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Blog Entry 17 of 44 Welcome to The Retroplex
I'm usually in full-blown reminisce mode anyway, so why not make the rest of you poor saps suffer along with me, right?

Here, you'll find no shortage (well...unless I can't think of any new material) of meaningless but ultimately harmless bits of ephemera covering the past 20 or so years of pop culture, and my occasional interactions with it. Whether you're into the iconic or the ironic, sooner or later, I'll probably get around to it.
Watch, as the hilarity ensues! Or, if you prefer, gawk like a shocked passerby witnessing a horrible accident!

Blog Url: http://denver.yourhub.com/~TheRetroplex

Say "Wii" for fun

Contributed by: Jared Keller   on 11/8/2006

Here's the thing about me, when it comes to video games: I love 'em, but apparently have lousy instincts.

See, my family's history of video game purchases is largely one of shame and failure, with a side order of derision from my friends. The list goes like this:

First Console Purchase:
Okay, I was only five, so I refuse to take the brunt of the blame for this one, but in 1980, my older brothers convinced my dad to let them get a video game system (other than the Radio Shack knockoff of Pong, that we already had). Did we go with the flow, and snag an Atari 2600? Nope. For us, it was all about the Magnavox Odyssey II. What's that? You didn't know that Magnavox ever made a video game system? Well, they did. Take a look at photo one, for proof. Sure, it was better than the Atari in most ways, but it lacked the approximately 1.8 billion games that were available for the Atari, and no one else we knew had one, so we were pretty much relegated to "video game hermit"- status with this one.

Second Console Purchase:
This one, on the other hand, WAS my doing. Completely. 'Round about 1986 or so, I started getting a pretty serious hankerin' for some new video game action. My friends were all taken with this whole Nintendo-thing, and I, too, enjoyed it. I figured that I'd simply save my pennies for the next year or so, and snag one. Then, I found Shinobi. Shinobi - the side scrolling Ninja game from Sega - became my obsession (along with Cobra Command - an old laser disc game), and I soon noted that Sega would be releasing the ninja-fest for their rival to the NES, the Sega Master System. That settled it. I became a Sega guy then and there. I bought my system, eventually got Shinobi, and loved every second of it. Until I beat the game, and was rewarded only with the words "Game Over". And noticed that my friends could choose from an enormous selection of games, while I had relatively few to choose from with the Sega. Slight miscalculation, there.

Third Console Purchase:
This was it. This was my one shining moment of success in judgement. When Sega announced that the Master System would be replaced by a new machine that was twice as powerful - 16 bits! - I had to have it. I sold my Master System to a kid from school (thanks, Jason Bjornson!), saved up every bit of birthday/Christmas/allowance money I could, and snagged a shiny new Sega Genesis. I was the envy of my friends, the toast of my admittedly nerdy and socially awkward circle of friends, and completely content. Loved that system. Still do.

Fourth Console Purchase:
Here, things once more went downhill. Again, my friends all went one way, and I dashed off in the other. They were busy snagging Sony Playstations, while I, in my wisdom, went with Sega's replacement for the Genesis - the Sega Saturn. Bad move. Sega got virtually no third-party support for the system (much like the Master System originally), and I paid the price for my misplaced loyalty.

Fifth Console Purchase:
Which, of course, leads us to my most recent foray into crappy judgement. Once I played Soul Caliber on the Sega Dreamcast, I had to have one. By this time, I was married to my lovely and longsuffering wife, who heard (and tired of) my constant entreaties, and bought me one for Christmas in '99, just to shut me up. Don't get me wrong - I still play the thing, and think it's a great product. Unfortunately, it's just another example of Sega's idiocy when it comes to console marketing (which, of course, is why they no longer play in that particular market). The Sony PS2 and Microsoft XBox ate the Dreamcast's lunch, and thus retired Sega from the arena.

Where does this lead? Well, see, I still love video games. The thing is, I'm pretty old-school. I like my games simple, fun, relatively inexpensive, and non R-rated, for the most part. As such, I'm pretty jazzed about Nintendo's new console (though the name hurts, it's so bad). The " Wii", in contrast to the new entries from Sony and Microsoft gets back to Nintendo's roots; it offers gameplay for everybody, an innovative control scheme, and yes - Praise be to Zelda - the ability to play the ENTIRE library of old Nintendo titles, from the NES classics, to more recent Gamecube entries.

It's also opening up at around half the price of the XBox 360 and Sony PS3. Here's your hot item for Christmas, kids.

