Hear me now people, I love Mario and Nintendo with the same inexplicable fervor that I love fried chicken and the female reproductive system, so what I'm about to tell you is as much of an affair as you can possibly quantify it as.<br /> <br />As many kids my age, my origin in videogames started in the Arcades with games like <i>Kung Fu, Galaga</i> and others that I couldn't even begin to describe. My mind just saw flashes of colors and death at the expense of thin defaced jagged tokens in exchange for money, (most people from third and second world countries may be able to vouch for this ... we didn't have Chuck-E-Cheese). <br /> <br /> My very first memorable videogame encounter takes me back to a little thing called the NES. That magical box was sent to me to my country of origin from an aunt here in the states to the brimming eyes of a 6-year-old with a fixation on all things colorful and happy noises. This thing had it all, the box came with TWO controllers, a <i>Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt</i> combo and a bright orange gun (which I'd later use to carry around with me and whip the neighborhood children with). <br /> <br /> Point is, it was more than I needed. Soon, I'd know the joys of dying at the clawed feet of a dragon and the emasculating laughter of the dog that damn near busted a nut every time the ducks flew away. <i>Mario </i>was awesome enough to have my father sit with me and play, something he'd never do again. It was fun accessible and palatable in small doses. I'd play for hours and things were great. I had Mario, and when i finished my homework, Mario had me, life was good. <br /> <br />Then one warm dimly lit summer evening he happened: <br /> <br /><img src="http://bulk.destructoid.com/ul/91421-the-start-of-a-real-affair-sonic-the-hedgehog/sonic-468x.jpg" border="0" /><br /> <br /> <i>Sonic </i>did things to me <i>Mario </i>never did. Things I knew <i>Mario </i>couldn't do, weird, ungodly things. I thought Mario was fast, but Sonic was faster. He was so bright and colorful, the speed and sheer awesomeness of tearing though walls as a buzzsaw was CRAZY to me. I was immediately taken, the second the fucker let me play.<br /> <br />Only thing though was that <i>Sonic </i>wasn't mine. <i>Sonic </i>belonged to a cousin of mine, who lived across the city and the more bourgie area of the capital. I could think of nothing else, I'd get there, I'd make a V-line for the Sega, and I wouldn't tear myself from it until it was time to go. <br /> <br />And going home was painful knowing I was going back to this: <br /> <br /><img src="http://bulk.destructoid.com/ul/91421-the-start-of-a-real-affair-sonic-the-hedgehog/mario-468x.jpg" border="0" /> <br /> It was something no fireball or no beanstalk would soon heal. I lusted for Sonic, the same way I do today.  It was unnatural ... You know, without all that furry shit happening. <br /> <br />My parents saw the change, I'd be playing less and I'd ask to go to my cousins house more often. They figured I was growing tired of my games and in their infinite wisdom they got me this: <br /> <br /><img src="http://bulk.destructoid.com/ul/91421-the-start-of-a-real-affair-sonic-the-hedgehog/teenagemutantninjaturtles_2-468x.jpg" border="0" width="468" height="335" /><br /> <br />They knew I loved Ninja Turtles, but it was still a sad Christmas. I hope you can appreciate the delicious irony to all this, because this is a chapter of my life I don't discuss, not without taking my medication anyway.<br /> <br />A few years would pass and in '95 I was blessed with an SNES which made me long forget about Sonic about time too, sonic just kinda fell off the radar.... in his later years, he tried to switch his style up.... he has not aged well <br /> <br />Mario never did find out about us... Probably for a good reason, because unlike sonic, mario just got better, Im sorry till this day for having doubted him, but I think it's better for us that he remains undisclosed to my affair....