Making amends

So, you may have noticed I'm the angriest person on the planet, it would seem that I spend more time bitching about games more than I do praising them. I'm going to make an effort to stop complaining, and I'm starting now. Join me in a walk down memory lane, as I share the story of the Christmas I received my Nintendo Entertainment System.

I don't recall the first time I actually put my hands on the controller of the NES (which is quite odd) , but the greatest memory I have as a child was the first NES I actually owned. For some strange reason, the X-mas of 87, my family opened our gifts late on Christmas eve. As usual, we'd start with the stockings which probably contained the usual small gifts - Smurf trading cards (remember those huge packages?) , Garbage Pail Kids, I really don't remember what else could have been in there. Then we'd move on to the big gifts, I remember getting a cool sled, and some crappy clothes. After ravaging through all the big box gifts, I remember being very depressed because none of them contained the NES I'd been begging for that whole year. My mother asked me if there was anything that Santa had "forgotten", I grumpily replied "He forgot my Nintendo". She said "Don't worry, there's always next year". Of course when you're 10 years old, a year seems like an eternity, and you're already plotting ways to sell your body for pennies to save up to buy one yourself...What, you didn't do that at 10? So moms says, "Why don't you go into the kitchen and turn on the radio so we can hear some Christmas music". The last thing I wanted was to hear was "Here comes Santa Clause" for the billionth time that evening, but I reluctantly complied. I strolled into the kitchen, opened up the cabinet where our stereo and TV were housed...HOLY SHIT. There it was, already hooked up and eagerly awaiting my grubby Doritos infested hands. I played Super Mario Bros. until 2:30 in the morning, I remember my mother coming into the kitchen for a drink saying "What the hell are you still doing up"? She of course made me turn the system off and go straight to bed, but it was worth a mild scolding to travel through the mushroom kingdom.

I really have to hand it to my parents, it was so exciting to be surprised like that. Even now 20 years later, it makes me happy/sad to think back on those times of being a kid, where video games, playing army in the woods, and selling your body for Kid Icarus carts is your whole world. I've not since had a better experience, and I never will.