System Overload: Level I

As far as hobbies goes, gaming can be an expensive one. With the initial $300+ investment in the system, and a once-a-month habit clocking in at $70 for the latest hit, I think I might have been really rich right now had I been really good at soccer instead of button smashing. But, I am who I am today because of some intensely good hand-eye coordination, and the love of a game. Here is the first of five columns wherein I look back at some of my best and worst moments growing up as a gamer.

NES (1998)

As Pong was actually owned by my Grandma and not mine, I consider the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES from here on in) as my first console. Rightfully so, it carries the most amount of memories.

If memory serves, my mother bought me the NES from The Brick the same day my grandparents went to pick up a couch they had won in a contest. So excited I was for this gift, I suddenly burst into a song about how much I loved my Mom, my NES and Legendary Wings. I honestly get a pit in my stomach when I think of it because of how embarrassing it must have been.

My local game rental store called The Jolly Gamesman, and thinking I was the coolest kid and their favorite customer, whenever I rented a game and there was a little bit of change left over, I suavely told them to “keep the tip.” Consider it a down payment on my current nom de plume…

I really did own a Power Glove; it was so bad.

Once I was about to beat Wart, the end boss in Super Mario Bros. 2, when a family member shut off the TV. Raw instinct must have kicked in because the moment the old tube TV warmed up and came back on again, I had beaten him and was watching the end credits.

In the classic game Super Mario Bros. 3, a leaf was used as a power up to become Raccoon Mario. One time during a gaming session at a friend’s house, the moment we hit the question mark brick to release the leaf, a REAL leaf came fluttering through the window. Our fight or flight instincts took over as we ran out of the room, convinced that there were some evil spirits at work.

Favourite Game: Super Mario Bros. 3

Game Boy (1990)

I only have one memory of my spinach green Game Boy from Nintendo. It was a cold December night, and my sister, mother and I were on our way to go see Edward Scissorhands. I can’t recall the theatre or much about the movie, but I do remember losing grip of my little brick of gaming joy, and watching it effortlessly plummet and bounce down a flight of cement stairs. Closing my eyes tight and hoping for the best while I anxiously examined it for damage, I died a little inside when I saw the telltale signs of permanent screen damage indicated by a chunk of discolored lines down the middle. I can’t remember what happened to the system afterwards, but it was the start of a dark journey for me and handheld gaming systems. See here. Sniff.

Favourite Game: Wario Land

So, that takes care of my rookie years. Come back next week for the second instalment of System Overload, where Nintendo gets Super.

– The Jolly Gamesman