From: JOURNEYMAN I am 18, and have been a game game addict since '87. During the early 80's (Pre- and Post crash), I had only played a little Pac-Man and Donkey Kong. I had never heard of Nintendo, and never knew that Video Games had Died in '83. Nobody told me that a thing called the NES came out in 85'. But anyway, I didn't take to them until I lived at my cousin Jimmy's house for the Summer of '87. He had an Intellivision, and we played this blocky boxing game a lot. It was so much fun, and since not aware of more advanced technology yet, I thought it was great. When Jimmy came to my house for Christmas, me asked if I had gotten a NES. I was wondering what he was talking about, and my aunt told me that he got one for Christmas. I just shrugged off this info, for it held no meaning to my 9-year old mind. When I went to visit my other cousins that lived near Jimmy for Spring Break of '88, I went to Jimmy's house for a few minutes, and saw him play some weird machine. I asked "What happened to that boxing game?". He told me that it broke, and that he got this NES thing. He showed me this Kung-Fu game, but never got to play it ( it didn't look any more impressive than Atari, etc.) because I had to go back to my parents for dinner. After that, I lived with my two cousins that lived in the nearest city, and they had an Atari. We played a lot of games, including one that involved frogs trying to catch flys with their tongues. So much fun! Then when I went to Jimmy's house again in Summer of '88, that is when I got to know the NES. I discovered Mario, Mike Tyson, and Zelda. This was beyond great! I was obsessed with getting a NES. My obession escalated when I got a free copy of Nintendo Power #1 during Fall'88. I brought it to school every day, and glossed over every single detail. It had a huge article devoted to SMB 2, and I savored it. But I never got to play it because nobody in my neghborhood had it. But at Christmas, I got one, and a few games! I loved it! Soon, I began to become one of the best players there was. I started renting games, and buying them. And just when I thought I couldn't become more in love with the NES, then came Mega Man. I made friends with Jimmy's friends, who showed me this game that came in an ugly box.(Ironically, it was on the same month that Mega Man II came out!) They showed me how to play it, and it sent chills down my spine! Then, things changed when the '90's reared their ugly head. My next door neighbor (who got a NES and SMB2 at same time I did) and his cousins had SMB3! I played it, and loved it. But they also had this strange, black machine with them. They turned it on, and played these games with graphics I had never seen! They told me that it was called the Genesis, and it played 16-bit games. I had only rembered Sega when I had looked in a catalogue for toys, and saw some good-looking games, but quickly forgot it. But now, they came back with some new, alien, machine. When visited an arcade after a 7 year absence, I was amazed that the machines had this technology too! Even today, when think that Street Fighter was around in '87 with these kind of graphics, I feel that I was locked in the closet. But later, I still got Mega Man III when it was still hot, and SMB3 as well. I was not disappointed. I got the SNES when in Spring Break of '92, and me and 8 of my friends spent the whole week over my house playing it. Best times I ever had. I'm in college now, and I'm saving for a N64, but I get nostalgic when I remember 1988, Sega Genesis, SMB games, Mega Man games (the music is so saddening in MM3 that I want to cry when I rember it), Zelda, and being at my cousin Jimmy's house in the Summertime. I now wish I could have played Phantasy Star 1 and 2 when they came out, as well as the other great Sega games such as Govellius and Y's (If anyone is selling system and games, I'm buying). I just wish that could live 1988 as a 9-year old again and relive everything over with the same joy of discovery I had when I first played them. I would give anything to do it again. Too bad I can't. I can only look forward to my enjoyment i'll get with the N64, but it might not be as enjoyable as it was meeting Mario for the first time...