Video

Nintendo helped me associate games with fun because of the ablility to control another character. The situation my family and I were living in was not bad, but is still below average income. It never occured to me that we were in money situations because I owned a Nintendo. My dad is a painter, he made a decent wage, enough to get our family by for the month and a little left over for fun. My mom was very strict on what time and where she would meet my sister and I to come pick us up after school. This meant that I could not go over to any friend’s house, or have any friends over. So, to remedy this problem, Dad bought a Nintendo. I remember talking to other people, but I never thought that I had to have friends. Mom was also very picky on who I was allowed to talk to. I was not allowed to talk to older people, nor talk until I was spoken to. This seemed fine to me, because mom told me that I was going to school to learn. I honestly do not remember anything as vividly as the Nintendo when I was that old. I only remember Super Mario Bros.,Duck Hunt, and that Track and Field game, but other than that, it is all a blur. I do not remember much until I was eight.

It was one fateful day, that dad took our family to Target. I remember passing the school supply isle, then the food isle, finally to the electronics isle. There it was. The SUPER Nintendo Entertainment System. I remember my first SNES game like the back of my hand. It was Donkey Kong Country. I remember the smell of the packaging, the plastic, the paper. That smell of brand new brought joy to my life. Happiness did have a smell, and it was opening up a SNES. I remember this Nintendo so well, because of the family outings we had, as well as meeting new people. About every other Saturday, our family would go to a flea market just to browse and buy random objects. I knew every time we would go to the flea market, it meant a new SNES game. I remember Donkey Kong Country 2 and 3, Aero the Acrobat, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Kirby’s Dream Course, Kirby’s Avalanche, Street Fighter 1 and 2, Super Mario World, and Mario Kart. I thought I had finished most of the games, but some were too hard for me to have finished back then. By this time, our family had moved out of the apartment to another place. Weh were living in a motel room for a while. Dad worked out a deal with the owner to let us stay there and charge us by the week instead of by day and the number of people. I feel ashamed of myself because I had no idea what was going on with the living situation. I was completely oblivious to everything. I a did was play Nintendo all day, Dad comes home late from work, we eat as a family, and then we fall asleep. Fortunately, this living situation did not last very long. There would be a turn for the better.

One event led to another and our family was off to Oregon. Dad needed a new job for a while, so one of my mom’s cousins got him a temporary job all the way in Oregon. I remember this being my second time to Oregon. I do not remember why we went to Oregon the first time, but this time, we left to find a better living situation. After arriving in Stanfield, Oregon, we found a townhouse that was a few blocks away from the school. I remember having my own room, my parents having their own room, and my sister having her own room. Our stay at Oregon was wonderful. I remember taking family walks down by the post office, past the school, and under a bridge. I remember the snowy winter. It was my first time seeing snow fall. Mom and dad said I can only go outside for five minuets. I just liked looking at the snow. I was the new kid at school, and for the first time, I remember actually talking to people. I can only remember two names and I think I remember a third. The first person I remember is Daisy. It was the first time I played with a girl. We played basketball. There was a popular basketball game called Bump. People formed two lines. One line was a team, and the other was also a team. The object of the games was to make a basket, and pass the ball to the next person in line. Two people have to make a basket to eliminate one person. In order to have time to eliminate one person, the players are allowed to smash the ball out of the opponents hands and sabatoge the other person. Of course, being fourth graders and boys, we got carried away. We would kick the ball as far as possible, when both the basketballs fell, we would lie and say that the closest one was ours. We would even “roof” the balls so that the other players would end up losing. We were all sore losers!I met Antonio, who also happened to have a SNES. The funny thing about this new friendship is that we hated each other so much, that we would rip each other’s papers. Then I mentioned Super Nintendo, and it was a switch turning the other way. My parents got to know his parents and Antonio would bring his SNES games. I clearly remember playing Street Fighter 2 with him, as well as borrowing Aladdin for a week. I find the situation funny because mortal enemies come together to play video games.

