TITLE: Ghosts of Christmases Past AUTHOR: KyoshoBallard DATE: 12/08/2005 05:54:00 ip. ----- BODY:

I am in a gaming slump. This happens at least once every year, though usually more. It can last for weeks. Even as long as a few months. It really depends on what's going on in my life. I think every gamer goes through this. At least, once they reach a certain age. My cousin, for instance, is still at an age where he plays games daily, and losing interest in gaming is something that he doesn't think could ever happen. It will. Oh it surely will. Maybe not right away. And maybe not for more than 24 hours at a time at first, but it will happen. Because of this, I shall spin a tale from my past. Yeah. My very own Christmas miracle. ______________________ It's coming on Christmas, they're cutting down trees, putting up reindeer, and singing songs of joy peace. Oh I wish I had a river I could skate away on. But therein lies a problem. I cannot skate. So there goes that idea. Anyways, Christmas shall soon be here. How nice. In my mind, Christmas has always been connected to gaming. We got our first game system, an Atari 2600, for Christmas. And then later an NES for Christmas. Even later a Genesis, SNES, and N64, all for Christmas. Not at the same time, but you get the idea. Plus many games in between. The week between Christmas Day and New Years was usually spent gaming. I remember the Christmas I got my N64. It wasn't the year it was released, but a couple years later. Like 1999, or 1998, I think. Ah yes, it was 1998, because New Years was 1999. Anyways, I had trouble hooking it up to our VCR. I couldn't see very well where the VCR was positioned, so I kept putting the yellow wire in the white port, and the white wire in the yellow port. From my perspective, they looked to be in the right ones, but appearently not. So that Christmas day was the first Christmas Day in which I got a new system but wasn't able to play it. The little manual fold-out thing that came with the 64 said they recommended getting a Y-connector, so that the white and the [extremely lonely with no port to go into] red wire could plug into the same spot. I thought that's what the problem was, and what I needed. The day after Christmas (Boxing Day for those of you that say "oot and aboot"), we made a trip to Radio Shack for it. Brought it home, and this time I used a flashlight so I could see better and realized I had the wires in the wrong ports all along. How annoying. Well, since we already had it, I used the Y-connector anyways. My system was bundled with red second controller, and a game. What game, you may ask? Well, what game was it that made me want the system in the first place? What game was it that I played at my friend Jon's and HAD TO HAVE? Take a guess. Sure, there's a few games it could be, but really, come on now. Oh fine, I'll just tell you. Goldeneye. Yes, Goldeneye. I finally got to play it in my own home. That was nice. But I only got to play it for a couple hours before I had to go and visit my dad. My sister came with me, but she only stayed at my dad's for a few hours and then came home. Me, I was going to be staying until New Years. That's a week, for you slow folks. A week without my N64! Without Goldeneye! The idea was preposterous! But my mother would not let me take it with me. To add insult to injury, my father must've talked to my mother, because he knew I had gotten a N64 and he got me a game for it. It was a game which couldn't have cost him more than $10. It was used, and it was a game that didn't sell well, and was relatively unknown. Because it sucked. Well, no, it wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great either. The game was Aero Gauge. A futuristic racing game. But that didn't matter, all that mattered was that I had yet another game I couldn't play! Argh! Whenever I was at my dad's, I usually hung out with my older step brother. And when I was with him, we were usually over at the neighbor's house. Brandon's. And what do I see as soon as I get into their living room? Brandon playing a N64! Yet another taunt! Ye cruel world! But...what was this game he was playing? He was doing something in a menu that looked very complicated. Then he exited the menu, and was chasing a chicken. A chicken? Why? "Why are you going after a chicken?" He paused it (bringing up that menu again), looked at me, grinned and told me he'd just figured out something cool. He went back to chasing the chicken, and kept hitting it with his sword. Then something happened which I shall never forget. The chicken got pissed off. Really pissed off. Suddenly the chicken multiplied into what looked like a dozen more chickens, and they all began attacking Brandon's character. He ran and got the hell out of there. "That was awesome," I said. "I know," he said. But what was this game? Oh, I'm sure anyone reading this already knows. But I had no idea. I asked him what it was. He pointed to the box it came in. The name registered in my mind. Zelda. I'd heard it before. I remembered seeing Zelda games for rent for the NES and SNES at my local video store. But I'd never played them. I watched him play for a while longer, doing all kinds of other things, and then we went back to my dad's house. I knew two things: I really really wanted to play my N64. And that I HAD to have that game! That was the New Years Eve that I got drunk for the first time. It was the year of the infamous putter incident. But I won't go into that. When I finally got home on New Year's Day, what did I find my sister doing? She was playing my N64! How dare she! And my mother was watching her play, something she usually had no interest in. For a moment, I was so consumed with jealousy and annoyance that I didn't notice what game she was playing. When I did, all negative emotions were gone in an instant. She was playing Zelda! "Where the heck did that game come from?!" They told me they'd rented it, and had already decided they were going to be buying it. "What? But... That's the game..I.. When are you buying it?" Tomorrow, they told me. Tomorrow, when the stores open back up. It's a Christmas miracle! Hooray! And so they did. And all three of us played it. We each had our own save slot. My sister lost interest after a little while, but my mother and I were almost competing to see who could beat the game first. This was the first time she'd really played any games in years. It was the gateway drug. It led to EverQuest later, which led to..well, that's not important. That's enough for today kiddies. Have a Merry Christmas. And remember kids, don't get drunk and sing into a putter. Good day.

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