Thursday, November 15, 2012

Nintendo: The Gift of Gaming

Real life picture of me at age 5
Hey there.  Quick!  Think back at your most fondest, earliest gaming memory!  For those in my generation (I'm 30, by the way), the answer is going to be playing Atari or Nintendo at home.  Atari may have been in homes before Nintendo and I remember playing them both, but the fondest memories come from playing Nintendo.  I remember my cousin getting his before I did and I remember sneaking over to his place to play. We lived in an apartment building and his apartment was right below mine.  We would play into the wee hours of the night.  Whether it was Super Mario Bros., Contra, Bubble Bobble (which I've introduced to the kids on the Wii) or The Legend of Kage we simply could not get enough, but my most fondest memory in my gaming history has to be when my Dad handed me my Nintendo.

When my Dad was still around, he would head over to Minnesota for a few weeks to work.  My Dad was a pretty awesome carpenter and would work in the upholstery business in the Los Angeles area but would take a job in Minnesota from time to time.  I want to say it was to work in a friend or family owned business but I am not 100% sure on that.  Anyways, my mother would take me to the airport when my Dad would fly back home.  That's when the moment happened.  I don't know if it seeing the world through a child's view or what, but I remember seeing my Dad walking towards me with that huge, black Nintendo box.  I do not remember seeing luggage, I do not remember seeing other people at the terminal, I only remember seeing my Dad, walking towards me with a brand new Nintendo in his arms.  I was ecstatic to say the least.  When he handed it to me, I could barely wrap my arms around it.  I will never forget that moment.  I remember thinking that I finally had a Nintendo of my own.  No more having to be bad and sneak out to play.  Now...  I can be bad and sneak a game or two at home!  lol
It's funny to me how my fondest gaming moment doesn't even involve me playing a game!  I remember that moment and hold it dear to my heart, not only because it was my first gaming console and helped mold me into the guy I am today, but because it came from my Dad.  As some of you know, my Dad passed on when I was 9 so there wasn't as much time spent between us that I would have liked.  But that day, that moment, helped define my path towards gaming.  I've been working with many people across many gaming platforms and I got to to thinking of the exact moment when my life took the turn towards gaming.  I wouldn't be writing about games, experiencing gaming events, or even connecting with video games as much as I do if wasn't for that moment.  And I wouldn't be loving every minute of it.  Thanks, Dad.  Later!

13 comments:

  1. What a wonderful post! I am in the same age box and I remember dozing off on the couch watching dad play Atari when I was very little. When I was around 7 or 8 he brought home an NES and I played that thing so much. Everything with the word Mrio in it, Bubble Bobble, Zelda, ahhh Contra...I miss my NES, think I'll buy a refurbished one. I still remember the price on the original box...$99.95 at AAFES. I was a gamer starting at that point and always will be.

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  2. Awesome memory, I don't actually remember the moment I got the NES, can't remember if it was a Xmas gift or Birthday gift. But I have a similar memory when I got my first Commodore 64. Of course many days were spent playing the NES and I remember having to whistle blow the older gaming cartridges to get them to read after endless hours of playing them!

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  3. LOL I did the cartridge blowing too! I used a bottle of nailpolish to wedge the game in when it wouldn't stop resetting!

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  4. Hey there Jenn! I played the crap out of my NES too. I still play Bubble Bobble! lol I got it for the Wii as a downloadable game and I'm glad to see that the kids enjoy it as much as I did when I was younger.

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  5. They there Justin! Yeah, you had to blow into them. It seemed like the only way to make them work would be to do that. It's a skill that kids today will never have the pleasure of mastering. lol

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  6. You know what I found out works well when the game continued to reset??? Inserting TWO NES cartridges in the NES! The second one would hold the first one down and if I was lucky, it would start working. It had about a 70% success rate, I would say. lol

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  7. I received my NES for my 8th birthday in 1989 - I opened it up all excited and promptly turned to him and asked "what is this?" He laughed and explained to me it was like his Atari that I loved to play.... I remember spending many hours on my NES with my cousin the most vivid game I remember was The Legend of Zelda because it was the first game we beat. But I have to say out of all my memories of the NES receiving mine from my father was the fondest memory I have of it....he passed away when I was 18, and I have to say the NES is the gift I remember the most. Thanks for sharing your memory and letting me walk down memory lane as well.

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  8. or you could blow into it and then insert the disk almost all the way in - press down and in at the same time jarred mine into working almost every time

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  9. Hey there Natasha. "What's this?" Oh man, that is some classic stuff right there! I loved the fact that your dad referenced the Atari as "his". lol Thanks for the comment, Natasha!

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  10. I like your story, I remember always saying "I want to play NES, I want to play NES!!!" I also liked Bubble Bobble on NES. I did not know it was out on the Wii. I actually played it on the NES again recently. I didn't like those white ghosties that ran after you. So scary! I used to play NES with my cousins. That's a cool photo/drawing you put up. Did you make it yourself?

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  11. That Nintendo Action set was the one you used on your childhood? Wow! you preserved it until now. And is it still working? I used to have a gaming console before but because time passes by and limited storage i didn't saved it. Awesome childhood memory right there @MetallmanX:disqus!

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  12. Hey there Chris! No, that's not my action set. I wish is was though. My NES has been long gone. I don't remember what happened to it!!!

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