NES - This was a Christmas present in 1986. I did not express that I wanted one, but when I started playing, my life was changed. I acquired a small library of games and it grew steadily. Super Mario Bros, Golf, ExciteBike, Mach Rider, Popeye, Baseball, Zelda, and many more followed. The NES brought so many good times and created many great memories. Many days would be spent playing the NES with a friend, and his collection was different from mine, partially on purpose, so we enjoyed a huge variety of games.
Nintendo Power - I started my subscription with the 2nd issue (Castlevania 2 on the cover), and read the magazine constantly during bus rides to and from school. As a side note, when Gameboy was released, my Nintendo Power reading fell behind a bit, since Gameboy took precedence on bus rides. I would make lists for the games I wanted, draw the pictures in the magazine, and read everything in there cover to cover. I was even in the high scores once for a record in Game Boy Tetris. I tried the "Invent the Utimate Video Game" contest and the "Create Your Own Gameboy" contest, and thought I was sending in the winning entry both times, but no luck with that.
Nintendo World Championships 1990 (NWC 1990) - I attended this event and it made a huge impact on me. I have written articles on this event:
[Link] - NesPlayer
[Link] - Retrojunk
[Link] - My NWC high score
SNES - I had seen articles in Nintendo Power for the Super Famicom, but did not know what it meant to
me, being in North America. When I did realize that a bigger and better gaming system was coming out, I was the first in line to get this state of the art machine. I got it on release day in Milwaukee and was in heaven with this new system.
N64 - On release day, I received notice that my pre-ordered N64 was in the store. I was working that night as a pizza delivery guy, whose shift would surely end with enough time to dash across town and pick up the new system. I was so excited and wanting to be done, but we got hit with an abnormal amount of orders. I delivered my last pizza, ran in to clock out, and took a chance speeding across town that the store would still be open when I got there. I ran through the mall in my pizza uniform, got to the store, where the gate was halfway down, and ducked in to claim my N64. Phew. That night, I played Mario into the morning hours of the following day. It was 3D, and this new perspective was incredible.
Gamecube - I was a married man when the Gamecube was released. At this point, my game backlog from the previous systems was getting overwhelming, and although I wasn't looking to get another new system, my wife picked this up for Christmas and I was very pleasantly surprised once again. I currently have a number of unopened Gamecube games that must be played but I haven't even tried yet - Metroids, Zeldas, Resident Evil, etc.
Gaming Quest - In the year 2003 I made a decision. I was going to conquer my old games that had not yet been beaten. I had some earlier success, defeating a few random NES games that were too difficult when I was a kid. I wrote this article about it:
"Unconquered Nintendo Games"
[Link]
I figured I would not only conquer what I had, but seek out any great games that I might have missed the first time around. In addition, I have tried out some great foreign games that have been translated to English. This gaming quest began with the NES, and I’m working my way through my other systems.
Current Status:
NES – conquered all games I desire to play
SNES – still playing a few foreign games
N64 – currently being played
Gamecube – in the future
Wii – in the future