Japanese Influence #1 - Nintendo

Nintendo!

It has always been there. It has influenced me, my generation and the world.
There is no-one my age that I know who hasn't played either a Game Boy/DS or Nintendo console system. I have literally grown up with Nintendo, always hoping to unwrap something from Nintendo for my birthday's and Christmas'. I even got 2 Wii games last Christmas! I have the fondest memories playing Nintendo games throughout my life. Some of these was when I was competing against my sisters and even getting my parents to play the Wii!

But lets go back to the beginning....

It was my 10th birthday and the Nintendo Game Boy had just been released. It was all I wanted and I was lucky enough to get one as a present from my parents.

Looking back at the screen and graphics now, it is astonishing to see how far we have come from a two-toned pixelated screen to the latest DS (Game Boy) and Wii (console).

But what is more astonishing is that the games I played on this basic screen with limited gaming capacity are some of the best I have ever played. Was it because these games were the first of their kind and I was a child or was it because of the game play?

I recently found some of my original Game Boy games and I can't believe that 21 years after its release I still have my favourite Game Boy game which is of course Super Mario Land. I have managed to lose Tetris which was probably the second most played game in my collection.

My Game Boy games

Super Mario Land - the original!

I also somehow managed to keep all the instruction booklets to the games!

I opened the instruction manual for Super Mario Bros to find that my memories came flooding back with the pictures of the characters and enemies and worlds within the game. Do you remember these characters and enemies?

The different versions of Mario

I have always been a Nintendo loyalist. I have owned nearly all versions of the Game Boy and the new DS and nearly all the versions of the gaming console.

I find that the games on Nintendo appeal most to me with the simple formats, adventure based story lines and easy to use controls.

I love the new DS and my favourite console would be the Nintendo 64 which had some of the BEST games of all time (Banjo Kazooie, Mario 64, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong Racing and Golden Eye).
I do love the Wii with the infrared controllers and Super Mario Galaxy was ground breaking in its game play. The Wii is a definite close second to the Nintendo 64.

Have you been influenced by Nintendo over the years? What is your favourite game? What is your favourite system?

G