Monday, October 18, 2010

NEStify: The NES at 25




I never had any clue what a video game was until Christmas of 1988. That was when I got what was without question the best Christmas gift ever.

It was an Nintendo Entertainment System bundled with of course Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt, two controllers, and the Zapper. Opening the package was like finding something from Outer Space; it was unreal. I had no concept that such a device could exist (the little interaction I had with computers at the time was a few brief glimpses of my Dad's IBM). Seeing it in action on my TV was equally awe inspiring. I mean I was controlling something on TV! How was that even possible? I adapted quickly to this new machine, learning how to play Mario like a pro and how to cheat at Duck Hunt and make that damn dog shut up. It was probably months before I got new game for the system, but at that time it didn't seem to matter much. Those games drew me in and hooked me. I can say truly that they changed me. From that Christmas day forward I was an addict. Video Games were now a permanent fixture in my life.

While the Atari 2600 and other devices out date it by a number of years (and to dismiss those systems would be foolish) for me the real golden age of games was the era in the late 80's when the NES emerged. Games were starting to come into their own then and the NES was the platform that served as ground zero for much of that change. It revitalized a dead industry and gave birth to genres and franchises that hold up the industry to this day.

It wasn't a perfect system, but at the time I'd say it came damn close. As the silver anniversary of the NES passes today, it becomes harder and harder for me to imagine a world in which it did not exist. I'd say pour one out for it today but the fact is it never really died like other consoles. The NES is still kicking around and it feels like it will never really go away.