Thanksgiving is finally here, and everyone is getting ready to sit down with family and stuff their faces with turkey, mashed potatoes and various baked goods.
I suspect a fair few are also sitting down to watch football, movies or play video games. It’s gotten me thinking about the video games I’m most thankful for. Not necessarily the best video games ever made, but the ones that had some kind of a big impact on my life.
I started gaming when I was young, though I can’t recall the first time I ever played a video game. I do remember many of my friends when I was in around 4th grade (about 9 years old) had Nintendo consoles. At first, I didn’t even know what kids were talking about when they said Nintendo. Then I tried one out and was instantly hooked.
#1 — Super Mario Bros. (1983)
My parents were adamant: I was not getting a Nintendo, no matter how badly I wanted one. Video games were not good for you. Kids should play outside.
So it was a great surprise—I was moved to tears of joy—when I opened up my birthday present to find an NES, replete with the Duck Hunt gun and a copy of Super Mario Bros.
Far from my favorite NES game, it was still the first video game I ever owned, and remains probably the best birthday present of my childhood. I recently went up to the family cabin and found my aunt’s old NES system there (it was hers that inspired me to so badly want my own way back then.) What fun it was to play that game again for the first time in so long.
[“source=ft.com]
