Xmas gamer Part II / Orig posted 12/20/04

For those of you reading this blog and have not read part one, please do so now. It's ok, I'll wait...........Welcome back now on with the story.

ovember 1986 arrived and I found that I had become a different person. As I had said before, my mother had died the previous year. I still hadn't fully realized that fact. I had many other things clouding my mind at the time, (living in a no heat no AC apartment, a crappy job, etc.) so the grieving process was still in phase one. My gaming life had changed as well. The one arcade I frequented as a young teenager had since closed, and I hadn't touched any of my now collecting dust home systems in quite some time. Was I growing old of gaming? Was I closing the door on a part of me I thought would be with me forever? No, not entirely. The gamer inside me was just waiting for the right time to expose himself once more to the world. Enter the Nintendo Entertainment System.

lthough the system had been released in the US in 1985, I did not obtain my gateway to gaming nirvana until one year later. This was a landmark system for me in many ways. First: It was the first (but not the last) home console I purchased with my own money. Second: It was exceedingly influential in my decision to call in sick to my crappy job on more occasions than I care to admit. But I am getting ahead of myself here. Let's set the wayback machine, shall we? Just after Thanksgiving I fell into some money. It was from the sale of my mother's house. I won't disclose the amount, but let's just say, unlike Indiana Jones, I would have chosen more wisely. I had seen and heard about the NES in spades. Remember, this was when Nintendo used to advertise a little more than they do now. I figured it was time to get back into gaming. I skipped (drove actually. Because of a near fatal incident, my skipping days are over) down to the local toy store to purchase my new "perfect toy". With system and three games in tow I headed giddly back to my apartment. Just twenty minutes and absolutely no arguments (I don't miss everything about being a kid.) the NES was ready to go. The three games I purchased were Super Mario Bros., (included: Duck Hunt was not a pack in)
Kung Fu and Metroid. My roommate and I played and played and played. SMB. What can I say about this game that hasn't been said a hundred times? Hearing from a friend of a friend about the turtle shell extra man move was just about the coolest thing ever. (It only took us about 30 tries before we finally pulled it off.) Kung Fu was fun for a quick beatdown. Low kick, low kick, low kick all the way through to the end. Compared to today's games not very strategic, but back then it was as fun as anything else. Then came the mother of all games (to me anyway). Metroid. Say it with me....M E T R O I D. We played this for days on end. Each one alternating between playing and navigating. We even drew up a map as we played so as not to get lost. Every time we'd stumble across a new uncharted area, it was like we were transformed back to the days of being ten years old again. It was all we could do to keep from shouting off the balcony, "We found Kraid! We found Kraid!" Immediately followed by, "Are you writing this down? Two screens right, shoot up then jump up." By the time we reached the now infamous Mother Brain, we both had three days of facial growth and old chip bags and departed soda cans lay littered at our feet. And the hits kept on coming. Zelda, Kid Icarus, Zanac, Tecmo Bowl, Contra, Gradius, Metal Gear, Rush 'N Attack were just some of the gems I played. (and still play to this day) True to form, I wasn't even remotely aware of the significance of these moments until much later. The NES and the name Nintendo became my benchmark on how all other gaming moments would undoubtably be measured. All seemed to be right with the world. My gaming cyclist was back on the track and peddling as fast as he could go. But nay, that was not meant to be. You see someone had put a giant spike in the road of my gaming cyclist. And it's name was Genesis.

pon entering 1990 my NES library had grown to biblical proportions. (I had purchased a Gameboy as well) Christmas on the other hand was another story. It no longer seemed important. Just another day. I was beginning to separate Christmas and gaming. The perfect toy was now just a childhood dream, and rightfully so. It was around this chapter of my life I became acutely aware of two things. Adulthood and nostalgia. I so desparately wanted to recapture the feeling of gaming as a child, that I neglected to view it from an adult's perspective. What that perspective was I couldn't tell you except maybe that fun games are just that. Fun. No more, no less. The Genesis made me stand up and take notice. "Blast Processing"? That had to be good. To make a long story short I picked the slick, faster jet black Genesis over the Super Nintendo. By this time I was with my soon to be first wife (which ended 9 years later amid many knockdown drag-outs over gaming. She wasn't a gamer in the least. Another blog perhaps) and my gaming time was cut drastically. Therefore choosing the right game to play became paramount. Gunstar Heroes filled the bill. In the meantime I am a full fledged Sega fanboy (way before I knew what the term meant), "dissing" the Big N with one hand while still playing my Gameboy with the other. Sad. A year Later I broke down and bought the SNES, and was happy as pie. Yet another evolution (and my last I'm afraid) in the Christmas/gaming creature that was bred so long before. The last time gaming and Christmas really intertwined for me was in November of 1998.

his was the year. The Zelda year. By this time I had purchased a Nintendo 64 and a Playstation. I had run through Super Mario 64 and was wondering if Nintendo would release a disc based system and if Sony would take over the world. I was right on both counts. With my fanboy status killed and funeral services held earlier that summer, I was ready to forge ahead. I think everyone knows where they were when they first played Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. I loved the gold cartridge, albeit a little flat compared to the previous releases. With no lights anywhere except the lights from the very early rasied Christmas Tree (another argument topic with the ex), I gingerly placed the cartridge in the slot and powered up. I swear I watched the demo screen for about ten minutes, the tranquil music washing over me before I even thought of hitting the start button. Then I did, and the rest is gaming history.

So what have we learned kiddies? Gaming and Christmas are still part of my life today. They are slightly askewed from the days back in '76, but still remain important. Just not in the same way. Christmas and gaming nowadays is just a time when all the new systems, games, hardware, etc. are set to hit the store shelves ending the all out tidal wave of advertising set up months, even years before. So now I treat them as two entities instead of one. They both create lasting memories and influence points in our lives, as well as entertain. I still buy all the systems, I just tend to buy them after the holiday season. Being an adult made me at least become aware and appreciate one thing. Patience. Which is what I'll be showing from now until the day I die. Patiently waiting. Waiting for the two to cross paths again. Until they do, I will always listen for the sound to return. The sound that started it all.......Beep......Boop......Beep......Boop.