The next phase of my life was in the fourth grade. My dad got back into the painting business and we moved all the way to Pomona, California. At this moment of my life, I began to realize that if I play video games, not only will I have fun, but I get to meet new people. Before I received a special gift from a teacher, there was something really awesome going on in every fourth graders minds. Pokémon. Pokémon was extremely popular during the fourth grade year. There were cards, television shows, toys, and other assortments revolving around Pokémon. I still remember my very first Pokémon card when my parents took me to the flea market. It was a Sandshrew. Pretty soon, I started to build a card collection of my own. I would get starter decks, and booster packs, as well as individual cards from folders. I was becoming a Pokémanic! While that was going on, one of my school tutors by the name of Scott started listening to my fascination about video games. I learned from him that there was a Nintendo 64 out. I never seemed to be informed about anything video game wise until someone else told me. One day, he came to pick me and my sister up to go to school. He was also carrying a paper bag. It was stapled shut so there was no way to know what was inside. He told my sister and I that we are not to open the bag until we got back from school. I remember pestering Scott all day to get him to tell me what was inside. To my distress, he didn’t say a word about it. So after an agonizing day at school, I rushed home to open the bag. Scott gave me his own Nintendo 64 as a gift for me. I am proud to say that I still am in possession of that Nintendo, and will never sell or give it away. I remember bursting into tears that afternoon.

I saw Scott the next day and literally thanked him all day long. The bag also had a few games. It had Super Mario 64, and Mario Kart 64. Unfortunately I do not possess those games now, but the memory is still vivid. I remember getting blisters from the analog stick. It was very new to me compared to a D-Pad that the NES and the SNES had. I also remember being frustrated because Mario would not go the direction I made him go. I remember first time I cursed at a video game. Eventually, I would go on to purchase more games, like Banjo-Kazooie, Yoshi’s Story, Super Smash Bros., Kirby and the Crystal Shards, and numerous others. It was also around this time, that the Game Boy Color Bundle was released. The Game Boy Color was a Pikachu edition, so it came with Pokémon Yellow, the new Pokémon game. I was already aware that Pokémon Red and Blue were out, but my parents couldn’t buy that for me then. Armed with the Nintendo 64 and the Game Boy Color, I felt like I was in heaven.

Pokémon Yellow would take up most of my time from the fourth grade all the way until the beginning of fifth grade. The game is a very cool concept and still is. The player starts of as a trainer in a small town to begin an epic journey to defeat the Elite Four. In order for the trainer to be able to face the Elite Four, the player must collect eight gym badges from around Kanto. Kanto is the setting for Red, Blue, and Yellow. The player catches and trains as many Pokémon as they like, but can only carry six at a time. The rest are stored in a PC. I remember being very excited to start my journey in the land of Kanto. It felt really nice to pretend that I was in the game and was catching all those Pokémon and traveling. Our family was always moving from place to place, so I already had an adventurous mentality.

Our family was going through tough times economically and not having a real home. I remember us staying in a homeless shelter because we could not find a home. My dad would drive us late at night to the shelter so we could spend the night in a warm bed. I remember the cold mornings around six; a guy would come in and wake all the people up to go to breakfast. I remember the little boxes of cereal, the donuts, and the smell of coffee. Since no one can stay in the rooms until dark, Dad would leave my mom, my sister and I at a park all day during the summer. He would leave to go to work. I remember there was a giant airplane made out of concrete for kids to climb. When Dad got his paycheck, we would stay at a motel for a week and eat sandwiches. Back then, I thought we had lots of houses. Now that I am older and can process situations, I start to think backwards. The only reason I was oblivious to all these problems was because of my parents always making sure I never needed anything. I was never hungry because my parents made sure my sister and I had a hot meal for dinner. I was never cold at night because my parents made sure we always had a place to spend the night. I was never sad because Dad would buy my sister and me happiness. To me, happiness was in the form of Nintendo. Nintendo for some people is a toy, a form of entertainment a childish pastime, a waste of money. To me, Nintendo represents my childhood. Nintendo took me to worlds where I could help Mario save Princess Peach, where I could help Yoshi rescue all of his brothers and sister, where I could be oblivious to the hardships of my parents. It is because of Nintendo and my parents, that I am who I am. I now value all the sacrifices that my parents went through, all those hard times. Back then, I would have never thought this deep into the actions of my parents. I also would have never associated Nintendo with my childhood. Nintendo has a deeper, more personal meaning to me. It is my parents and my childhood memories.

