N64

The hot new craze--the Nintendo 64--was upon all gamers in early 1996. A small gray box holding hours and hours of gaming pleasure was now below the TV in many homes, including mine. Of course there was a struggle over which color of controller was best. They came in a variety of colors, all of which my console has seen. The generic gray seemed to work the best. The bright green, blue, yellow, and red buttons were clearly visible for optimum reaction speed when trying to destroy mushrooms in Super Mario 64. The three handled design played a versitile role for steering, depending on personal preference. Some other popular controllers are the solid red--fine if the user doesn't need to find the start button. The transparent green is also popular, but when trying to find the "B" button in Super Smash Brothers, the blending of the green colors slows down reaction time, making it ineffective when Pikachu needs to use "thunderbolt." All of these controllers were connected to the evenly spaced plug-ins located on the face of the game system. In the middle, there is an arch with the "N" logo strategically placed in its 3-D design. Behind this arch lies the game slot. Many games have seen time here. The 2.5 x 4 inch games used in the N64 system are archaic compared to the tiny CD's used in the new-fangled Wii's, but hold a sort of nostalgic place to many gamers. The curved, arching design replicates that of the game system itself, making a complete look when the game is inserted.

Diddy Kong Racing was a popular one for many first and second graders such as myself. Each character brought something different to the race--steering ability, speed, and agility being some of the more popular. It's always a competition to see who can select Turtle as their character first as soon as the character selection screen appears. The other three players' performance is undoubtedly affected by this important selection. From this point a variety of courses are offered, one is selected, and the games begin!