My First Addiction

      My parents should have known better. They thought they were doing something good for my sisters and I but it backfired. Maybe my dad bought it because he thought he would like playing it. I don't really remember why they bought us a Nintendo Entertainment System, I just knew that I would be its whore.

       A few years prior, my dad brought home an Atari 2600. It was a big fucking deal. I asked my dad where he got it from. He told me that it came from a friend whose son didn't listen to him. I nodded and set it up in my bedroom. I connected it to the black and white 13in. General Electric TV. "Lopez" was etched into the tan plastic case. It had 3 knobs. A VHF knob, a UHF knob that I believed would send me to an alternate reality, and the power/volume knob. All three clicked when you turned them. For a poor Army brat in 1984, I had quite the set-up.

     

Like this but more pathetic.

There we go.

      I played whenever I got the chance and secretly traded games with associates from the playground. My favorite was Tank. The only problem was that it wasn't really meant to be played alone and, well, I played alone. Sure I had cousins that played their games but I just wanted the epic adventure that everyone seemed to find. It wasn't until The Smurfs game that I had an inkling that the people who made games were sort of making fun of me/us. The Smurfs game didn't end. I kept playing and playing but there was no end to the damn thing. One day, the Atari was gone. I asked about it and was immediately lied to. Didn't matter though. I had a Huffy BMX to tend to and scars to create. If you don't remember, we were busy, busy little people. Little did I know that the demon had already burrowed into my miniature subconscious.

      The NES was released in 1986. Atari was out. The Super Mario Bros./DuckHunt pack-in game cartridge was enough for my wide eyes. I swear my family could have been the Mexican version of an NES family ad. 

Like this except browner.

My dad picked up a controller and continuously dropped Mario into every pit that was possible. This is where my over-the-shoulder-game-watching-frustration comes from. To this day, I still get the urge to smack him in the face when he opens his laptop.

      I played both games every chance I got but didn't develop a true addiction. I usually stopped when my hands were too sweaty and cramped. Soon video rental stores were renting out games too. But 2 days of rental time weren't enough. Not enough for a true mastering of a game. And besides, my allowance was too shallow to support my wants. There had to be a way...TRADING!!! I was always positive my friends parents were richer than mine, so they probably had more games to play! My friend David had a bunch of games. After school, I would go over to his house and play whatever he wanted to play. Double Dribble, Metroid, whatever. He also had Contra. I had seen the box before at Montgomery Ward's. There were 2 mercenaries on the front and one looked like Ahnold and the other guy looked like Billy from Predator.

I'm pretty sure there are some copyright violations here.

I had no idea what 'contra' meant, but clearly it was associated with kicking alien ass. I took it home. 

       Dear Jesus. It was glorious. It had everything I wanted in a game with guns. 8 directions to shoot, faceless enemies, aliens and rapid fire shotguns. I played as much as I could. Which took about a month. This is my progress:

• Make it to the 2nd level - A couple hours
• Memorize the entire 1st level - 2 days
• Realize that Nintendo Power existed and contained the true Konami Code - 1 day
• Memorize the Konami Code -  About 15 failed tries
• Complete the game with 30 lives - Shut up! Stop laughing!!!
• Complete the game until it was all I could see when I closed my eyes at night - 2 weeks
• Complete the game until I realized that I only used 2 lives - 1 day(?)
• Complete the game with 1 life - 2 days w/ constant interference (Mom, sisters, cats, etc.)
• Complete the game in 13 minutes - 13 minutes
• Make Red Falcon my bitch - about a month

      Man, was I obsessed! I used to draw the armored truck and variations of it in my Trapper Keeper. I often wondered if I could pull off a full front flip to prone position while running with a rifle in my hands. Did I mention I was obsessed?

      I had truly mastered Contra. For a second I thought how cool it would be if the cartridge would be a smoky mess as I pulled it out of the Nintendo. With pride, I gave it back to David. He wondered why I was giving it back now after having it so long. I told him I beat it and that I got a new game. It's called The Legend Of Zelda...