Our individual responsibility in the media is to be well-informed and to always research the facts. It is truth that some news networks are extremely bias either to the left or the right, political wise, as well as censoring certain news stories. It is our job to find the truth, either by doing research or by finding a reliable news station. After watching this movie, I learned that there are many organizations that are similar to the WTO in terms of doing bad things to get the job done.

This place I pass by every morning on the way to the music department.  Seeing that waterfall every morning cleanses my mind and refreshes me for another day of work.

In a scene in the second chapter, Winston and D. reveal to the reader that the books they are carrying are being tracked.  The school already got into trouble for putting locating devices on the students, but the school found a loophole and started tracking the books which the students carry.  Winston also reveals that his group of friends discovered a way to stop the tracking device without damaging the book.  They microwave the book for a minuet and fry the device.  That is very clever and original.  This means that even if the school finds loopholes in the law, they will always find a way to control their students.  This also means that the students will find a way to avoid all the surveillance at school.

            Nintendo helped me associate games with fun because of the ablility to control another character.  The situation my family and I were living in was not bad, but is still below average income.  It never occured to me that we were in money situations because I owned a Nintendo.  My dad is a painter, he made a decent wage, enough to  get our family by for the month and a little left over for fun.  My mom was very strict on what time and where she would meet my sister and I to come pick us up after school.  This meant that I could not go over to any friend’s house, or have any friends over.  So, to remedy this problem, Dad bought a Nintendo.  I remember talking to other people, but I never thought that I had to have friends.  Mom was also very picky on who I was allowed to talk to.  I was not allowed to talk to older people, nor talk until I was spoken to.  This seemed fine to me, because mom told me that I was going to school to learn.  I honestly do not remember anything as vividly as the Nintendo when I was that old.  I only remember Super Mario Bros.,Duck Hunt, and that Track and Field game, but other than that, it is all a blur.  I do not remember much until I was eight.

            It was one fateful day, that dad took our family to Target.  I remember passing the school supply isle, then the food isle, finally to the electronics isle.  There it was.  The SUPER Nintendo Entertainment System.  I remember my first SNES game like the back of my hand.  It was Donkey Kong Country.  I remember the smell of the packaging, the plastic, the paper.  That smell of brand new brought joy to my life.  Happiness did have a smell, and it was opening up a SNES.  I remember this Nintendo so well, because of the family outings we had, as well as meeting new people.  About every other Saturday, our family would go to a flea market just to browse and buy random objects.  I knew every time we would go to the flea market, it meant a new SNES game.  I remember Donkey Kong Country 2 and 3, Aero the Acrobat, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Kirby’s Dream Course, Kirby’s Avalanche, Street Fighter 1 and 2, Super Mario World, and Mario Kart.  I thought I had finished most of the games, but some were too hard for me to have finished back then.  By this time, our family had moved out of the apartment to another place.  Weh were living in a motel room for a while.  Dad worked out a deal with the owner to let us stay there and charge us by the week instead of by day and the number of people.  I feel  ashamed of myself because I had no idea what was going on with the living situation.  I was completely oblivious to everything.  I a did was play Nintendo all day, Dad comes home late from work, we eat as a family, and then we fall asleep.  Fortunately, this living situation did not last very long.  There would be a turn for the better.

