Gaming Memory One
In 1995, I was like any other 12-year-old boy – I loved video games. Specifically, I loved my Super Nintendo.
Every Friday, my parents allowed me one game rental from the local Blockbuster. Luckily for me, Blockbuster was located within walking distance of my house, so I never had to wait for my parents to drive me. This proximity-tactic put me ahead of the other kids looking to rent games. I was able to get to Blockbuster first, thus cementing my likelihood of renting a game I actually wanted to play (except for that one time I got stuck renting Mario is Missing; that game was a molester of gaming enjoyment).
After selecting my weekend’s entertainment, I would peruse the gaming magazine area to see if there was anything noteworthy. On one fateful day, I happened across a particular issue of (from what I remember) EGM. In it, information about Nintendo’s fabled “Ultra 64.”
What could this be?
Only the slightest of details were available to me, but I knew that this new Nintendo system needed to come out, and it needed to come out now. 3D Mario? Sign me up!
Eventually, Nintendo released the date of the system, now simply called Nintendo 64. I remember it clearly: “On September 30th, Dinosaurs will fly!”
HO-LY CRAP.
I was determined to get this system. Even if it meant the loss of my parent’s hearing, I would not stop talking about this “N64” until it was mine.
As many remember, the N64 was very hard to come by during its 1996 launch holiday. Even with only two or three games available to play, the N64 was always sold out on store shelves. But, like I said, I was determined to get this system.
I was so adamant about obtaining the N64, that I made a special Christmas Tree ornament out of cardboard and Toys ‘R Us catalog cutouts. I believe my mom still has this custom ornament packed away in storage. I was a super nerd back then (like I’m not a bigger one now). I wanted this thing for Christmas, and I wouldn’t let my mom forget it.
Over two months or so, I pestered my mom to no end – “Am I getting the 64 for Christmas? Am I getting the 64 for Christmas?!”
Eventually, she cracked and told me I was getting it. That’s right, I broke down my mom into telling me my Christmas present. She told me to stop asking her and not tell my father that I knew Santa’s secret.
My lips were sealed.
Because it was all I asked for, I knew the only game under the tree would be Super Mario 64. However, I really wanted to play Wave Race 64 too, so two days before Christmas, I asked my dad if I could rent a game. He was reluctant at first (since there was a 64 under the tree, he knew I wouldn’t play my SNES rental after Christmas morning), but he let me rent one anyway.
Man alive, was he shocked when I came home with a rented Wave Race 64.
He asked why I would rent a game for a system I didn’t have. I told him I had a sneaking suspicion that the N64 was under the tree.
“Beau, we couldn’t find it. There is no Nintendo under the tree.”
My response – “Yes means no, and no means yes.”
When Christmas morning arrived and I opened my N64, I tried my hardest to be shocked, but my dad saw right through my act. With accusatory glances toward my mother, her only response was, “He just wouldn’t be quiet about it.” I was like the N64 kid, just not as loud… or ridiculous.
Christmas morning of 1996 was one of the best days of my life. Not only because I got the N64, but because I knew my mom and dad went through hell to find it for me. If that didn’t solidify that they approved of my favorite past time, then I don’t know what does.
Cheers to video games.
(This post was inspired by IGN’s “Gamer Memories” editorials)
