Have you ever had a weird moment in your life where you wonder what if? You know like what if I decided to play basketball instead of band or asked that super popular girl out when I was in high school? For me it was what if I never sold my Sega Genesis almost eight years ago. Well Friday on my way out of my house I got a chance to catch up with an old friend and see what I have been missing for the last eight years. As I got into my car I peaked at the trash can next to me and sitting in a box filled with a bunch of old records I saw a Sega Genesis. Now before I tell you what I did next I want to explain to you why this was so important to me.

A long time ago when I was barely old enough to talk complete sentences I always had a desire to play video games. At the time the Sega Genesis was really the only system I ever knew. Sure I played NES, but this was new and this was better (Although I was unaware of the awesomness that was SNES). I begged my parents for months to get my hands on that system and sure enough one bright Christmas morning there it was. You see it wasn't only a video game system, it was my first home console (Game Boy was my first ever video game system, at the time I was four). The system provided me with unknown hours of entertainment, whether it be playing Sonic 2 or even all nighters with Aladdin I rarely had a dull moment with the system. Unfortunately as all systems do they get old and out dated replaced with something new. For me it was the N64. However I always had a soft spot for my Genesis and kept it for several years, until I was 12 when I decided to finally sell it. I didn't get much for it, it was about fifty bucks for the system and all my games. I almost shed a tear as I saw my system driving away, it would always be the system that got me into home consoles for the first time (and is currently my main means of playing games today).

Now that you received that lovely back history into my gaming life, back to where I left off. I saw the system in the trash can and I felt this odd feeling in my head. It was joyful and fresh, yep it was nostalgia. All of a sudden I remembered the great times I had with the system before I sold it. The all night Aladdinfests, the hours of running around in Sonic, the awesome feeling of shooting guys up in Gunstar Heroes and vectorman, it all rushed back to my head. I knew that I had to have my system again. So I ran up to the door of a complete stranger, and basically asked him, hey can I have that Genesis that you have sitting in the trash. Obviously you can imagine the look I got as a response to the question, he eventually said yes after I explained to him that me and that system go way back and it serves as one of fondest childhood memories. Russiling the system out of the trash, along with all the cables (and two games to boot!) I ran in to see if I could get the thing to work. After some extensive wiping down of the cartridges and the system the classic SEGA logo popped on my screen and I smiled a joyous smile. It's funny how at the oddest times the unexpected happens, Who would of thought that eight years ago as I saw that system leave for the last time that I would one day own it again.