I'd love one. I don't think I'll have the scratch for it this year, but I'm definitely aiming at this one for my next purchase, whenever it occurs. I'd suggest you do the same, but then again, you might want to disregard any advice I provide on the topic, given my history.


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Showing 1-10 of 12 comments
Submitted By: Charmaine Robledo
posted on 12/4/2006 @ 1:18:16 PM
Rated Blog Entry
I would never be good at any sort of video game if it were not for my brother, Mel, and my boyfriend, Damon. The game I have been losing sleep over now has been World of Warcraft. I love online multi-player role-playing games. They rule.
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Submitted By: Ann Himel
posted on 11/28/2006 @ 3:19:29 PM
Rated Blog Entry
Jared, did you ever notice how much the Sega Genesis looks like Spock's casket in that Star Trek(IV?) Wrath of Khan movie? And the Sega Dreamcast looks like the Enterprise. No, I don't play, but I used to. I've still got the ranking Centipede score somewhere in downtown Arvada! Age has actually brought me nausea when I watch the guys play now. I do like watching the football games. I need an XBox 360 for shopping. Actually, the Wii would be cool(er) because I could virtually try on all the shoes I wanted! I know, I'm a girl, what can I say? - Great post, as usual.
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Submitted By: Karin Malchow
posted on 11/16/2006 @ 12:20:40 PM
Rated Blog Entry
My kids still regularly play the first Nintendo and the Nintendo 64, like we did together when they were little. Their Xbox360 is too much sensory stimulation for me.
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Submitted By: Tabitha Dial
posted on 11/14/2006 @ 2:34:19 PM
Rated Blog Entry
You can play all the old Nintendo games? That's too sweet! I got awfully good at mario Kart because my mother's piano students played it with me four days a week ... Sigh ...
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Submitted By: Travis Henry
posted on 11/13/2006 @ 6:38:18 PM
Rated Blog Entry
Brendan stole the exact two words I wanted to write. So I'll write more than two words and go a little off route. Timex Sinclair 1000. Anybody remember that piece of junk? My parents bought it right after I saw War Games and I thought it was going to be my Joshua. Instead my glory was relegated to: 10 print "Hello "; 20 Goto 10
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Submitted By: Rob Guthrie
posted on 11/12/2006 @ 3:27:58 PM
Rated Blog Entry
I bought a Sega Genesis only to play "Miracle Warriors" to the end (I had begun the quest on my Bro-in-law's system over the Christmas holiday years ago). My son, however, has done the Dreamcast, PS-2, PSP, and X-box. I still pine for Asteroids (shields, not hyperspace), although I got pretty heavy into Internet and LAN Half Life play for a while.
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Submitted By: John Zwick
posted on 11/9/2006 @ 8:22:35 PM
Rated Blog Entry
The last console I had was a PS1 and I got it like a month after the PS2 dropped. I don't care about the cutting edge. Getting a console for 50 bucks and a whole mess of games at 20 each was good enough for me. If I still had it, I'd STILL school you guys in Bushido Blade. And I'm not gonna judge you for Dreamcast. Sega screwed up, but the games it DID have were great. Soul Caliber feels a lot better on Dreamcast than PS2. And Ready 2 Rumble? Forget about it. Most fun I've had in a boxing game since Mike Tyson's Punch Out.
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Submitted By: William Boucher
posted on 11/9/2006 @ 6:11:25 PM
Rated Blog Entry
I thought about having a Wii, but decided on a Poo instead.
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Submitted By: Jared Keller
posted on 11/8/2006 @ 12:59:31 PM
(Not Rated)
I'm feeling your pain, Eric. Cursed responsibilities... Oh...except for the family-thing, I should add. Love them.
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Submitted By: Eric Lubbers
posted on 11/8/2006 @ 12:17:10 PM
Rated Blog Entry
Seeing the Wii come out right when I'm becoming an adult, with all the attending financial responsibilities, is very painful. I've owned every incarnation of Nintendo system, all via my meager allowance and lots and lots of odd jobs, beginning in third grade. Now I've got a real job and real expenses and definitely will not be able to afford it until well into 2007, if ever. I suppose I'll have to be content playing Super Mario Bros. 3 on my GameBoy Advance. *giant sigh*
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Showing 1-10 of 12 comments
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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Jared Keller

Littleton

Jared Keller has posted 44 blog entries and 57 comments since joining on 12/1/2005. Jared Keller 's average blog rating is 5.
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