My attraction to the medium can be described as being able to take part in experiences that are not possible in earthly life. I have always liked movies, books, art and other culture. Making the jump to an interactive one was therefore not too difficult and my first encounter began with a Super Nintendo Entertainment System, even though the console was not my own. I also played very early on a Nintendo Entertainment System. My first own platform was instead a PC and it anchored my love for the format as early as 5-6 years old. I was totally engrossed in strategy even then. However, I would potentially get a first console that was mine (and sometimes had to be shared with a younger sibling).
In Sweden, the Nintendo 64 was released the year after its Japanese launch. It came early, in 1997 but I don’t remember anymore if I got the console in the same year. What I remember from childhood was that we were clamoring to get one. I liked Nintendo and thought the titles looked fun and I think it was around Christmas 1997 or early 1998 that we actually got the console itself. I remember I was probably around 6-7 years old. My younger brother and I had slightly different gaming tastes, where he preferred games such as; Super Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie, Wave Race 64, Zelda Ocarina of Time and Mario Golf. I preferred; Smash Bros, Goldeneye, Starfox 64, Mario Tennis, Turok, Zelda: Majora’s Mask, Mario Kart, Pokemon Stadium and Jetforce Gemini. Then of course there were titles we both played a lot of like Diddy Kong Racing, Rogue Squadron, Blast Corps, 1080° Snowboarding, Perfect Dark and Donkey Kong 64.
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Some of the titles we didn’t have ourselves but borrowed from friends or traded to us. We also had a second-hand shop in town. The uncle who had it has unfortunately passed away now but it disappeared regardless, due to new construction and more expensive rents in the building. I often stood there and looked over the shop shelf or at the wall where there were used titles on cassettes and discs for different formats. We often traded our hard-earned digital experiences for second-hand ones to expand our portfolio. Today, of course, I understand that it was a losing business, but we couldn’t afford to get new titles continuously. Trading in games for others was a way to gain new experiences. At the time, it was still possible to trade in used PC games even though they had already started getting codes and the multiplayer portions didn’t work. It wasn’t much, so I got hold of one of my favorites to this day, namely Heroes of Might and Magic 3. It only cost me Blast Corps, if I remember, which in retrospect was a perfectly fine exchange. Several of us often sat down and played that record to such an extent that it became unusable. Somewhat later, of course, I bought the edition with both expansions.
My brother would get a Playstation 1 which made our Nintendo 64 officially mine. He became much more interested in GTA and Rayman. Even my own interest would of course change over time, but I liked the console. I also played the late-life titles Pokemon Stadium 2, Bomberman 64, Dr. Mario 64, and Star Wars Episode I: Battle for Naboo. Despite woeful hand controls whose handlebars went slack pretty quickly, it took me to the end of the bike before I realized they sold separate levers. We probably got up to 5-7 controllers and some of that was because we liked running co-op modes or against each other on the same couch. But three hand controls required you to be well practiced in the art of control. Goldeneye, Mario Party, Smash Bros, Mario Kart and many others were a given. It was a good console and a pleasant one despite many flaws. Just grab the Rumble Pack to get vibrations, or that red memory stick you had to put in the console to make Donkey Kong work. Of course, that wasn’t the only thing. There were more titles you had to buy this thing for the console to make it work.
Aesthetically, I also liked the console. It offered nice shapes and an iconic look. There was very little to complain about. Thanks to the fact that I liked the Nintendo consoles, I would also manage to get a brand new and nice Gamecube. That wish came true when we were out on a trip to the Canary Islands. I recently found the receipt for that purchase in an old box from my childhood, which was exciting. I was surprised to say the least that something like that wasn’t thrown away. Indirectly, I have followed Nintendo’s consoles since childhood. The NES and SNES were both early experiences even though neither console was mine. Some of the first titles I got to try were Super Metroid and Ice Climbers. Then there was a short break there at the end of the Gamecube cycle with the Playstation 2. Then followed the Xbox with titles like Halo Combat Evolved and later The Elder Scrolls Oblivion for the Xbox 360. Finally I found my way back to Nintendo in more modern times with the Wii U and Switch. Of course, I’ve also owned a Wii, even though it was a rock bottom console-wise (minus Mario Galaxy 1,2 and a couple of other titles). My brother also bought himself a Switch recently. During the holiday break we had seen each other talking about the old Nintendo 64 games as we tried out all the new iterations.
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You can say that Nintendo has followed me since childhood into my adult life. I really don’t regret it as their platforms have given me loads of fantastic experiences over the years. I can mourn the lack of an F-Zero in modern times. However, many of the series I grew up with are still going strong in modern times. I have a hard time seeing that I’m not still playing when I’m sitting in the boarding house in the future. Think how much fun our generation could have with innovative new control solutions (compensating for age) and gaming, instead of sitting and staring at a wall like many older people do. We may not be “gaming” Call of Duty after evening tea but there are certainly great things we can do that work at that age. My first console was really just a continuation of the interest in the hobby I have and my love for Nintendo, which I have appreciated since childhood.
