Very interesting IGN article
My wife and I welcomed our first son into the world on January 26th, 2014. In the year and a half since his birth, we’ve encountered an endless list of unexpected events - both good and bad - that no one can prepare you for. The avocado that gave him a skin rash, his insane fascination with cars, the first time he flung himself out of his crib, and the day he randomly decided to stand up and walk for the first time. If you’re a parent, the combination of utter joy and pure fear surrounding these moments become oddly normal. Each event is life-changing, but there has been one change to my life that I didn’t see coming at all - after 23 years, I became a Nintendo fan again.
My first introduction to console gaming was my grandpa’s Atari 2600 but I quickly nagged my parents enough to buy us our very own - and very grey - Nintendo Entertainment System. I played it non-stop, and when I wasn’t at home I filled in the gaps with my Game Boy. A few thousand hours and several hundred Game Genie codes later, I upgraded to the SNES, and the first ten years of my life became defined by the adventures of Mario, Zelda, and timing out dunks in Double Dribble. Then 1995 came, and a new challenger appeared.
Like many kids of the 80’s, Sony’s PlayStation - and its subsequent PS2 - stole me away from Nintendo with its allure of sport sims, Final Fantasy, and Crash Bandicoot. And when Microsoft came into the fray, I confidently wrote off Nintendo as one of those childish things I put behind me in lieu of more “mature” first-person shooters and online gaming. In fact, I couldn’t understand how any grown person could be into the Gamecube or the Wii. Every so often I’d check out what’s going on with Nintendo, only to respond with “What the heck are they doing sending Mario to space or turning him into paper?” I was certain that the big N had become a one-trick Mario pony, and I wasn’t missing a thing.
But then a funny thing happened, my progression of “maturing” as a gamer - or at least my definition of it at the time - took me from playing GTA, Call of Duty, and FIFA to playing almost nothing at all. As I matured in life, my responsibilities increased and time became scarce, and I couldn’t invest the necessary time to really connect with a game. Needless to say, the days of marathoning Halo after a midnight release were over. By the time my son came along, I wasn’t playing games at all.
Then last Fall, after better settling into my new role of fatherhood, I once again found myself having small snippets of free time in my day - 15 minutes here and there - and with the increased exhaustion that comes along with having a kid, it was time I wanted to spend relaxing. I wanted to play some games, so I got an Xbox One, and quickly discovered something wasn’t right. I didn’t want to spend the majority of my free time doing tutorials on how to drive a mech, getting lost in an open world, or getting my first-person shooter reaction speed back just to keep up. I needed to be able to jump in, jump out, and feel like it was time well spent, not feel like I have to invest hours - or even minutes - just to get to a point of understanding and enjoyment.
My son and I trying to get back into playing Xbox again.
I struggled through this for a month or so until a friend said, “Have you tried playing a 3DS?” My first reaction was an adamant, “No,” but the more I thought about it, the purchase did make sense. I had loved my Game Boy and remember the how easily digestible handheld gaming was, but I couldn’t get the childish connotation I associated with Nintendo out of my head. Ultimately, I didn’t want to make a rash decision like I did when buying my Xbox One, so I started researching 3DS games. Meanwhile, I tried more mobile gaming, and while there are some interesting things going on there, I needed physical buttons. So, after finding a handful of games that seemed fun, I made my first Nintendo purchase since 1991 and bought a 3DS XL.
I was instantly pleased with my decision. Aside from downloading some classics like Super Mario Bros. 3 and Punch-Out!!, I loved how easily I could dive in and out of games like Super Mario World 3D, Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, and more. At first, I thought maybe the handheld platform itself was the biggest contributing factor to my renewed gaming enjoyment, but I found myself loving the content, as well. As a new dad, I was already finding myself more immersed in children’s media (my Netflix queue quickly went from House of Cards to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse), and Mario’s charm and Link’s exploration was catering to both my nostalgia and current state of mind. Nintendo’s longevity allows its games to span generations, and I quickly found myself excited to share these characters and stories - which meant so much to me as a child - with my own son. Before I knew it, I was out picking up a Wii U as well so he could see the characters on screen and become familiar with them. Nintendo’s family-friendly content doesn’t hurt, either.
I love when a story comes full circle, and I feel that’s what has happened with my gaming habits. I hadn’t touched a Nintendo product for over two decades, but the last few months of re-discovering worlds like the Mushroom Kingdom and Hyrule have felt like a homecoming of sorts - something I didn’t know I needed until my son inadvertently pushed me in that direction. It feels good to have Nintendo back in my home, and for as much as having a kid changes your life, I didn’t expect for this new addition to our family to bring back something old and familiar.
*After speaking with some other new dads in the IGN office, it became apparent that I wasn’t the only new father whose gaming habits changed. If you’re a parent, how did your gaming change when your first kid came along? Also, I’m obviously catching up on Wii U and 3DS games, but there are entire catalogs on the N64 and Gamecube that I missed during my time away from Nintendo. What older games should I be playing? Let me know in the comments below or tweet them to me @darrenbraz.
