Video Game History Month -- What Brought Me To The Dance

Written By: Tyler

For those who don't know, Gamespot has designated May "Video Game History Month." I figure this is a good reason to do my own series of articles over the past month to discuss the history of video games. This article is a little bit more personal than what I'd usually do -- this is about where I started in the wonderful(ly expensive) world of gaming. I don't know how long this article will be, and while most of the articles will just be about specific games or systems, I think this is a good place to start.


My origin story is not that uncommon amongst "older" gamers -- the Nintendo Entertainment System. Before I even knew what I was doing, I was playing games. I would just grab a controller and press buttons. My older brother had an NES, and as far as I can remember, the first games I ever played were Duck Hunt, Super Mario Bros. 1 and 3, and Final Fantasy.

While I can never say that I was around for the true beginning of video gaming, I can honestly declare that I was born the same year that the NES first hit North American soils. The NES may be third generation, but it's arguably the greatest innovation within the industry because the NES helped video games crawl out of the dark and into the light of the public. Yes, people were playing games before the NES, but the NES symbolized new blood, new life. For years people would ask, "Do you play Nintendo?" rather than, "Do you play video games?" Nintendo etched its way into the conscious of the public, and video game history, and it all started with the NES.

Though I obviously didn't start playing right when I was born, I can say I've been playing games most of my life... and I'm pushing 30. Like I said above, I started with some of the biggest names in gaming. I remember using the gun to play Duck Hunt, and I remember trying to shoot that stupid dog (to no success). I remember running through the levels in the first Super Mario Bros. while being amazed. Though both of those games were essential to developing my admiration for games, it wasn't until Super Mario Bros. 3 and Final Fantasy that I found the first couple games that I ended up truly loving, with the latter opening up an entire genre that to this day is still my favourite -- the role-playing game.

I would go over into my brothers room, much to his chagrin, early in the morning and turn on Super Mario Bros. 3. The family would get annoyed, but I must have thought I was sneaky or something because I'd keep doing it. Maybe this time I won't get caught? I don't know, maybe I was just a badass. I would even dream of playing the game. Mario 3 was such an evolution of the first that it remains one of my favourites in the classic series to this day. It was an expertly crafted, masterpiece of game design, and even today it showing up on the Virtual Console (finally) is a huge deal to a lot of people.

Final Fantasy was a little too complex at first. It wasn't as easy as just running and jumping. You chose character classes, went on adventures, leveled up and paid attention to the -- admittedly shallow -- plot. Battles were turn-based, and to a young kid the game was pretty difficult.

I'm sure this made my brother happy, but I enjoyed the fighting in Final Fantasy. I would gladly grind for him, because it was a joy for me  to enter those attack commands and see what happened. It wasn't until later that I understood what the RPG genre entailed, but once the SNES came around, I was fully entrenched in the rich worlds that were created. Final Fantasy 2/4, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy 3/6, Earthbound, Secret of Mana, Secret of Evermore, the list goes on. I enjoy most of those more than I do the original Final Fantasy, but I can't deny the importance of the original because despite the fact it was supposed to literally be the final fantasy, it ended up being more than that to me and a lot of kids/teenagers. For me it was not the end; it was the beginning.

Much like the Nintendo Entertainment System.