With all the new technology in gaming nowadays, we must not forget what inspired us all to move forward. From cartoons to cereal, advertisements, toys, playing cards, and gummies. I remember quite a lot from that time, and there will be videos from that golden age posted as well. Here is how it all started for me growing up…

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Back in 1986, I lived in a military home in Germany, and it was hard enough having fun with the other kids. We had all sorts of board games to play, such as Risk, Chess, Checkers, and Monopoly. I didn’t like playing board games that much, mainly because I was too young to follow the rules, I guess. My older brother had his own kind of fun, which was called “put your brother in a laundry basket and push’m down the stairs”. I don’t remember much of that game, but it would explain my “come ‘n go” head aches…

In the fall or winter I think it was, it’s hard to tell the difference in that part Germany, I saw a strange ad on TV about some sort of plumber and a giant lizard. The advertisement was of course, in German. It showed a console with a couple of games, and the announcer saying “Nintendo” in German. I didn’t think much of it, because we were about to move back to the states and I had my hopes on having new friends. Well, when we moved to Oklahoma, there was this big craze for Nintendo games and consoles. Seeing how both my brother and I wanted one, my dad decided that we had to do chores to get it. After a couple of weeks cleaning around the house, my dad took us shopping at the local mall. In there, I saw so many kids with a Nintendo console in their hands, and parents emptying their wallets. Then finally we stopped at this part of the mall that had booths set up, sort of like a comic convention or something.

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My dad took us into the aisle that was sparse of Nintendo consoles, but managed to find one for us. It came in this big, clunky box and I thought the console was going to be huge. After an hour or so waiting in line, we finally got checked out and left for home with me and my brother guessing what the console could do. I looked around the box at all the different pictures, wondering how they would play. So we got home and my dad hooked up the console to the TV, and there was a problem. Who would play first on the Nintendo? My brother argued the point that he did the most chores around the house, and I said that I was too short to do most of them. Nonetheless, my dad said that we could play on different hours. My brother got the even hours, and I got the odd. Seemed fair, but I still felt that my brother went over his hours and into mine a bit too much, and he STILL denies that he did that.
This is when my days of bad choice of gaming came into play, and I still blame myself of this. We went back into the mall to the gaming store, which I forgot what the name was. My brother bought Final Fantasy, and I had the choice of Blaster Master and Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Guess what I chose… Yeah, I got that damned Roger Rabbit game, and soon regretted that decision. My frustration at the time would equal to that of the Angry Video Game Nerd now. I didn’t know how to cuss, but it sounded like it! While my brother had such a fun time with Final Fantasy, I spent more time trying to beat Super Mario Brothers. After a week or so, I arranged with my dad to buy Master Blaster for me and I would do twice the chores. Now, when I mention chores, I mean doing my laundry, cleaning the kitchen floor, windows, vacuuming, cutting the bushes, and raking (or snow shoveling, depending on the weather). I did my part and he kept his promise. Master Blaster was the epitome of what a fun game should be, at the time. I still have such fond memories of that game. Though it took some months later before I could beat it, I had fun.

Now, Nintendo became so much bigger, and it was like a massive wave of gamers came about. My brother and I were hooked with the Nintendo commercials, cereal, cards, lunch boxes, blankets, posters, and so much more. I remember eating the Zelda and Mario chewy candy, watching the cartoons of Captain N, He-Man, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. News stations were trying to cover what Nintendo was all about and where the future of gaming might be. Also, there was a huge craze about this movie called “The Wizard”. Man, this was the era I thought would last forever. I would go around house to house, collecting empty cans so that I could recycle them for money. With that money, I went out with either my mom or dad to buy another game. They didn’t have a problem with my brother and I playing Nintendo as long as we worked for it. We had about 10 or so games, within 2 months. Which was a lot for that time around my neighborhood, and we had friends coming over with their games. We played games such as Donkey Kong, Bomber Man, Double Dragon, Balloon Fight, Joust, Mike Tysons Punch Out, and Duck Hunt. Nintendo for us kids, was about having a gathering of friends and having a blast.

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Around the winter of 1987, our family went up the Boston for Christmas, even though my mom, brother and I were Jewish. And of course, we brought along the Nintendo. We had it hooked up in the upstairs room, but rarely played it since we were with family. But on Christmas morning, my uncle bought my brother and I a “special” Nintendo cartridge. We were shocked and confused at this type of cartridge, because read on there “190 Games”, and there was a complete list of all the games on there. He mentioned something about going to the black market and getting it. There were actually 190 games on this cartridge, and my brother and I played each one. It was so amazing, and it would have been a while that we would get another game. I still have the cartridge, but not the console…
All videos are credited to RetroJunk.com. Thank you for bringing back memories!

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