When I was a kid, one of my happiest memories was my dad coming home with a gigantic NES box. I was very young, so we really only ever played Duck Hunt and Super Mario Bros. 1, but I love those memories.
And I continued to grow up with Nintendo, playing games like Megaman X, Megaman X-2, Ken Griffey Jr's Winning Run, Super Mario World, Donkey Kong Country 2, Donkey Kong Country 3, etc. on the SNES. Man, I remember going to the video rental stores to rent SNES cartridges. I remember subscribing to Nintendo Power as a kid, and being so excited that I was able to get a Donkey Kong Country 3 guide shipped to my house.
The N64 has some of my most cherished memories. I remember visiting a really rich friend, and seeing my rich friend's brother playing Ocarina of Time. I was blown away. I had never owned a 3D console like that before. Couple of months later, I got into the Pokemon craze, and my brothers and I all played Pokemon Yellow, Blue, and Red. That Pokemon enthusiasm amplified when Pokemon Stadium came out on the N64. I begged my mom to get us Pokemon Stadium and an N64 console. I begged and begged and begged, and she went out and got an N64 with Ocarina of Time. She couldn't find Pokemon Stadium. To this day - even as an adult with a mortgage and a wife and a daughter, I still have never owned or played Pokemon Stadium. But it didn't matter. I fell in love with Ocarina of Time. And then I fell in love with Super Mario 64. And Goldeneye 007. And Perfect Dark. And Majora's Mask. And other titles like the WWF/WWE fighting games, and Super Smash Bros, Mario Tennis, Mario Party, etc.!
As a teenager, I waited in line at the Gamecube launch and I was so enamoured by Star Wars: Rogue Squadron at launch. I waited in line for the Wii launch as well. I loved games like the original Animal Crossing on Gamecube, or Metroid Prime 1 + Echoes, Wind Waker, Super Mario Sunshine, Viewtiful Joe, etc.
Why did I become an Xbox fan? Because my cousin randomly got me a 360 in 2008. And I was hooked from then on. Imagine a young adult, living on Nintendo his whole life, suddenly getting a 360 with access to Rock Band, Gears of War, Dead Rising, and Bioshock, and - most importantly - an achievements system. I was hooked. From 2008 to present day, I've been an avid Xbox fan and I put Nintendo in my rearview mirror. But I'm eager, so eager to get back into Nintendo. I can't wait to buy the Switch 2 next year and play Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Galaxy. My daughter is 2 now - and I can see her growing up to be a Nintendo kid. We'll have Smash Bros, Mario Kart, Mario Party, etc. in our house, and I hope she and I can enjoy those experiences together, the same way I loved and enjoyed my SNES and N64 as a kid.
That's partly why I made the thread. Yes, I've been an Xbox die-hard. And I acknowledge I can get over the top when I praise the platform I love. But closing down Tango Gameworks was kind of the straw that broke the camel's back for me. I've been yearning for Xbox to stand toe-to-toe with Sony and Nintendo on a first-party level for years. Yearning for them to get to a point where they can consistently release certified GOTY candidates year after year. And then I see them close down their only Japanese studio, their studio that made one of the best, high quality exclusives ever released (Hi-Fi Rush)? I can't anymore. I want to rekindle that same love I had for Nintendo growing up, and I can't wait for the Switch 2 to allow me to do that.
