This week’s Monday Night Gaming: RIP Iwata-San.
The first video game I ever played was Super Mario Bros. I played it on my very first game console, the NES–a toaster sized gray box that required players to blow into it (and the cartridges) to work.
The game frustrated me until my child-self learned the almost-infinite lives trick with the turtle bouncing. The first time I beat it, I sat in shock for 15 minutes. Then I ran through the game again.
From there, my love of games grew.
Marble Madness, Duck Hunt, Metroid, The Legend of Zelda, Mega Man. When I met my husband in high school, I discovered Dragon Quest, Castlevania, and Final Fantasy. By then, I was well and truly hooked.
Gaming has taught me about character development, story arcs/plot, setting, dialogue, and so much more. In fact, games like Final Fantasy have taught me just as much about what makes a good story as any book I’ve ever read. Gaming made me a writer in the same ways that reading has done.
Nintendo has held a place in my life since I was seven years old.
Even through its weird experiments (*cough cough* Wii-U), I’ve always expected great things from this company–more so than I ever expect from Microsoft or Sony.
Cancer sucked enough already, but to find that the President of Nintendo, Mr. Satoru Iwata lost his battle to this disease, made me incredibly sad. He only became president in 2002, succeeding Hiroshi Yamauchi, but he worked on the original Super Mario Bros. He’s had a hand in Nintendo’s direction since their first console, making his legacy one that stretches through the majority of my lifetime so far.
He was only three years younger than my father, making this a reminder that life is fragile and delicate. I don’t know about you, but I plan to get my game-on today in honor of Mr. Iwata.
RIP Iwata-San. May your legacy live on in the world of great and beautiful games.
Found this on Twitter. Seemed appropriate. Wish I could credit the artist.
