Lets Play Nintendo

As a kid, the Atari 2600 was my first introduction to the world of video games. I enjoyed the simplicity of the games and the sheer novelty of playing them on a screen. But it wasn’t until the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) entered my life that I truly fell in love with gaming. The NES was a game-changer. It was like having a live-action cartoon at my fingertips, complete with vibrant colors, dynamic characters, and engaging storylines. I was captivated, and my passion for video games grew exponentially. My siblings, like most kids our age, gravitated toward the playful, childlike classics. Duck Hunt and Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! were always within arm’s reach of the console. But for me, the adrenaline rush of a fast-paced side-scroller was like a drug. I couldn’t get enough of it. I quickly began building my arsenal of cartridges, amassing an impressive collection of games like Strider, Contra, and Kung Fu. I was obsessed with keeping them in perfect working order. I became well-versed in the art of cleaning the cartridges with rubbing alcohol and Q-tips, and I even resorted to stashing them in the refrigerator in an attempt to prevent the dreaded Nintendo glitch. In those days, before memory cards and respawn points, the stakes were high. Each battle was fraught with tension, the possibility of losing hours of progress looming over me like a dark cloud. This sense of urgency fueled my love for gaming and sparked my curiosity about how games were made. As I played, I found myself studying the layering of graphics, gradually understanding the concept of background and foreground. This knowledge would later prove invaluable in my creative pursuits. My days were consumed by gaming, interrupted only by episodes of Seinfeld and Married with Children. I’d eagerly watch Al Bundy’s antics and then return to the pixelated world of my NES, my thumbs expertly dancing across the controller. At church, my mind would drift from the sermon to thoughts of cheat codes and secret levels. The anticipation of returning home to my beloved console was palpable, each minute ticking by like an eternity. Before I ever tasted a drop of alcohol, the word “alcohol” held an entirely different meaning for me. It was the magical elixir that could resurrect a stubborn game, the secret ingredient that kept my gaming world alive and thriving. The Nintendo NES was more than just a gaming console; it was my gateway to a world of imagination, creativity, and adventure, and it ignited a passion that would shape my life in more ways than I could ever have imagined.