I was six years old in 1986. After school one day my mom drove me two miles to my best friend Bruce's house, I was spending the night. The only memory I have of that night is a vivid one: playing 'Kung-Fu' on Bruce's Nintendo Entertainment System. This thing was light-years more advanced than the Atari 2600 that I had grown accustomed to, and therefore far more entertaining. I begged my family to understand why we needed the NES in our lives. Later that year our family embarked on our one-and-only family vacation. My father gave my brother and I $100.00 each to spend as we chose while on vacation. I stowed the cash deep in the left front pocket of my jeans and there it would remain for the duration of our journey. Upon our return, I gently gifted my mother with the savings and requested a Nintendo Entertainment System of my own and from what I remember, I had the system on the following day. My brother and I jammed that fucker every day for hours on end. My parents divorced shortly afterward.
I was ten years old in 1990. I stepped out onto the porch of my grandparent's home in Spangler, WV. It was late Summer and my father sat on the porch steps, smoking Doral Lights and drinking cola. "My friend is selling his Sega Genesis." I said. My father replied quickly, "Don't you want the Super Nintendo?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing! Could I actually graduate straight to the Super Nintendo!? It had just been released! "Well, yes, I do want the Super Nintendo." I mustered sheepishly. I reflect on this five year period of my life as some of the happiest years of my childhood. Junior High School was a breeze and the Super Nintendo was a power-packed system with a waterfall of AAA titles to indulge in.
I was seventeen in 1997. Christmas of that year I got my Nintendo 64. I must've played 'STAR WARS: Shadows of the Empire' for at least two-hundred hours. I lost my father and grandfather during this time. However, I made some great friends over lengthy sessions of 'Goldeneye', 'WCW Revenge', 'Perfect Dark' and others. I debated the advancement of the games industry and I championed the innovations that Nintendo had brought to market. I pressed in all directions searching for a way towards success and found very little. I dropped off the grid for a bit, reclaimed my senses and took a personal inventory. I still had great friends, and the Nintendo Gamecube was right around the corner.
I was twenty-one in 2001. I was working at a 7-11 on the swing shift covering for fuck-tards that didn't get the big picture. I was happy to pocket 180 bucks a week for dealing with thieves and abusers. I would usually catch a quick buzz behind my old elementary school on my walk back home when my shift ended at 7am. My mom would say: "You look so tired honey." I was stoned and hungry. A young man can only stomach so many written-off jalapeno dogs. I took it easy for the most part, saving for my first car and the Gamecube. 'Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem', 'Pikmin', 'Resident Evil', 'Metroid Prime', 'The Legend of Zelda - Wind Waker', 'Resident Evil 4', 'NBA Courtside', 'Super Smash Bros. Melee' ...Gamecube was a fucking party machine. I quit the 7-11 and worked for U-Haul for couple of years. I ditched my position as GM for my U-Haul branch for a gig as an hourly GameStop employee. I wanted to see the industry from the inside. I made lifelong friends, talked games all day and even went to E3 in 2005.
I was twenty-six in 2006. My pals and I hung out at GameStop the day before the official release of the Nintendo Wii. When the clock on the register ticked over to 12:00AM, we rang each other up. I was thrilled to see the success of the Wii. I felt that history was repeating itself. I felt that my childhood friend had returned and I was on top of the world standing side by side with Nintendo. I was eventually betrayed by the dark side of the games industry and I found myself without direction for a short while. While pretending to know what I was doing in the kitchen of a large hotel, I met the woman of my dreams and married her. I left the hotel for work at a company closer to home and earned one promotion per year over the next four years. I lost a close friend to cancer this year and I've thanked God for the strength my Wife gives me. Life moves forward, we know it is unpreventable. We absolutely must love the small pleasures of life alongside the grand and obvious ones. The Wii U will be released tomorrow. I'm a 6 year old trapped in the body of a 32 year old.
