It was 1990 when I picked up my first Game Boy, which is the original "Brick Type" Game Boy. Before the Game Boy, the only portable form of video games were the basic LCD games... the types where all the possible types of actions were mapped to the screen, like the Game & Watch series. The biggest draw with the Game Boy is that was a dynamic screen & the swappable game packs.

While the first generation games suffered some ghosting problems, most predominate with Super Mario Land, later game releases (like Super Mario Land 2) solved this issue by increasing the size of the sprites & the game worlds. Still, Nintendo was in the place where it could do no wrong as they practically had no direct competition here. The old LCD games were still in the majority around me, I was on the edge of change with electronic entertainment.

My old Game Boy was well enjoyed as I was able to take it along with me on long trips without getting bored... or at least while there was a good amount of lighting. The one downside with the Game Boy was that it had no backlight, while I understand on the technical side (as LED backlighting was properly developed), it wasn't something I was concerned about when I was young. However, as I grew up, it came a bit of a concern. Nintendo released the Game Boy Pocket, a smaller version of the original, but I remained with the old Game Boy. Around 1995, I received a little heat from fellow classmates for sticking with the Game Boy when the Sega Game Gear, Nintendo's first major competition in the portable market. The Game Gear games were in color with a small TV screen, which was fairly nice visually. However, I saw a couple of pitfalls that eventually killed Sega's attempt in the portables. First was the battery consumption. Granted the Game Boy was using 4 AA's for about 10 hours, the Game Gear was using 6 AA's for only about 5 hours of use. Second was the lack of desirable games. Sonic may have been Sega's mascot, but I never felt the urge to fly through the stages & I really didn't hear a lot of Game Gear games.

It was around 1995 when I was getting some grief by my fellow classmates in the console wars, but that's for another chapter.

As my Game Boy aged & pretty much started failing due to years of use & abuse. It was until 1998 that I officially retired my old Game Boy (GBY) with the release of it's true successor: Game Boy Color (GBC). It was a smaller, more powerful system that now featured a color screen (over the old 4-shade greyscale system) that ran at least 10 hour with only 2 AA's. It still ran the old Game Boy games, but now colorized them to breathe some new life into the old games. The old games are still only 4-colors, but it was enough to give some variety to make those games a bit more interesting.

It was later supplemented with the Game Boy Advance (GBA). More power (32-bit) & more controls, but it still had the same issue of no backlight. It had the additional issue of a darker screen, which made proper light more important. While Nintendo fixed these issues with the Game Boy Advance SP (with a backlight & smaller design), I stayed with the old GBA until it's successor game alone, the Nintendo DS. Having being burnt with the GBA, I waited until the second generation of the DS was released, which was the DS Lite. It perfected all the issues that the original DS had, but retained nearly all the options that the GBA had. The only concession made is that the DS's GBA support loses multiplayer capabilities.

While I picked up each system, I did not get rid of their predicessors as each system did not complete everything that I wanted with a system. The GBA did not have the same graphical qualities for the old GBY games that the GBC. The DS, while supports GBA, wasn't able to support multiplayer & could not connect to the Gamecube. I know that I could retire the GBC & GBA with the GBA SP, but I really don't have a major reason to spend money for a better version of the GBA.

Now, Nintendo has released the minor successor with the DSi 6 months ago & now have plans to release the DSi XL, which is just a minor redesign of the DSi... which was another redesign of the DS Lite... which was a redesign of the DS. The DSi has two digital cameras, digital downloadable content & SD card support, it's nothing more than what the GBC is to the GBY. It does the basics, but has a few new features that still yet to get publicly supported by the gaming industry. While I'm still happy with my old DS Lite, I have struggled with the though of "upgrading" to the DSi & now the upcoming DSi XL.

I'll go into more details with some of the joys & issues I have with the DS series, but that's for another chapter.

Coming Soon... Chapter 3: The Rise & Fall of Nintendo's Domination -- The SNES & N64 Eras

Posted by TStodden at 7:03 PM CST

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Mood:  not sure

As I near my 13th anniversary online, I've started to take a look back at my gaming experience then & now with the company that I fell in love with nearly 25 years ago. Is it possible for me to remain with a company that has slowly turned its back on those who used to come together & figuratively worship them? While the honeymoon has long since ended, should I try to make this failing relationship work OR is it time to break this off & look for happiness elsewhere?

While time will tell what my decision will eventually be (or get prodded by friends & others), I feel best that I write out everything during this time so that when the decision comes, I'll have something to look back on. Now, let's get to the beginning of things.

I was originally introduced to video games at the early age of three. My parents picked up an Atari 2600 some time ago. The only game we had at the time was Pac-Man & my parents were very restrictive with playtime. It wasn't until 1985 that I was introduced to the game company that I would have fall in love with: Nintendo. My cousins were the first to get the NES & they brought it to my grandparent's house when we came to visit one day. Once I Super Mario Bros., it was pretty much love at first sight. The graphics were outstanding with intricate details, controls were superior & the gameplay was nothing that I never previously seen. While it would be a few years until I would have a NES of my own, I enjoyed playing the NES at my grandparents (who got a NES of their own so that their grandkids, including myself, would be able to enjoy the games without having to lug the system). We slowly learned the games & eventually got better at them.

From 1985 to 1988, the "extended family" game library started out small & gradually increased as all three families bought & freely swapped NES games amongst us. The only gaming news that came our way was the "Nintendo Fun Club" newsletters that my grandparents received very few months. However, when the "Nintendo Fun Club" was coming to a close, they received an invitation to subscribe to Nintendo Power near the end of 1989. Once they agreed to take up the subscription, my love with Nintendo grew as I would now be able to read up on newer games every two months (which later became every month). My love with Nintendo would grow even further when Nintendo Power gave away the "Complete Gamer's" package of Dragon Warrior with new subscriptions. With this promotion, my cousins & I would have our own subscription to read up on the latest games WITH a new game to boot! While it took a few months to get through Dragon Warrior the first time, it was a hard time to believe that Nintendo could do no wrong.

Coming Soon... Chapter 2: "...and baby makes three!" -- Enter the Game Boy.

Posted by TStodden at 5:03 PM CST

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