WordPress Daily Prompt: What was your first ever video game?
My first video game was technically Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt on the original Nintendo Entertainment System. At least, that’s what I’ve been told. I was so young at the time that I don’t really remember those earliest gaming sessions, although I know they were something my family enjoyed together. Somewhere in those early years, a little gray box hooked up to the television introduced me to what would become one of my lifelong hobbies.
The first game I actually remember playing, however, was Super Mario Bros. 3. And thanks to that particular masterpiece, I ended up with a childhood nickname that probably deserves a little explanation.
They called me P. And that’s no lie.
Not because of my name. Not because of some mysterious childhood accomplishment. And no, before anyone gets any ideas, it had absolutely nothing to do with bathroom habits.
It was because of P-Wings.
For anyone unfamiliar with Super Mario Bros. 3, the P-Wing was one of the most useful power-ups in the entire game. Activate one, and Mario could fly freely through a level, bypassing all sorts of obstacles and enemies that would otherwise require a great deal more skill and patience. To a little kid still figuring out how to play, it was practically the greatest invention in video game history.
And my dad had plenty of them.
You see, after beating Super Mario Bros. 3, you could start over with an inventory full of P-Wings. My dad would finish the game, earn his collection of those wonderful little power-ups, and leave them sitting there, ready for his next adventure.
Then I would come along.
Now, I can’t tell you what my younger self thought about the importance of conserving valuable resources. I suspect I didn’t think about it at all. What I did know was that I could select one of those magical little P-Wings, make Mario fly, and have an absolutely wonderful time doing it.
So that’s exactly what I did.
Over and over again.
By the time my dad returned to the Nintendo, his impressive collection of P-Wings had usually suffered some rather significant losses. He’d beaten the game and earned them, and I’d happily burned through them without a second thought.
Somewhere along the way, that habit earned me the nickname P.
Looking back, I suppose I was an early pioneer in the fine art of spending someone else’s hard-earned video game resources. My dad did the work, and I enjoyed the benefits. It was a wonderful arrangement, at least from my perspective.
What makes the memory special, though, isn’t really the nickname or even the P-Wings themselves. It’s the fact that those early Nintendo games were something my family shared. Before online multiplayer, digital storefronts, achievement systems, and endless debates about graphics and frame rates, gaming was often as simple as sitting in front of the family television with a controller in your hands.
Someone played while someone else watched. You took turns, offered advice, laughed at mistakes, and occasionally discovered that a certain small child had used up all your best power-ups.
I don’t remember every detail of those days. I couldn’t tell you exactly how old I was when I first picked up an NES controller, or which level of Super Mario Bros. 3 I enjoyed the most. But I remember the game, and I remember the story behind that silly little nickname.
Nearly four decades later, I’m still playing video games. The consoles have changed, the worlds have grown larger, and the technology has advanced beyond anything that little kid sitting in front of the television could have imagined.
But there’s something about those old Nintendo games that never really goes away. Hearing the opening music of Super Mario Bros. 3 or seeing that familiar map screen can take me straight back to childhood in a way few other things can.
And whenever I think about those P-Wings, I can’t help but smile.
My dad beat Bowser, saved the Mushroom Kingdom, and earned himself an inventory full of valuable power-ups.
Then his son came along and spent them all.
Sorry, Dad.
Although, in my defense, flying was a whole lot more fun than walking.
Written in response to the WordPress Daily Prompt:
What was your first ever video game?
