I spent my 40th birthday recovering from pneumonia which wasn’t the grand celebration I had planned, instead of visiting the Gold Coast and catching up with friends, I spent the week in hospital and bed. I was feeling a bit defeated, scrapped my 40th Birthday video I was hoping to make, and spent my weekend playing Paper Mario. Despite my best intentions to be miserable, I found myself smiling while playing The Thousand-Year Door. Sure, the bright and colourful world, and perhaps the witty and humorous dialogue played a part in lifting my spirits, but I also think there’s something a bit special about the Nintendo Legacy that also contributed. It got me thinking about my past 40 years on this planet, and how influential Nintendo was to me as a brand growing up. So let’s take a look at some of the franchises I grew up on, and how they have evolved in the past 40 years, as well as some memories I have throughout this time.
I would like to thank @thomasdietschmann2264 and @Honest_Grifter on YouTube for their 40th birthday video suggestions.
Before we begin, I know regular readers and viewers may wonder how I’m going to fill in the gaps in the past due to my memory loss. While I have revisited all the classics since my brain injury, I also had to ask my wife and parents a few things to fill in some of the blanks for me. I hope you enjoy this story, hopefully, you can share some of your favorite Nintendo memories too.
My first introduction to both Nintendo and gaming was Christmas in 1989. My parents purchased a NES system with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and my brother and I would take turns trying to beat the game. For those who know the game, you can imagine we most likely never beat the dam stage.
Then, I was introduced to a character called Mario in the Super Mario Bros game. I was instantly hooked, battling my way to find out indeed if my princess was in the next castle, alas, I don’t think I ever did. I would later beat Mario Bros on the 3DS during my recovery phase thanks to The Nintendo Ambassador Program. I dabbled in The Legend of Zelda, and had the gold cartridge which was heralded as a trophy, but I didn’t really get hooked on that series until later on which may sound sacrilegious, but I was just too young. I played Mario Bros 3, which I was obsessed with, and felt it was leaps and bounds ahead of its predecessor in terms of graphics, gameplay, and style. I also played a lot of Battletoads, Double Dragon 2, and Punch-Out, and in Australia, it was “Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out” featuring Mario as a ref. Recent versions don’t have the Mike Tyson Moniker on it, but I do remember clearly getting destroyed by Iron Mike.
The NES carried me long after the SNES launched, and we couldn’t really afford the SNES so I spent a lot of time playing the classics right up until the Nintendo 64 came out. It never bothered me as most of these games were, and still are timeless. I still regularly play these games on the NSO app. Perhaps a part of me is chasing the memories I lost, or perhaps there’s something in my brain that finds comfort there. Who knows?
The Nintendo 64 launched was in high school, and to me, is the Golden Age of Gaming. I was friends with a German Exchange student called Stefan, who wasn’t fitting in much but we would hang out on weekends playing N64 games. I couldn’t believe it when my parents brought one home for me alongside Goldeneye, perhaps one of the greatest games ever made, and I invited a couple of my mates over, including Stefan who brought his controls over so we could play 4 player deathmatch. From that moment on, he stopped being the “weird” foreign exchange kid to my friends and became the legend who dominated the Facility with remote mines. The N64 era for me was filled with moments like that, mates coming together to game. It didn’t matter if we were duking it out on Mario Party, Mario Kart, or 1080 Snowboarding. All that mattered was we were gaming together. One of my closest friends was by my side during this era, and we still occasionally hang out to play games.
Mario 64 revolutionised 3D platforming by utilizing analogue controls and paved the way for 3D platformers moving forward. Sure, The PS1 had Crash, who so gallantly sat outside Nintendo and Sony headquarters taunting them that Playstation was the place to be… How the mighty have fallen Crash. I jest of course since Crash is fantastic in his own right, but Mario super-jumped so that other heroes could run into our living rooms and hearts.
Ocarina of Time eventually came out and despite not really getting into the series earlier, I was completely absorbed in the world. My brother told me I called the school pretending to be my dad saying I had chicken pox so I could take 2 weeks off to play it. I don’t remember this, but I’m still hooked on Ocarina of time so there may be truth to it. My best mate also told me we would have a code phrase to call if we were going to skip school to play games. One of us would call and say “The sun is shining” and if the other party was down to game they would reply “But the ice is still slippery.” I don’t recommend doing it yourself if you’re in school. Remember, video games are important, but education is importanter.
