Sharing the Joy: My NES Games
My friend took out his old NES so that his kids could give it a try. Apparently, they were born long after the NES had gone out of style (i.e. after 1990). I offered to lend him some of my old NES games, but it wasn't until I got up on the stepladder, pulled out the shoebox of old Nintendo games, gagged on the dust that had accumulated on the box, and started cataloging the games themselves before I realized how much of my childhood was stored in that cardboard shoebox.
The box itself had about twenty games. I cataloged and sorted through these games, ordering them for my friend's kids, grouping them into different tiers (which games I really enjoyed, sort of enjoyed, and so on). As I did so, I remembered the game play of each game, and the challenges I faced in each game. I also remembered all the time spent doing monotonous things ( e.g. buying "health potions" in final fantasy), or trying to make one jump or another in a platform game... and of course, the ultimate triumphs of defeating various enemies.
It reminded me of all the times I'd woken up early to steal some time with the NES before cartoons started on Saturday morning, or how I'd hurry home after school to get in some Nintendo time before dinner time... And the games reminded me of the dark cold basement where the TV and Nintendo lived.
It reminded me of all the times I told my mom, "Wait, I'll come up after I finish this level," or all the times I left my game on pause while I was at school or overnight -- only to find the Nintendo off when I came back, and all my "hard work" erased.
I spent a lot of time with that Nintendo. As a family, we really invested a lot into that piece of hardware: both financially ($$$ for the games!), and in terms of time (my childhood!). Without question, the games I was passing on were an important part of my childhood -- if nothing else, because of the amount of time I sat in front of them. LOL...
It is funny to think about these game cartridges, and how much time was spent on each one -- in terms of the amount of total human-hours spent in front of the cartridge playing, or the developers, designers and testers -- how many human-hours they must have spent on the cartridge. What are those old Nintendo-game designers doing now? Are they all still making games? Have some of them moved on? And, perhaps more to the point, do they know how much happiness their game gave me?
I guess I'd saved the shoebox of games because I thought one day I might pull out the games again, and play them again... to experience the fun I had with them. The truth is that I hadn't pulled them out for over five years. When I gave my friend the box, I was really happy to know that these games, which had given me so much joy, would be giving some other kids some joy, too. I just hope they don't laugh too hard at the graphics.
The box itself had about twenty games. I cataloged and sorted through these games, ordering them for my friend's kids, grouping them into different tiers (which games I really enjoyed, sort of enjoyed, and so on). As I did so, I remembered the game play of each game, and the challenges I faced in each game. I also remembered all the time spent doing monotonous things ( e.g. buying "health potions" in final fantasy), or trying to make one jump or another in a platform game... and of course, the ultimate triumphs of defeating various enemies.
It reminded me of all the times I'd woken up early to steal some time with the NES before cartoons started on Saturday morning, or how I'd hurry home after school to get in some Nintendo time before dinner time... And the games reminded me of the dark cold basement where the TV and Nintendo lived.
It reminded me of all the times I told my mom, "Wait, I'll come up after I finish this level," or all the times I left my game on pause while I was at school or overnight -- only to find the Nintendo off when I came back, and all my "hard work" erased.
I spent a lot of time with that Nintendo. As a family, we really invested a lot into that piece of hardware: both financially ($$$ for the games!), and in terms of time (my childhood!). Without question, the games I was passing on were an important part of my childhood -- if nothing else, because of the amount of time I sat in front of them. LOL...
It is funny to think about these game cartridges, and how much time was spent on each one -- in terms of the amount of total human-hours spent in front of the cartridge playing, or the developers, designers and testers -- how many human-hours they must have spent on the cartridge. What are those old Nintendo-game designers doing now? Are they all still making games? Have some of them moved on? And, perhaps more to the point, do they know how much happiness their game gave me?
I guess I'd saved the shoebox of games because I thought one day I might pull out the games again, and play them again... to experience the fun I had with them. The truth is that I hadn't pulled them out for over five years. When I gave my friend the box, I was really happy to know that these games, which had given me so much joy, would be giving some other kids some joy, too. I just hope they don't laugh too hard at the graphics.
posted by tangaroo at 1:05 a.m.
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