292: The Making (and Unmaking) of a Nintendo Fanboy

[MasterChief892039]

What? The N64 was awesome, Nintendo only started going downhill with the Gamecube (and then crashed and burned with the Wii).

I viewed the N64 as a personal betrayal, what with its awful controller. I couldn't care to look past that. If the controller pisses me off, it has a detrimental on every game's gameplay.

Lol I was five years old with tiny hands when it came out and I had no problems with the controller. I agree that it was clunky and that the three-prong design made absolutely no sense, but none of the games (at least none of first-party games) expected you to use all three prongs at once. I wouldn't say it was really that detrimental to gameplay - I had way more problems with the original Xbox controller than the N64.

 

[FinalFreak16]

I never had a nintendo system. I grew up playing Sonic the hedgehog (First game I ever played which is probably why I have a soft spot for the blue guy) on the Sega Megadrive (Genesis).

But I was young, very young and so Id say majority of my gaming memories and early experiences came from the Playstation with games like Crash Bandicoot, Tomb Raider, Worms, Final Fantasy, Spyro etc...

So naturally when the PS2 showed up we got that and never really gave the other systems like the Nintendo 64, Dreamcast or Xbox much look in. Playstation was where you played video games, not those other knockoffs. Its probably the reason that by the time the 360 came out I still wasnt interested. I was waiting patiently for the PS3, as was practically all of my friends.

I have a 360 now tho, bought it last year so that I could play online with some friends at Uni. Its amazing how quickly your impression on a system changes once you've spent your own money on it. Though I admit, my Impression of microsoft has not.

 

[Rad Party God]

Truth to be told, I have a mixed feeling about the console wars. I never knew anyone with a Genesis and it never caught my eye back then (until I bought Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection for the 360 and I greately enjoyed what was I missing, even I'd buy that game again when I buy a PS3 eventually).

But then high school came and the battle was about everyone buying a PS1 while I still clung up to my N64. I eventually bought a PS1 and I had both systems, so I didn't missed what both consoles had to offer, and oh boy, both consoles had amazing games back then.

But, here in my country, piracy was/is a big thing. Everyone bought a PS1 not only because it had great games, but because it was fairly easy to hack a PS1 and buy every game you'd ever wanted, I have a friend who had more than 100 pirated discs. I loved to argue that Castlevania 64 was a thousand times better than MeiEvil. I enjoyed both games.

Then the new console wars begun. I saw in a mexican magazine that covered all systems, even PC games and it had an article about the new PS2, the games it would have, it's newest blue CD's and it's capabilities to play DVD based games, but in that same magazine there were lots of articles about a so called "Dreamcast" and it's SoulCalibur thing. My mind was blown back then and I still keep that magazine.

I never bought a Dreamcast and I wasn't interested for the Xbox back then (pre-Halo craze), so I bought a PS2 and I eventually sold it to buy a GameCube, a mistake I still regret to this day, not about buying the Cube as it has it's fair share of amazing games, but selling back my PS2.

I bought a 360 last year and I wasn't impressed, so I sold it back with all the games I bought. I still want to buy a PS3, but for now, I'm stubbornly clung up to my PC and my Wii.

What a trip to memory lane.

 

[Narcogen]

Someone I used to work with on a fansite quit and went out of contact for years after I told him I thought the Dreamcast was a failure.

I meant nothing personal by it; I didn't even think it was a point for debate, given that Sega exited the console business after that.

 

[toadhall]

Too much hate for the the good old 'cube and Wii for my liking. The only Nintendo system I'm not a fan of was N64, but I love -LOVE- the rest.

 

[RowdyRodimus]

Back in the days pre-internet (basically before everyone had it available on 10 different devices you use daily), the console wars actually made sense. Unless you picked up every gaming magazine available worldwide, you wouldn't know the specifics of all the games and systems so you felt a need to be loyal to the system you chose. Now thanks to the web it's an archaic thing, you know what has what and what does what, if you don't it's only because you failed using Google.