I also met my wife during this era of gaming. She moved in up the road and we started playing handball on the street. One day she asked me if I wanted to play Perfect Dark with her on her N64 and I decided right then I would marry her. 24 years later, we have 2 wonderful kids who also share our love for gaming.
Gamecube and GBA brought me wonderful gaming titles like Rogue Leader, Sonic Adventure 2, Mario Sunshine, and Golden Sun. My wife told me about how I had to choose between Advance Wars and Golden Sun and she suggested I try Golden Sun. I would play it alongside my mate while he played Final Fantasy 8 on his PlayStation. It also gave my mates and I a chance to belt the crap out of each other with Super Smash Brothers Melee, Mario Kart Double Dash, and F-Zero GX. I actually have a very fond memory of when my wife and I got our first place together. I was working at a bar and came home in the early hours of the morning to find my wife sailing across the ocean in Wind Waker, which would have to be my second favorite title in the Zelda series. She had stocked up on snacks for me to enjoy the game on my next day off and thought she would give it a go as well. This era of gaming was also my first introduction to Samus in Metroid Prime and the Animal Crossing series, two franchises that have stuck with me ever since.
I had a DS during my time in the military, and while my memories of that period of my life are hazy, I recall taking a taxi into town on my weekend leave to grab a copy of Animal Crossing. While I’m sure most of my fellow Flight were playing God of War of Monster Hunter, I rather enjoyed losing myself to lazily fishing by the river and liked how Mr Resetti screaming at me for not saving reminded me of my MSI’s at the time.
Then I got sick…
The 3DS dropped during the Wii and Wii U era and played a huge part in my recovery from my stroke. While I did have both a Wii and Wii U, the only thing I remember was playing the Wind Waker Remake and Skyward Sword. The 3DS played an instrumental role in helping train my hands as I would have a lot of trouble making quick moves. I tended to stick with turn-based games like Pokemon and Fire Emblem. I had a limited Edition Zelda 3DS which I treasured. Once, due to my hand function, I dropped it on the ground into the water and was devastated… almost like a child dropping ice cream on the pavement. This was my comfort zone, and my wife knew how upset I was. We were traveling at the time and she helped me make a 3-hour detour to EB Games in Cowra to get a replacement 3DS, and Nintendo helped me transfer my Ambassador status to the new console by using the serial numbers of the old one.
Eventually, I made a mostly full recovery and was well back into gaming when the Switch landed, and if you’ve been following me for a bit, you know how this era of gaming is going. I remember picking up my switch with Breath of the Wild and an offensive amount of Amiibos with it. As a Switch gamer, I’ve been lucky to experience a lot of games I forgot with the remakes and NSO content. I still jump into Double Dragon 2, and nearly all of the N64 Back catalogue, and catching Mario RPG, Paper Mario, and the upcoming Luigis Mansion 2 is a real treat. It’s also the console that has helped me launch What’s It Like, because one day I woke up and decided I never wanted to ask myself “What if?” and I’ve been extremely fortunate to develop working relationships with wonderful teams like Kalypso Media, Bethesda, and Nintendo themselves. I’ve also been lucky to have such a wonderful community behind me who all share this interest in games and gaming.
And all of this loops back to now, as I sit in bed playing Paper Mario, thinking about all the wonderful memories I have had in gaming in my 40 years of being on this planet. I’m very excited to see what’s next with the Switch successor, and how technology will change when my kids are my age. I’m certain Nintendo will be a part of their lives as they grow up, and maybe they will reflect on that one time Grandad had a gaming channel on YouTube to their kids long after I’m gone. Until then I’m going to hold onto the gaming memories I have whether the fractured and fragmented old ones lost to time and fate, or wonderful new ones, and how Nintendo still brings out the big kid in me with their signature magic, that special something they sprinkle into most of the games they make that has been there since 1989 when my parents handed my brother and I, our first gaming console. Games have certainly changed in the 40 years I’ve been alive, but reflecting on it all it’s clear that Nintendo has always had that something special that makes playing their games a joy.
Thank you for walking down memory lane with me on my 40th birthday.
