The video game industry has obviously come a long way since the great Nolan Bushnell and his ingenious Pong. In the time that has transpired between those "glory days" of gaming and today's high-end "next-gen" systems we have seen many changes. Plumbers fought lizards in a mushroom paradise and blue hairballs defeated evil robotic egg people with sonic speeds. These days our heroes are never that simple, they've come to have egos and personal identities (MGS, FF7, etc.). So whatever happened to our favorite little plumber guy, whatever happened to that feeling you got from beating Contra the first time. Where did that mystery and wonder for gaming go?

We grew up friends, I remember the day I first got my NES. It was 1985-86 and Nintendo had just stepped into the dead console market...and revolutionized it. Each game brought about such anticipation and awe at those "awesome graphics." I remember when I was very little my mom rented Double Dragon for me. I invited my friend Johnny over that day and I swear we played that game ALL day long...and we still couldn't beat it. To this day I have yet to beat that game, nor do I wish to. I don't want to because that would ruin its memory for me. I played that game as a child and it challenged me in every way and even though I couldn't defeat it I loved it. I loved it BECAUSE I couldn't beat it...it was something greater than you and I.

These days games are all about polygons and technology and a bunch of other stuff. But back then, those WERE the days. Who can honestly say they didn't bust a nut when they beat Mario Bros. for the first time or when they defeated Gannon with little 6-year old Link? Times were much simpler then, but everything grows and evolves. The video game market is what it is because of that time. We have Playstation and Saturn and N64 because of Mario, Sonic, Link, and Samus. Although those times were primitive by today’s standards they serve as something to look back on and admire. To admire what gaming was, what it is now, and what it can be.

Written by CAIN97@aol.com