I had all the systems from the dedicated Pong units to the 360. The only reason I don't have a PS3 yet is because I had a stroke and had to quit working. I'll get one (by saving what little money I get from family from doing things for them) but I don't feel that I should make tax payers buy me one from my disability check.

Great article.

 

[aldowyn]

I'm not quite sure what happened in my case. I barely remember the SNES, but I kept with Nintendo until the most recent generation, when I got a PS2, 360, and stepped up my PC gaming. Haven't been able to keep up with everything I want to get now that I'm following the industry instead of just getting stuff. Ignorance is bliss, occasionally.

In any case, I still think Nintendo is worthy of my... hmm. Not devotion, but respect and following certainly. Zelda, Mario, Smash Bros... and that's just the beginning (the top, literally and figuratively) of the 1st-party iceberg. I think there are many in your position, though. I can't imagine a world where Nintendo was the only thing, and platformers were king instead of... brown shooters and incredibly gory action games (as well as MORE shooters. Sometimes they're brown and gory at the same time!)

 

[beema]

I think this same progression happened to a lot of people. N64 seems to be a universal death knoll for Nintendo's relationship with "serious" gamers. AVGN says the same thing about his regret in going with N64 over playstation all the time. Oddly enough, that generation of the console wars passed me by. I think it was I was getting much more in to PC games by then. By the time I had another console it was a Dreamcast, although I got it for free from a friend whose parents wouldn't let him have both a PS2 and a Dreamcast (lol).
I totally remember "play nintendo" equating to "play video games" being in the vernacular though. My parents probably still say that.

 

[Dilapsor]

My first two consoles were the Intellivision and Atari 2600. That being said...

While this article has a lot of nostalgia going for it, it doesn't really have any bearing on the current world of console wars and fanboys. These days the only real games in town are PS3 and 360, both of which have enormous and largely identical game libraries. It's nothing at all like in the 90s when you had to choose one console over the other, knowing full well that you would NEVER play 99% of the other systems games.

I think the thing I'm really taking issue with here is trying to justify today's misanthropic little sociopa... ahem, fanboys with a nostalgic and naive attempt to compare it to Nintendo's refusal to make good decisions.

 

[PurpleTartan]

You've brought back some great memories for me just by Mentioning the Sega Master System and the NES! we had these in our house, mainly because my elder siblings had them. The first video game I ever played was Alex The Kidd on the Sega Master System... hehe, Now I feel old.

I even Remember the first time I played on My Sega Mega Drive (Genesis), I thought Sonic was the best thing ever! And then my first time playing on my elder sisters N64, Super Mario 64, God I loved that game!

I always loved Nintendo and Sega, And I could never understand how people could argue which was better. I would always just say well I like both consoles because I like the games that I have for them. I never buy a Console unless there are games that I know I'll enjoy for that Console.

I guess I was one of the few people who did actually defend the Nintendo Gamecube though. especially when a lot of my friends called it a Kiddy Console... I just had to point out various Bloody thirsty games that came out on the CG like RE4, RE remake, Blood Omen 2, Eternal Darkness etc... And then ask people didn't the Playstation/PS2 have a few Kiddy Games and Movie Tie in type games too? And just in case you're wondering I did own a playstation at the time too.

I think I must still be a bit of Nintendo and Sega Fan-girl though as I have/and still own all of their Consoles

Great Article by the way, you brought back some great memories for me!

 

[Skarlette]

An excellent read, and I can definitely relate to the process of growing up with your consoles. I didn't have enough money when I was growing up so I could only leapfrog through consoles, starting with the NES, then the next one was the N64, then I moved on to the PS2. I still don't have any of the newest consoles, mostly because I can't decide which I want, for which games. I'd choose a Wii for the ability to get most of the old N64 and previous games on it, I'd like the XBox for the variety of games that just play WELL on it, and a PS3 for games like Final Fantasy.

