had some parallels with video games: sports management (dice league), city construction (Lego) and role-playing games (gamebooks). Truth be told, I was very much an outdoors type, even once video games entered the picture.

My friends and I grew up in a rather new neighborhood in the south of England, so our surroundings were constantly altering. It made for some interesting urban exploration (which goes some way to explaining why some of favorite game series—STALKER, GTA, Fallout, Elder Scrolls, Zelda and Metroid—have some open-ended ability to explore your environment).

We also had access to a field that enabled us to play football on a regular basis. There were enough kids around that we were able to arrange knockout competitions. Street tennis was also a favorite during the warmer summer months.

On top of all that we were rarely separated from our BMX bikes, which as well as aiding us in our urban exploration would also double up as our street racing vehicles. We were occasionally conscientious enough to put spotters on the course to ensure we didn't find ourselves racing into the path of incoming cars.

In short, we all enjoyed a pretty healthy balance of indoor and outdoor pursuits.