A Retro Gamer Heading into the Great Big Future

Posted on 14 August 2008 by Rachel Longo-Tosoian

Growing up, I’m sure that everybody had at least some kind of contact with video games. I remember getting Nintendo for Christmas in the early ‘90s and being thrilled and immensely thankful for receiving the system as a gift. The only games I had for the longest time were the games the system came with, Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt. I was horrible at both.

Over time, I accumulated more games (some would call “girly” I would argue them to be unisex): Tetris, Kirby’s Adventure, Yoshi’s Cookie and even Doctor Mario. I hated any game that did not stimulate my mind like Tetris and Yoshi’s Cookie did, and Kirby’s Adventure was just fun to play.

Unlike me, my cousins received the Sega Genesis system with Sonic the Hedgehog and Ecco, that lovable dolphin. Sure, it was a nice change from playing Tetris all the time, but I could not abandon my NES. I was happy playing Duck Hunt incorrectly, with the piece held flush against the television because I had a terrible shot. I was happy never getting anywhere near completing Super Mario Bros. and dying the instant I started the game.

A few years after receiving the NES, another Christmas brought another gaming system, Game Boy. I thought that I was the coolest kid for getting that tiny piece of technology. It wasn’t in colour, but I didn’t care, I had my Tetris and I was the happiest kid in the world.

Fast-forward to present day, I still have my NES and Game Boy, and they are in perfect working condition (yes, even the gun for Duck Hunt). I brought my NES with me to university and again in college, and everybody who came over went absolutely nuts when they saw I had the system (and Duck Hunt). Houseguests could not be peeled away from the system if their life depended on it. It was a nice trip down memory lane for everybody.

But that is the problem, my NES and Game Boy are retro... obsolete. Today, games are no longer made for those systems because everyone is fixated on Wii, DS, Xbox, PlayStation, etc. While all of my friends were upgrading, I was left behind in the dust as I played my retro system. Each time a new Nintendo system came out, I would ask for it, but never got it and I was told that the ones I had were enough. As my friends were playing The Legend of Zelda or Mortal Kombat, I was clearing levels with Kirby on his adventure.

A few months ago, my best friend’s dad bought a Nintendo DS Lite, and now her family has a few in their home. My friend was raving about all the retro games that are available online to download, and all the great games that are available for the system. “You should totally get one,” she told me, but I was happy without one. However, over time, I saw how entertaining the games were, and the television commercials for some of the games were pretty convincing.

This past Sunday, I caved in. I went to the store, laid down my money, and bought a DS Lite. The whole ride home I kept thinking about how I made a mistake and was abandoning my retro roots. “The Game Boy is still fine,” I thought to myself, “it still works, I just turned it on the other day.” The moment the battery was charged in the DS, and a game went into the system, I was hooked. I went out the next day and bought more games, one of them being Tetris (I am keeping a little bit of the retro, don’t worry).

I know that it will take getting used to, I mean, I have never had to use four buttons, let along a touch wand (seriously, what are X and Y for anyway?). Moving into the future with the rest of the world was a bit of a struggle, but I am managing. Besides, if I want to take a trip down memory lane, I know that I can because my old systems are in perfect working order. Plus if anyone wants a serious game of Tetris, I’m game!

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