Another Attempt at World Domination
Like most kids who grew up in the 80’s, I broke my fair share of Atari joysticks before moving over to the original Nintendo and spending hours with my buddy Mario. I never bought a Nintendo beyond the Super version (SNES), but I still have both systems in a big Rubbermaid container in the closet. I also keep my old Atari up there, so if you’re interested in stopping by for a few games of Maze Craze…
There are plenty of good reasons to bring the Nintendo out of the closet, but it usually involves a need for world domination that only Genghis Khan can satisfy. It can take 30 minutes of blowing on the cartridge and slamming the system around to get the game to work, but the old school graphics and basic commands are a joy to behold. Planning to take over the world was never so much fun. I know that later games became more sophisticated, but like Madden ’99, the original Genghis Khan is a classic, and I’m not looking to upgrade.
There are probably studies out there (that I’m too lazy to look for) that explain how our game choices are a reflection of…something. For example, there has to be a good reason why I’ve never been any good at fighting games. I couldn’t win a game of Street Fighter II to save my life. My brother once invited me to play a James Bond game with him, and then kept sneaking around the corner and shooting me in the face before I could move three feet. Fun! I enjoy playing more recent games like Max Payne, but truth be told, I often play in God mode, because, see…I suck. But give me a good strategy game, and world domination is sure to follow.
I think part of the appeal is that I love stats. Don’t get confused, I hate math. HATE. But stats are fantastic. I used to have a horrible addiction to Tecmo Super Bowl, a football game on the original Nintendo. I’d sit in my room and document page after page of stats that the game didn’t keep track of. I still have a giant folder of stats from those days, in case I want to find out who holds the all time record for most rush attempts in a single (non power outage) season.
It’s a good thing.
