| | Video Games killed the radio star.
I've
been thinking back fondly to my days as a video game junkie pre-1999
lately. This soul-searching/reminiscing has led to this very
important entry. Yeah, that's right, I'm going to rank video game
systems by how they have affected my life. Let the controversy begin...
1. Nintendo
The
original 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System, also known in more fanboy
circles as the NES (famicon in Japan). This system was my first video
game system
and had such a Darth Vader grip on me that it eventually led to the
beginning of
the end of me being able to play with my G.I. Joe and Transformer toys
(Mucho money on EBAY). I remember distinctly picking one up at Caldor
(remember that place ?) and anticipating the vicious removal of
cardboard and plastic, exposing the yummy Made In Japan plastic within.
It
came with a Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt cartridge--Mario being perhaps
the best adventure game ever on a
video game system. How they were able to package the system with a game
about an Italian plumber who ate mushrooms while chasing an overgrown
turtle with firey breath is still a mystery to me, but they
somehow pulled it off (legally).
One drawback was their terrible detection problem. I think I've spent
more hours blowing into the system and cartridges to make them work
(remember pressing the "reset" key when the screen blinks to get the
system operating?) than actually playing the games. Obviously this was
a great practice for girls (those Japanese people are sick
individuals!), if you know what I mean  . Okay Chris, mind out of the
gutter.
Wh-what is this prehistoric fossil?
Nintendo
had many classic games including Contra, Mike Tyson's Punchout,
Baseball Stars, Metroid, Ikari Warriors, and Legend of Zelda. My
brothers and I discovered a code in Ikari Warriors by random button
mashing which enabled us infinite lives. We still
believe we were the first people in America to accomplish the feat
despite no internet to find cheats. (I'd say the world, but as we all
know Japan gets their video game
releases before we do.)
"Amazing action, blazing graphics..."
The Nintendo controller was a simple 2
button format, just the A and B buttons, and it worked pretty damn
well. Punch/Kick, Swing/Throw, Accellerate/Brake, we could do it all with just two
buttons. If we had only known what the future would hold.
Also useful for cliffhanging
2. Gameboy
Probably one
of the most innovative advances in video gaming history. The #1 selling
video game. The reason why Nintendo is still in the maps. The reason
why most of the Y-Generation(1979-1995) has carpul tunnel syndrome. We
(my brothers and I) recieved this gift on Xmas 89' from our Uncle Jack,
which is also the best gift we've recieved from him with my 19 years on
earth. The rest were sweaters two-sizes too large. Packaged with
Tetris, my pre-school days were not spent coloring within the lines, or
figuring out what comes after the letter "C" (it's R, if you're
wondering), it was with my bestfriend, Tetris.
Doesn't that pale olive color scheme bring back memories?
What pushed
the Gameboy to the next level was probably it's lineup of great games
coupled with portability. Looking back at it, this thing's larger than
a textbook compared to the Gameboy Advance. I spent so many
hours indoors with my brother and friends playing
games that there were times we even forgot to have our after-school
snack! I kid you not.
This behemoth took four AA batteries, but wellll worth it.
3. Super Nintendo (SNES)
Many of you are probably reminiscing whilst deja vu'ing with that
title. I can list an endless amount of memories brought to me with this
machine. Our parents purchased this for my brother on his birthday
(forgot which one, but who counts birthdates anyway? It's so 1980's).
And of course, the 007 skills of us three siblings sparked a hint
curiousity--we found the receipt of this gift 3 days prior. Our
salivary glands were jumping out of our jaws, waiting for our brother's
birthday to quickly advance.
Soon enough (or hardly?), the day came. We must've been the happiest
Asian kids in Queens, NY. Three little Asians, paired with a copy of
the hottest game at the time, Super Street Fighter for the SNES. The
hadoukens, the hundred hand slaps, and all the Chun-Li "yap-yap-yap's"
brought many hours of entertainment.
Then, just when things couldn't get any better, an uncle visiting Hong
Kong brought home what was probably the greatest gift, and catalyst for
piracy--a video game copier. Obviously, the video game gods were
blessing us for beating Super Mario World not twice, but thrice (okay,
so we used a few Game Genie cheats). Can you say you "owned" over 200
snes games?
A brand new game on a floppy disk. Oh, the lovely wonders of piracy.
Okay, if you're a Fed, please refrain from issuing a warrant for my arrest--it was for testing purposes only.
4. Sony Playstation
I
remember the first time I saw Sony Playstion at Toys'R'Us. Not being in
the video game phase like I used to, this contraption was foreign to
me. As a 6th grader, my first hands-on experience was with my cousins
Timmy, and Nick. Christmas Eve suddenly had more meaning to me. As we
spent hours playing the demo disk included with the system, it was no
wonder why Japanese people are so pale--the hours on end spent playing
games indoors does that to you.
"What? No analog sticks?"
It was certainly
a transistion moment for me, because now that I didn't have the system
that was most popular, it became the first time that I was mediocre at all the games we played. I should note here, that at the
same time my vision began to deteriorate, so my high-scoring skills weren't what they once were.
And so the myth of masturbation causing blindness wasn't true. It wasn't playing with yourself that was bad, playing games was!
Alas, the gaming gods answered to us again, and my brother
purchased the Playstation (PSX for nerds like you and me) from
our good family friend, Lenny. Basically, all we played on Playstation
were sports
games, and fighting games like Tekken and Street Fighter Alpha. Hour
after hour of vision deteriorating games.
5. Sony Playstation 2
My
times with PS2, my current video game system, has been a bitter-sweet
time for me. This was the first system I purchased with my personal
funds. It was a special edition boxed set with Gran Turismo 2 included.
The skills when it comes to the games are mostly
still there, but now my 10 year old cousin, who I once could whip in
any game with my eyes closed, can now smack me around pretty good. My
ability to play for hour after hour has also greatly diminished as my
eyes start to burn and my fingers get stiff after a certain period of
time. However, despite these unavoidable consequences of aging, I have
begun a new journey into the many genre's of video games.
"Well Brandeen, look'r this lil' doo-hickity of a contraption! It's an expensive cup holder. A-hee-haw!"
As many of
you know, I'm not into video gaming as I used to; except for those
"multi-player friend-crusher" party's at my friend Simon's. These games
are role-playing
games, and not the type you play with your significant other. Well,
unless you roleplay as a drawf and a wizard, but that's really your
business.
Little did Miss Follingsworth realize that her robe was made by handicapped children. She was never the same again afterward.
Anyway, the PS2 has both opened and closed some video
game doors for me. Well, mostly it has closed doors, but every now and
then I do find the right magical key. I don't play for as long, or have
the emotional stake that I once did, but now when I play it's just a
way of escaping the day to day crazyness that life is.
Well,
that, and also learning how to shoot and maim people, like in such
games as Grand Theft Auto. Because, we all know, if Joe Lieberman is
right, video games make people kill.
If only life could be reset like video games, I'd be flying airplanes and making $40,000
Now if you'll allow me to get going, I must prepare an induction of my newly acquired PSP.
[Post-Edit] Throw in the Sega Dreamcast. It totally slipped my mind. Maybe because it lasted all but 2 years.
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