This is more or less a eulogy for my old NES that failed last week after 19 years of faithful service. I can remember how excited I was as a 5-year-old at Christmas opening up a rectangular box and seeing my very first gaming system. I can't say what it was that drew me to the idea of jumping on turtles and mushroom-looking guy and running around like a rat in a maze, but from the time I first picked up a control at a department store I was hooked. At the time, the 5 or 6 hours a week I spent playing video games was considerably more than anyone else I knew. I feel compelled to point out that my friends who couldn't figure out why I spent so much time playing inside now play 2 or 3 times as long. I think the shallow stories of games were responsible for my sense of creativity. I would make up my own plot-points and dialogue. This was especially prominent once I started playing Final Fantasy Legend.

Just a week ago my brother and his friends decided they wanted to play some old Nintendo games. After several attempts to get games to work they came and got me out of the basement to see if I could solve the problem. No matter what game I put in there, or how I wiggled it, the system was just not reading it properly. I realize that this is a problem that could probably be repaired, either with the right know-how, or perhaps some sort of kit, but I eventually came to the conclusion that it was time to let it go. It had a good run and I feel the time is right, rather than fix and let it sit collecting dust on a shelf, only being used occasionally for nostalgia sake.

Perhaps the most surprising thing about my Nintendo was it's life-span compared to other systems I've owned over the years. It's out-lived an XBOX, three playstation 2's, a PSP, and most recently a PS3. This, all in spite of the Nintendo having to survive the abuse/misuse that naturally occurs from use of 3 young children, while we've all come to handle our newer hardware with the utmost care. If only one of the 3 gaming companies could make another system that lasting.