2022年09月09日
The Gaming Setup of my Dreams
The first time I went to Hard Off, my jaw hit the floor- I couldn't believe my eyes! There before me was a wall of secondhand gaming consoles, and never before had the phrase "one man's trash is another man's treasure" rang so true. In my house growing up, we were a Nintendo family. My sisters and I would always gather around the n64 to watch our dad battle against the wicked Ganondorf as he worked to save Hyrule, fight for the coveted 4 spots of Mario Party, beat the crap out of each other in Super Smash bros, and religiously set 30 minute timers all day long on Saturdays so we could each get our fair share of time playing Harvest Moon.
With five girls and four controllers, it always gave us an opportunity to practice the vital skillsets of compromising, negotiating, deceiving, extorting, and downright threatening each other for the privilege of being player number 4. It's no wonder that when I was about 11, my mom got rid of our beloved Nintendo 64- which was sad, but at least we still had the Gamecube and Wii to keep us company. Even after all this time, when my sisters and I are able to get together, we pull out Mario Party 2 (the best one), press start, and laugh our guts out at all the madness that ensues.
Buying Nintendo 64s and Gamecubes back home is very difficult to do, and therefore, very expensive. It can cost up to a couple hundred dollars per console. The copy of Mario Party 2 that my sister bought was $35-40 bucks-It's just hard to find them. So when I saw a Gamecube on sale for 5,500 yen, I knew it would come home with me sooner or later. I called my sister Kristina to tell her about my finds and she told me to go back there and buy a console for her immediately. I told her I couldn't afford it at the moment, and she told me she'd pay me right then and there- she'd even pay for the ATM fee. I have a feeling I'm going to come home for Christmas with a suitcase full of n64s....
First thing's first: I needed a setup. I headed out to the Hard Off in Shikoku Chuo, as I was told that it's the best one, and went hunting for a tv. After scouring the junk section, I found the perfect one. The worker who helped me load it up and get it out to my car was very kind and went out of her way to make sure I knew that it might not work, even though the language barrier did not make it easy. I had my fingers crossed- and hey, if it didn't, it was only 20 bucks. I grabbed myself a tv stand for even cheaper somehow and headed back to Niihama. Carrying them up four flights of stairs made me feel like I could do anything- but it mostly made me wish my complex had an elevator.
The next morning I headed to the local Hard Off, ready to empty my wallet. I'm sure the checkout staff thought I was insane for blowing so much money on such frivolous things, but it had to be done. I grabbed an n64, a Gamecube, several fun colored controllers, and a bunch of nostalgic games that I was excited to finally own for myself. I ran back home, quickly set it all up, turned the tv on....and magic. It worked! The only thing left to do...is learn how to read it all
In the meantime, I've been playing Animal Crossing a few times a week in an effort to make my Japanese learning more fun. However, I can only play for about a half an hour before my brain turns to mush....
With five girls and four controllers, it always gave us an opportunity to practice the vital skillsets of compromising, negotiating, deceiving, extorting, and downright threatening each other for the privilege of being player number 4. It's no wonder that when I was about 11, my mom got rid of our beloved Nintendo 64- which was sad, but at least we still had the Gamecube and Wii to keep us company. Even after all this time, when my sisters and I are able to get together, we pull out Mario Party 2 (the best one), press start, and laugh our guts out at all the madness that ensues.
Buying Nintendo 64s and Gamecubes back home is very difficult to do, and therefore, very expensive. It can cost up to a couple hundred dollars per console. The copy of Mario Party 2 that my sister bought was $35-40 bucks-It's just hard to find them. So when I saw a Gamecube on sale for 5,500 yen, I knew it would come home with me sooner or later. I called my sister Kristina to tell her about my finds and she told me to go back there and buy a console for her immediately. I told her I couldn't afford it at the moment, and she told me she'd pay me right then and there- she'd even pay for the ATM fee. I have a feeling I'm going to come home for Christmas with a suitcase full of n64s....
First thing's first: I needed a setup. I headed out to the Hard Off in Shikoku Chuo, as I was told that it's the best one, and went hunting for a tv. After scouring the junk section, I found the perfect one. The worker who helped me load it up and get it out to my car was very kind and went out of her way to make sure I knew that it might not work, even though the language barrier did not make it easy. I had my fingers crossed- and hey, if it didn't, it was only 20 bucks. I grabbed myself a tv stand for even cheaper somehow and headed back to Niihama. Carrying them up four flights of stairs made me feel like I could do anything- but it mostly made me wish my complex had an elevator.
The next morning I headed to the local Hard Off, ready to empty my wallet. I'm sure the checkout staff thought I was insane for blowing so much money on such frivolous things, but it had to be done. I grabbed an n64, a Gamecube, several fun colored controllers, and a bunch of nostalgic games that I was excited to finally own for myself. I ran back home, quickly set it all up, turned the tv on....and magic. It worked! The only thing left to do...is learn how to read it all
In the meantime, I've been playing Animal Crossing a few times a week in an effort to make my Japanese learning more fun. However, I can only play for about a half an hour before my brain turns to mush....