            One  event led to another and our family was off to Oregon.  Dad needed a new job for a while, so one of my mom’s cousins got him a temporary job all the way in Oregon.  I remember this being my second time to Oregon.  I do not remember why we went to Oregon the first time, but this time, we left to find a better living situation.  After arriving in Stanfield, Oregon, we found a townhouse that was a few blocks away from the school.  I remember having my own room, my parents having their own room, and my sister having her own room.  Our stay at Oregon was wonderful.  I remember taking family walks down by the post office, past the school, and under a bridge.  I remember the snowy winter.  It was my first time seeing snow fall.  Mom and dad said I can only go outside for five minuets.  I just liked looking at the snow.  I was the new kid at school, and for the first time, I remember me actually talking to people.  I can only remember two names and I think I remember a third.  The first person I remember is Daisy.  It was the first time I played with a girl.  We played basketball.  There was a popular basketball game called Bump.  People formed two lines.   One line was a team, and the other was also a team.  The object of the games was to make a basket, and pass the ball to the next person in line.  Two people have to make a basket to eliminate one person.  In order to have time to eliminate one person, the players are allowed to smash the ball out of the opponents hands and sabatoge the other person.  Of course, being fourth graders and boys, we got carried away.  We would kick the ball as far as possible, when both the basketballs fell, we would lie and say that the closest one was ours.  We would even “roof” the balls so that the other players would end up losing.  We were all sore losers!I met Antonio, who also happened to have a SNES.  The funny thing about this new friendship is that we hated each other so much, that we would rip each other’s papers.  Then I mentioned Super Nintendo, and it was a switch turning the other way.  My parents got to know his parents and Antonio would bring his SNES games.  I clearly remember playing Street Fighter 2 with him, as well as borrowing Aladdin for a week.  I find the situation funny because mortal enemies come together to play video games.

            The next phase of my life was in the fourth grade.  My dad got back into the painting business and we moved all the way to Pomona, California.  At this moment of my life, I began to realize that if I play video games, not only will I have fun, but I get to meet new people.  Before I received a special gift from a teacher, there was something really awesome going on in every fourth graders minds.  Pokémon.  Pokémon was extremely popular during the fourth grade year.  There were cards, television shows, toys, and other assortments revolving around Pokémon.  I still remember my very first Pokémon card when my parents took me to the flea market.  It was a Sandshrew.  Pretty soon, I started to build a card collection of my own.  I would get starter decks, and booster packs, as well as individual cards from folders.  I was becoming a Pokémanic!  While that was going on, one of my school tutors by the name of Scott started listening to my fascination about video games.  I learned from him that there was a Nintendo 64 out.  I never seemed to be informed about anything video game wise until someone else told me.  One day, he came to pick me and my sister up to go to school.  He was also carrying a paper bag.  It was stapled shut so there was no way to know what was inside.  He told my sister and I that we are not to open the bag until we got back from school.  I remember pestering Scott all day to get him to tell me what was inside.  To my distress, he didn’t say a word about it.  So after an agonizing day at school, I rushed home to open the bag.  Scott gave me his own Nintendo 64 as a gift for me.  I am proud to say that I still am in possession of that Nintendo, and will never sell or give it away.  I remember bursting into tears that afternoon.

            I saw Scott the next day and literally thanked him all day long.  The bag also had a few games.  It had Super Mario 64, and Mario Kart 64.  Unfortunately I do not possess those games now, but the memory is still vivid.  I remember getting blisters from the analog stick.  It was very new to me compared to a D-Pad that the NES and the SNES had.  I also remember being frustrated because Mario would not go the direction I made him go.  I remember first time I cursed at a video game.  Eventually, I would go on to purchase more games, like Banjo-Kazooie, Yoshi’s Story, Super Smash Bros., Kirby and the Crystal Shards, and numerous others.  It was also around this time, that the Game Boy Color Bundle was released.  The Game Boy Color was a Pikachu edition, so it came with Pokémon Yellow, the new Pokémon game.  I was already aware that Pokémon Red and Blue were out, but my parents couldn’t buy that for me then.  Armed with the Nintendo 64 and the Game Boy Color, I felt like I was in heaven.

