So, about Nintendo..

It was weird. Back when my brother played the Super Nintendo, I viewed it as just another toy to play with. Oh, sure, it was fun to pick up Super Mario World or Donkey Kong Country every now and then, but taking my Sesame Street stuffed animals on adventures and reading through The Berenstain Bears took top priority. It was just another toy, that SNES.

That all changed on January 1998, when my brother received a shiny, brand new Nintendo 64 for his birthday.

I immediately became a convert, and in the end I played the hell out of that thing way more then he ever did.

Mario, Donkey Kong, Yoshi, and Star Fox all immediately captured my heart and refused to let go, and I played their games religiously. I chomped through each of their games hungrily, cementing my childhood with their parties and stories and raps and Gameshark codes. I fell willingly into the Pokemon craze, and I ravaged (literally) through my Nintendo Power magazines, eagerlyanticipating titles such as Mario Party and Pokemon Stadium. The Gamecube rocked my world and titles such as Super Smash Bros. Melee and Pikmin, as well as blasts from the pasts such as Earthbound and Kirby Super Star solidified my status as a Nintendo fanboy, and that was when I truly began to appreciate just how magical their games were. Third parties began to invade my life as well, with Sonic the Hedgehog and Aiai the Monkey from Super Monkey Ball joining the festivities. The Gamecube, despite some harsh criticism from people who didn't realize NINTENDO PLAYS BY THEIR OWN RULES BECAUSE THEY'RE AWESOME, enjoyed a healthy lifespan in terms of game quality and eventually give way to the Wii, where third parties became underappreciated and Nintendo received much unneeded nerd rage.

That's a really tiny nutshell of my life.

We're going to crack that shell open, but ever so slightly, and delicately. The tales I will share in this blog about these games are as close to my heart as those I've had in the real world, and I think it's time to define what it all means to me.

And maybe you'll get to know me a little better.

But first, I need to get this situation surrounding my NES to be cleared up, so the blog probably won't really start to get rolling until then.

So Who Are You?

I might as well introduce myself, shall I? ;)

My name is Anthony.

I would suppose the best way to describe me is that I'm just a good person in general. Maybe I don't always remember not to slurp, or take the trash downstairs, but I'm always open for a discussion and am very easy to approach. I am friendly, love to laugh and joke around, spend time with myself and contemplate, and play some video games and read some books.

Thanks to certain events in the past several years, I've gotten pretty pessimistic and I think I lost sight of what I truly enjoyed about life. I think at this point, I'm nearing the light at the end of the tunnel.

When I grow up, I want to live way, way into the country in a house surrounded by books, games and cats. I also want to write.

I guess that just about wraps it up.

Leave Luck To Heaven

Throughout the past few decades, video games have taken over as our primary source of entertainment. Popular terms such as "Game Over" and iconic characters such as Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog are recognized globally. The video game industry is raking in cash by the truckloads (Why, this past December was its biggest month ever!), and it is even toppling the movie industry. Games such as Super Mario Bros., Grand Theft Auto, Pokemon Red and Blue, Halo, and Wii Sports all instantaneously etched their way into cultural subconsciousness, and are looked upon very fondly. In short, video games have made a rather large impact.

I've spent twelve years playing video games. It's been quite a journey. It's been awesome, it's been rough, and I've even cried. I've had so much fun with video games, however, that I would not trade them for anything else. I do not regret one single moment.

In my first post of Leave Luck To Heaven, I'd like to take the opportunity to answer two pivotal questions: What should I expect to see in this blog, and what is its purpose?

The What:

-This is probably the most important bit. This blog will, for the most part, follow the passion of my life: Nintendo. If you love plumbers, timeline theories, pocket monsters, barrel rolls, final smashes, peanut cheese bars, and purple Pikmin as well, then I'd say you have quite the ballgame in your hands here. If these things don't appeal to you, however, then I'd advise you to get the hell out.

-In Leave Luck To Heaven, I'm going to be writing about video games. Now that we've gotten the obvious out of the way, I suppose I should list what exactly I will be writing:

• What's been going on in my life in terms of video games, such as getting the NES to work or what I've been playing recently.
• Deep thoughts and reflections about Nintendo's titles and the impact they've had on me. These will be very in-depth and, depending on the game, the time spent on these will vary.
• Various pieces of my life with Nintendo. This may or may not be combined with other pieces.
• Posting awesome official game art/fanart I find. This will probably be once a week.
• I'll also be posting game music in the form of Youtube videos. I'll be sharing my passion for game music and why I love it so much.
• My opinions on game announcements and what's been going on in the industry.
• Occasionally, maybe rants on why Nintendo fans today suck so much.

For those not in the knowhow of video games, I'll be taking extra care in making sure you all know what's going on in these posts and that you all have fun reading it.

Also, every now and then, I'll probably get off-topic and rave about how awesome One Piece is or something. Man, do I love that series.

The Why of Fry:

-I aim to be a writer. I love to read, and I love to write. I am interested in working in bookstores and daycare centers, but my ultimate goal in life is to write. The problem is, I haven't exactly made the best use of my time in the past several years and it's a bit obvious I've turned rusty with my writing skills. Perhaps I've even gotten somewhat lazy.

With Leave Luck To Heaven, I will dedicate myself to fix this. This blog shall serve as a "workstation" of sorts, where I shall be constantly honing my writing abilities. I often find that it's a lot easier for me to write about things I'm interested about. Of course, video games work very well with this advantage. I think it will be a great learning experience.

-As I've previously stated, I've been playing video games for twelve years. When you've spent that long with something, you can't help but be a little philosophic. What exactly appeals to you about Mario? Why do you feel so fuzzy on the inside while playing Kirby? Are more violent games such as Grand Theft Auto and Halo as great as their teenage fanbase makes them out to be? Why do you constantly sing the praises of the Earthbound (Mother) series, which you believe to be the finest game series ever crafted? How does it feel to still be playing video games this long, and why do you still enjoy playing them?

In this blog, I intend to not only answer these questions, but perhaps make my own hobby more clear to myself.

And that's about it.

I think I'm ready to start this thing. Get yourself buckled up, because it's going to be one heck of a ride.