Which controller did you start with?

Day 10

This have to be a record for me of some sort.  10 days writing has to be one for me.

I said that slowly but surely, I will be expanding into my hobbies and things alike. I think I already let you know that I'm a bit into video games mainly because it has always disconnected me from reality and transfer me to a fantasy world.  For me, is a great way to release stress and, contrary to popular belief, keep my mind active by diving deep into a story, flexing my reflexes with great gameplay, and learning some new skills along the way.

Yesterday a group of gamer friends shared the picture below:

It was very exciting to see where I started, and how far gaming has come.  So long story short, I started at #1, with the Atari 2600.  I have vivid memories of me playing Joust even though I was just a very small child and the game itself was developed/released even before I was born.

But truly the console that initially made me a "gamer" was the #2, the Nintendo Entertainment System or NES (or as my mom would call it "Lintendo", a dominican thing).  In the years after, she would call it the right way (Nintendo), but then, she would call every single gaming console "Nintendo" independently of what it was.  Anyways, the NES is the one where I got my big start in the hobby.  Way too many hours lost playing Mario, Zelda, Double Dragon, Contra, Ninja Gaiden, Castlevania, Megaman, Blaster Master, and many others.

Who could forget how we needed to blow on the cartridges for them to work, or clean them with alcohol and a swab, or that the power supply would stop working, or that many times you had to try and retry to power on the NES so the game would play.  Some minor hardware defects at the time that were fixed for the follow up console, the SNES.

By the time SNES came out, I was a full-blown Nintendo kid, I had a cousin who was as enthusiastic as me, but he would nickname me "Niño Nintendo" (Nintendo kid) and that would stick with me among my family for many years 😓.  

When the SNES came out in 1991 I obviously wanted one, but my parents flat out said "no", and some years later (guess that by 1993 or so) my younger brother fell ill.  I can't recall exactly what he had, but he had to be hospitalized, mind you, he was 5 years old or so, and I remember him telling my mom, who was feeling devastated because of his illness, that he wanted a SNES, and to my surprise, as soon as he got discharged, a SNES appeared at home. 

It is my most vivid memory of mom's favoritism towards my younger brother, that today is a running joke among my other siblings.  I may or may not have some trauma related to that.

Going back to the picture, the SNES definitely mold me into a true gamer then, but the console that really made my jaw drop (and that I played the most then) was the N64.  A lot of nostalgia is attached to it, for example, just hearing the opening of Super Mario 64 brings a big smile to my face (you know, the incredibly famous line "It's-a-me Mario") and all of the sleepless nights playing Goldeneye 007, Mario Kart 64, WWF No Mercy, Perfect Dark, Super Smash Brothers or Mario Party, among other amazing multiplayer games and that's not counting the most amazing game ever made "The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time" (or its direct sequel "The Legend of Zelda Majora's Mask") among other amazing single player games.

As I grew older, I had the same opinion on video games: THEY ARE FUCKING AMAZING but less and less time would be available to play due to school, or friends wanting to go out, or work, or simply adulting.  

To finish up with the picture: I've owned #1, #2, #3, #4, #6, #7, #9, #10, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #18 and #20.  I have many games, and my backlog is of the size of Texas.

I could continue writing more and more about it, and I will, but some other day.  From the Gamecube era to present day, there are many things to cover and stories to tell.