Sigh. I will never decide. PC gaming is the way for me, I guess. *kicks stupid slow computer*

I wish my NES still worked. If I had the choice between playing Super Mario 3 and Halo, I'd choose the former any day.

 

[Venereus]

Very similar to my own experience. Good article.

 

[Sougo]

Funny thing. The only thing I've ever held allegiance to is .... having fun. I bought the NES, but dumped it for Genesis as soon as it came out. Then I went the path of playstation once that proved itself superior while also getting a Gameboy. Then obviously came PS2, which in my opinion has served as THE console for the largest segment so far of my life. Also PC gaming has also been there throughout my life.

Now I would argue that PS3 and a 360 are the only real contenders. As much as I have wanted to like Nintendo, it seemed that they were always one step ahead in disappointing me. Nintendos gimmicky consoles and its repetitive game titles hold no entertainment value for me. Infact I want nintendo to fail (frankly speaking). Not because I hate it, but because I feel that Nintendo is whats holding the game industry back. Instead of expanding on games, they expand on gimmicks, and because of the competition, Sony and Microsoft are getting sucked into this as well.

Even with Nintendo's new console ... they took once step forward and two steps back. Introducing a touch screen controller (acceptable, but still a gimmick) and then take out DVD, Blu-ray and limit the new touchscreen controller to 1 per console. And ofcourse their grand game lineup consists of the same old lineup, now in HD.

In retrospect, I'm glad I didn't blindly follow any one company. I'm happy the way it turned out for me (but not how Nintendo turned out).
Shut Up, Mario.

 

[Zetsubou^-^]

i will admit the tempt of nintendo's mainstays are what had me choosing gamecube and wii, a purchase i have had terrible dilemmas over. the gamecube was behind, but it had a decent roster of games that were easier to pick up, and the wii supported the few handfuls i still owned. i can't say i haven't regretted both decisions(more so the wii than the gamecube, although i did end up replacing it several times) i ended up with a ps2, but missed a great many of what is now a massive library of games.

i still find the ds to be the best medium between N and 3p developers. if not for the 3ds's current issues, it would probably stomp the competition, much like the ds did. and although nintendo usually stays far away from mature, i don't really see this as a minus. mature is overrated, because mature in games usually means blood, gore, bad language, and/or nudity. its rarely connected to anything "mature". its more like a safety rating for parents that only take the time to glance at a cover before passing it to their kid.

 

[Cecilthedarkknight_234]

I know that feeling all to well. Growing up Nintendo was huge staple for major console gamer' with the nes/snes hell I didn't even know the master system existed until 2000 but that is another issue. However author here I manged to get a super nes the year it came out, then two years later i got a genesis, however buying software was another story.

When the ps1, Saturn, and n64 started i got the Saturn over the other two.. despite that being mistake "for us usa gamers".

 

[darksakul]

He'll still argue to the death that Super Mario 64 is the greatest game of all time.

Silly Author, Dizzy the Adventurer for the NES is the best game of all time

 

[Atmos Duality]

Nintendo-heads scare me. Just plain, flat out, scare me.

Though I enjoyed my time with the SNES and games like Shadowrun, Secret of Mana and Romance of the Three Kingdoms, I have never understood what makes these die-hard people go absolutely NUTS for Mario and Link and Donkey Kong to the point of crying at a news conference announcing that the newest Zelda game is in the works.

That, and they just creep me out.

Oh, that. Exactly that.

I've run the gamut of gaming: I grew up in the post-crash Nintendo era, watched Sega rise and fall (watched Atari briefly rise to fall even harder), enjoyed my PSX immensely, graduated to PC....and Nintendo is still re-churning out its old hits.

The only primary Nintendo franchise that holds my attention at all is Metroid, but even that has mostly vanished after the embarrassing portrayal of Samus in Other M.

 

[0p3rati0n]

I remember trying to defend the Wii, when I was first starting out on consoles. I was typically the only person on the Wii side in those flame wars.