#20 - Nintendo 06/12/18

DISCLAIMER: This is one of my nerd-centric posts. If you don't like video games, you won't like this blog.

I love Nintendo.

I'm a hardcore Nintendo fanboy, and I have been for as long as I can remember. The original NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) came out in 1985, and I was born in 1983. I don't remember when we got one, but I can't remember a time in my life where I didn't have a Nintendo video game system hooked up to my tv. I love most video games, but Nintendo in particular has just been a part of my life for as long as I can remember.

Growing up, I couldn't get enough. I loved the original NES for stuff like Mario, Contra, Blades of Steel, Tetris, Excitebike....the list goes on and on. And then the Super Nintendo came out and that was it. If I was hooked on the NES, I was full fledged addicted to the SNES. It just took all the games I had spent years growing up playing on the original Nintendo, and made them all better. I've had a problem ever since. Nintendo 64, GameCube, Wii, Wii U, and now my Switch, I love them all.

And as an adult, I sometimes think wonder if I have a video game addiction. It's pretty rare that more than a day or two goes by when I don't play something. Sometimes when I sit down to work on a project, or write some jokes, I'll glance over at my Switch laying on the table, and I just can't help myself. I can only imagine it's how you smokers feel all the time. "Why can't I quit you??"

I've tried to quit, too. I used to have a retro game collection, and I sold it. I sold my Xbox and my Playstation 4, probably 75% of all my games. I only kept my Switch because it's great for killing time on the road (it's a portable gaming system, in case you didn't know), and because it's Nintendo. The other video game consoles on the market today are great, but they just don't have their teeth in me the way Nintendo does....

So I've accepted the fact that I can't just quit playing video games. I mean, if I went to the doctor tomorrow and they said I'll die if I don't stop, I could probably kick the habit, but unless I'm forced to down the road, I just don't imagine a time where I don't play. It's my favourite hobby, and my top way to relax and get my mind off whatever is going on in my life. I'll always struggle with trying to find a balance between work and play, but whatever. The first step to fixing a problem is admitting you have one. I might have one, but I refuse to admit it. That way, I never have to fix it.

I have no idea how I've had a girlfriend for this long....

Adam