Those who know me would call me a passionate guy. I am passionate about my wife and my daughter, but one other thing that has always been a passion of mine is Nintendo. I was born in 1985, the year Nintendo saved the video game industry, and I grew up in a house that had an Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). From then on I was a lover of Nintendo. To serve as my introduction to NintendoFuse, here are five reasons I love Nintendo.
The nostalgic memories.
Ah, the memories! I remember asking my mom every day and writing letters to Santa Claus for a Super Nintendo (SNES). Then at Christmas, my brother and I opened our very own SNES with Super Mario World. We spent so much time playing Mario, A Link to the Past, Super Metroid, Chrono Trigger, Donkey Kong Country, and more. I worked as a paper boy in order to save up and buy my Nintendo 64. The hours I spent playing games like Super Mario 64, Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, Goldeneye, and Banjo-Kazooie I will never know. The GameCube was the first time I went to a midnight launch. I got Luigi’s Mansion and stayed up all night playing it. I was actually scared of that game, so my mom said I shouldn’t play Eternal Darkness. I did anyway, and it gave me so many nightmares, but it was all worth it! I can look on my past with Nintendo and smile.
The games that bring families together.
Today I am a father, and as I look at many of the games that are available, I am so thankful for Nintendo. They make games that I am glad to let my daughter play. Families can play together and have a great time with Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros., Mario Party (although they haven’t been great recently), Mario Sports, Wii Sports, Nintendo Land, Bomberman, 1-2 Switch, and others.
The connection to other people.
I just recently went to the Nintendo Switch midnight launch event. I was so encouraged to talk about Nintendo with people there, and hear their own memories of growing up with Nintendo. It made me realize that I’m not alone in my love for this company, their consoles, and their games. Nintendo is bringing people together in a time when people often feel far apart.
The creativity to try new things.
It feels like other companies that make game consoles today just want to give us a more powerful machine all the time. Nintendo really doesn’t go that way, and I don’t think they should. They seem to ask questions like, “How can we do something different?” I enjoy that about them. The Nintendo Switch is not perfect, but at least they are trying to do something different and creative. They have always led the way on new things, like joysticks and motion controls, and it was all because they dared to be different.
Their games make me smile.
Let’s just be honest: Nintendo has the best first party games in the world. Games like Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Pikmin, Donkey Kong, Fire Emblem, Xenoblade, Animal Crossing, Pokemon, Splatoon, Star Fox, and Kid Icarus are just a few. All of these games make me smile. Sometimes, of course, they can make me angry too, but those times are usually my own fault. Nobody can touch them when it comes to great first party games.
I could probably share all day why I love Nintendo, but this seems like a pretty good list for now.
Why do you love Nintendo? What memories come to mind when you think of them?
Keep loving Nintendo!