            Pokémon Yellow would take up most of my time from the fourth grade all the way until the beginning of fifth grade.  The game is a very cool concept and still is.  The player starts of as a trainer in a small town to begin an epic journey to defeat the Elite Four.  In order for the trainer to be able to face the Elite Four, the player must collect eight gym badges from around Kanto.  Kanto is the setting for Red, Blue, and Yellow.  The player catches and trains as many Pokémon as they like, but can only carry six at a time.  The rest are stored in a PC.  I remember being very excited to start my journey in the land of Kanto.  It felt really nice to pretend that I was in the game and was catching all those Pokémon and traveling. Our family was always moving from place to place, so I already had an adventurous mentality. 

Our family was going through tough times economically and not having a real home.  I remember us staying in a homeless shelter because we could not find a home.  My dad would drive us late at night to the shelter so we could spend the night in a warm bed.  I remember the cold mornings around six; a guy would come in and wake all the people up to go to breakfast.  I remember the little boxes of cereal, the donuts, and the smell of coffee.  Since no one can stay in the rooms until dark, Dad would leave my mom, my sister and I at a park all day during the summer.  He would leave to go to work.  I remember there was a giant airplane made out of concrete for kids to climb.  When Dad got his paycheck, we would stay at a motel for a week and eat sandwiches.  Back then, I thought we had lots of houses.  Now that I am older and can process situations, I start to think backwards.  The only reason I was oblivious to all these problems was because of my parents always making sure I never needed anything.  I was never hungry because my parents made sure my sister and I had a hot meal for dinner.  I was never cold at night because my parents made sure we always had a place to spend the night.  I was never sad because Dad would buy my sister and me happiness.  To me, happiness was in the form of Nintendo.  Nintendo for some people is a toy, a form of entertainment a childish pastime, a waste of money.  To me, Nintendo represents my childhood.  Nintendo took me to worlds where I could help Mario save Princess Peach, where I could help Yoshi rescue all of his brothers and sister, where I could be oblivious to the hardships of my parents.  It is because of Nintendo and my parents, that I am who I am.  I now value all the sacrifices that my parents went through, all those hard times.  Back then, I would have never thought this deep into the actions of my parents.  I also would have never associated Nintendo with my childhood.  Nintendo has a deeper, more personal meaning to me.  It is my parents and my childhood memories.

The internet also brings many forms of technology, such as e mail and search engines.  E mail is a very important form of technology for me because I am able to receive news from anyone that I give my e mail address to.  This includes my professors as well as people who I know that need to remind me of a meeting of some sort.  These e mails contain vital information regarding school or some event in which I must be part of.  I also use technology as a form of entertainment in the form of video games.

After a week of hard work, I usually find time to have fun playing games.  Not only do I forget about another week that is about to come, but I am also distracted and able to just enjoy the weekend.  Most of my memories of the past have some sort of connection towards video games.  When I was little, my parents would buy me games in order for me to behave and be a good student.  I was only allowed to play games after I finished my homework and other things that are important.

After listening to the song Do You Want To Date My Avatar, I am very confused, as well as amazed.  I think it is very weird to date someone one can’t see, let alone a fictional character.  I think because of the time we live in, it is really hard to meet a person that isn’t obsessed with phones, Myspace, or anything that requires people to not meet in person.  I believe that people are becoming anti-social or even scared of meeting someone new in person because they don’t have the security that an on line account provides.  What ever happened to just hanging out in a park, or just a walk around the block.  It is all IMing and texting that is becoming really annoying.  Back to what video games are for, I think that video games should be used for entertaining a person or a group of people.