Lets keep moving down the list to a system that I don't think a single gamer doesn't love, The N64. This was the first system where I feel I earned my gamer card. I waited through delays, I stuck to my guns when competitors were released, and once I finally got my prize, I played with it until my hands went numb. Then I took a ten minute break and resumed gameplay.

4. Nintendo 64 and Anticipation

To be very honest I am a big Nintendo Fan. From NES on, you name a system they've released, I've owned it, even the Virtual Boy. So when I first heard about the Ultra 64, I wanted it more than anything else in the world. After seeing Cruis'n USA and Killer Instinct in arcades, reading about it in Nintendo Power, EGM, GamePro, and others, my mind was clear, I am getting this.


I still shudder when I hear Ultra Combo

It was April 1995, my birthday, and besides the action figures, video games, other junk on my list it was there, an Ultra 64. I explained to my mother, the system isn't out yet, it wouldn't be until my next birthday, but I will wait for it. I would take less gifts now if she'd get me it and two games when it came out. It was a hard sell at the young age of nine, trying to convince her that I wouldn't complain if I got little to nothing for my actual birthday. I guess something told her I really wanted it, and was truly willing to sacrifice a years worth of presents for it. My birthday came and went and I waited. The Saturn was released, and my mom asked if I'd like that instead, I firmly replied no and continued my waiting.


Sorry Saturn, while your library was kickass in japan, the Genesis burnt me out on Sega

I would read magazines trying to find out any new news about it, and during that summer my mom put in a pre-order at the Electronics Boutique at our mall after I found out they were taking them. A small step towards eventual victory. The Playstation came out next and she asked if I'd rather get that, I refused, Ultra 64 or nothing. For Christmas, aside from my video games and toys, I asked for two more games when it did come out and was given the ok. Then the heartbreaking news, it wasn't the Ultra 64 anymore but the Nintendo 64 and it wasn't coming out until next September. I was crushed, I was willing to wait a full year but now five months longer. I almost wished I had taken one of the previous counter offers, almost. To see if I wanted to change my decision, I rented a Playstation. The games were alright, but the loading times bothered me and I just to my guns.


If I was forced to wait a few more months for my 64, after Symphony of the Night and Final Fantasy VII came out, this might be a very difficult article.

Finally, September 1996 rolled around. I began fifth grade, got some heartbreaking news about moving from Michigan to Illinois, and I was going out of my mind in anticipation. I knew the release date, September 29th, but I had no idea that it wouldn't apply to me. After pre-ordering, I would hang out at that Electronics Boutique whenever at the mall, and the clerks started remembering me and my quest for my N64. I'd like to think unlike most of the kids they dealt with day to day, I wasn't nosy or annoying, I just enjoyed games, talking about them, and could hold his own in whatever fighting game they happened to have hooked up. So when they got their shipment in on September 26th, they called my house, telling my mom they had the N64, and if I wanted it three days early she could go pick it up. After nearly eighteen months, I had but one more hour to wait.


What did I learn from Electronics Boutique, be nice (IE don't be a dick) to game clerks, and they'll hook you up.

I brought in the manuals to Mario 64 and Pilotwings 64 as proof for school the next day. My new toy, along with what I'd just have to assume the rest of the fifth grade realizing that I'd always been a nice well liked guy who was going away forever, turned me from just a normal guy with some close friends to a Mr. Popular. My personality is best taken in in a smaller group, after that people tend to understand and befriend me. In school, I had my own group of friends and tended not to branch out, so the 64 became a way to branch out with ease. Most of the time people would come over the first time to play N64, they'd get a change to understand and get who I am, and after that it was pure friendship. I even got a send off during the final week of school, with all four of my school's fifth grade classes taking off two periods for a going away party. I'd never seen such a thing happen in the school before, and I may bet since. When I moved to Illinois, the 64 got me through some lonely times, and helped me in making new friends here, especially with it's four player ability.


What better way to meet friends than saying, “Hey I got Goldeneye and extra controllers.”

While I didn't get to play Resident Evil, Final Fantasy 7, Metal Gear Solid, or Symphony of the Night, I had a blast with my N64. I also learned Nintendo systems weren't going to get every game, so it helped turn me from console specific, to overall gamer. While I got the Gamecube, and now own a Wii. I also picked up a Dreamcast, a PS2, and now my 360. It helped me become more patient, and to this day I'm very goal oriented, and am willing to wait to accomplish those goals. I look at the bigger picture, and then what I can do day to day to make the bigger picture happen. Finally it made me realize being yourself is important, and while I had a slip in High School with that, I tend not to change based on the opinion of others. I'd rather be happy as myself with a small core group of friends, than be miserable as somebody else in a mass of humanity.


This is one sexy machine, it's too bad the graphics now look dated.




OK three more left, next time, we'll be looking at something in gaming I dearly miss, Arcades. The places where you could game with people you didn't know, way before the internet and X-box live. I've decided that I will make my next article when I finish my top ten to be on The Super Smash Brothers, Professional Wrestling's 8-Bit tag team, then after that, I'll either do one on why I enjoy grinding, or start a second massive top ten on my favorite games ever. Questions, comments, ideas, any kind of feedback is always appreciated. Thanks to D-Toid for putting me in the top C-Blogs of the day, I'm glad the editors and everyone thought my Earthbound blog was epic. Thanks for reading, and remember Gaming shapes us in a good way, I just wish Jack Thompson would understand that.