[Kugyince]

I'm a Nintendo fanboy. Have been for 25 years now. Most likely always will be. Nintendo comes out with a system, I'm going to buy it. No questions asked.

You see, no company owns my childhood memories quite like Nintendo. From hustling my ass of on Power Pad trying to beat that god damned Cheetah in World Class Track Meet to being able to relive my childhood while sharing in my son's playing New Super Mario Bros. Wii. No other company out there can both so easily allow me to act like a kid again and remain a perfectly viable current option to the hobby I love.

Nintendo is part of the only two positive memories of my father as we toughed through Adventures of Lolo together as a team or competed heavily in Hal's Hole-in-One Golf. Nintendo is partially responsible for the memories of my entire preteen existence with my friend Tyrone. Late nights over at each other's house tackling Castlevanias, Zeldas, Metroids, Bases Loadeds, etc... Nintendo even owns part of my long-passed brother as he dragged me to seedy arcades and handed me a fistful of quarters so I'd leave him alone while flirted with the girls. Who needed girls when you were 7 and Pauline needed saving from the evil clutches of Donkey Kong?

These are all great reasons why I'm so emotionally invested into a Nintendo console. However there's one very valid point that seems to come up missing when pitchforks are raised and accusations of fanboyism are thrown about as some type of slander.

Nintendo makes damn good games.

This is why we buy a console. The games. Nintendo is an amazing game developer and there's only one company's consoles I'm going to find their games on. Games make the console and Nintendo is my favorite game developer. Hell if Wayforward came out with a console I'd probably buy that too. I buy the consoles for the games and the games I want are Nintendo games. If that makes me a fanboy I'll accept it. I'll revel in it.

Nintendo understands that games are meant to be fun and should never be taken seriously. Games aren't art. They're not a window to some social commentary. They're not a form of expression, escapism, or technological capabilities. It's a game. It doesn't have to make sense. It's not asked to maintain some suspension of disbelief. It has no prerequisite to convey emotion. It's just their to amuse and entertain.

I can get all the grit and realism I want by reading a newspaper these days. I don't require the newest version of Call of Honor to remind me what the real world is like. I respect the opinion of those who disagree and enjoy those titles but that's neither here nor there. When I power up the Wii or DS I just want a bit of fun. Maybe something that will bring a smile to my face because it brings back fond memories or creates new ones with my son. That's not too much to ask is it?