PixlBit

I was playing with Power!

Hello Pilxbit, how are you? Today's the 30th anniversary of the NES! As you all know, the NES was Nintendo's first foray into the video game market in America back in the 80's. This was after the video game crash at the time and at a time when people didn't want nothing to do with video games. Well Nintendo released this with some great games and the rest was history. But imagine, it could of gone either way, but Nintendo took a big risk and it payed off.

I wasn't around in the 80's, but I have had experience with the NES in different times of my life. I have told this story a couple of times, but there's obviously a chance some people haven't seen it. Especially if I'm going to be posting across social media. I never get tired of telling this story but I bet some of you are, probably because it seems too farfetched. And while it seems too farfetched, I know it's true. Maybe this will be the last time I'll tell it, who knows. Anyway, here's my history with the NES...

I remember I was young at the time, I was 2 years old. My mom, dad, and I lived in a small 1 bedroom apartment. It was about the size of maybe a mid-sized/large living room. Basically the living room was the apartment we lived in, we had a bed, a tv, a small bathroom and a small section for a kitchen. It was christmas morning. I saw my dad get up, he opened our front door, or back since our apartment was in the back. My dad saw 3 presents on our doorstep. One for each of us. Mine was the biggest. It was a big box. I opened it and it was an NES.

 I remember my dad setting up the NES for me on our tv. He gave me the controller and the first game I tried out was Super Mario Bros. The music that played was a tune that I would remember for the rest of my life. That game turned me into what I am, maybe it was fated to happen, maybe destiny. The NES I got may have been the NES Action Set because my dad and I played Duck Hunt that same morning.

But the question is, where did the presents, and the NES come from? I don't know. My only explanation for this was Santa Claus. I mean who else just leaves presents in your house? Heck, years later I even asked my parents about the NES. They were really surprised I remember that far back, and they told me yes, those presents were at our doorstep. But they don't know who left them there. It could even been my mom and dad that put em outside, but I woke up earlier before them and didn't see them go outside, and why would they put presents addressed to themselves? I know my mom is telling the truth because she doesn't lie. Like I said, Santa Claus is my only explanation for this, and to this day it's still a mystery. Perhaps it's better if it stays day way, but whoever gave me that NES, Santa Claus or not, thank you.

Unfortunately I don't have that NES anymore, I don't know what became of it. I didn't see an NES till years later when my family and I went to Mexico for vacation. I think I was 8-9 years old at the time and we went to a party. The party was in this house that was across the street from a store that was closed for the night. I got bored at the party. Then this kid told me if I wanted to come over to his house to play some Nintendo. The kid was the son of a relative of my dad, and he was at the party too, and I asked my dad if I could go and he gave me the okay.

I followed the kid, his name was Ivan if I remember. I followed him to the store across the street and I saw him opening the door. I thought that he was trying to break in and I told him that stealing is bad. He laughed and said that this was his house. I was confused. It all became clear to me once we went inside. It was a store, but next to it was his house, and they were both connected. It was really big. Ivan came back from the store portion of his house and came with some snacks and some bottles of Cokes. He gave me a bottle and some snacks and told me if we are going to play some Nintendo through the long hours of the night, then we might as well take some fuel. We went to his room and I saw that he had an NES. I asked him what are we gonna play, then he said Super Mario Bros. He handed me the controller first since I was his guest. As soon as I started playing, I heard that familiar tune and all those memories came back to me and I couldn't help but smile.

I died unfortunately since it was my first time replaying SMB in years. Ivan then told me to open the bag of Flamming Hot Cheetos or whatever the Mexican equivalent was and told me to eat some. They were spicy and he told me it was a game we were going to play. Everytime you died, you'd had to eat some without taking a drink. We would then make up some some new rules like don't stomp on any Goombas, Koopas, or grab coins, otherwise you'd have to eat more spicy chips. It was really fun, yet spicy. It was nothing but Ivan, me, and playing Nintendo with all the lights off in the late hours of the night. With alot of screaming because of the spicy chips.

The next day I came over to Ivan's store and we were laughing at the great time we had playing Nintendo. His friend then came over and asked us why we were laughing at. We told him and he asked Ivan when he's going to buy more games. Ivan said he wasn't sure because he said that those games are "Juegos Piratas" Juego means game in spanish and Pirata means Pirate. Ignorance is bliss and I asked said isn't buying games off a pirate dangerous? Do you really buy your games off an actual pirate? Do they still exist? They both laughed, and said yes and no. No they don't buy their games off real pirates, it means that the games are bootlegs, fake copies off the original game. But they did tell me pirates still do exist, but not in the way I was thinking.

                            

         Would you like to buy some Nintendo games? I promise they aren't pirated...

It was the first time learning about fake games and they told me how to spot a fake. They told me when I go back to a store in the U.S. check the boxart, make sure it's consistant with the rest. Then go to a swapmeet. Look at the games there. If I see the boxart is different for a game that I saw at retail, then it's fake. They told me in Mexico, at least in the town I was in, they had an equivalent of what we called a swapmeet in America every week. They told me those places are hotspots for fakes. They were right. When I went back with my folks, I paid close attention and I saw fakes in swapmeets. I remember seeing fake Pokemon games too. It's more easier to spot a fake now thanks to the internet, but glad I got to know something important at a young age.

That was the last time I ever saw and got to experience an actual NES in person. Though I did keep the spirit alive by trying NES games through different formats. Like Animal Crossing on the Gamecube, the Wii, 3DS, and Wii U. When I look at these systems, it makes me think of how far we've come from cartridges. It feels like yesterday that we were using wired controllers and blowing on cartridges to get the games to work. Now you have access to all these games right on your fingertips on one console. Not blowing on cartridges required. 

And to think, it all started, or revived the industry with a gray box that looked like a VCR of sorts. Tech has advanced significantly to the point where we don't even need physical games, but physical games are still an option along with digital games. It may be inferior in every way possible, but there really is something magical about the NES in a sense. It only had two purposes: to play games and for you to have fun with them. And I guess that's really the purpose of games. At least for me. All I know is that it's thanks to Santa Claus and the NES (and Super Mario Bros.) that I'm a Nintendo fan and a fan of gaming in general. I love all the memories I had attached to it, and most of all it was fun. With a hint of spicy on the side.

So there you have it. I've told this story plenty of times before, but told it one more time in honor of the 30th anniversary of the NES. What are your favorite NES memories? And if you want to join in on the fun on twitter, you can by using the hashtag #Happy30thNES. There's free cake. Okay no but I promise there wont be any Flamming Hot Cheetos. Maybe. So thanks for reading and happy 30th anniversary NES.