A Little Background

In The Beginning

In the winter of 1998 I was 6 years old and Christmas brought me a gift that would change my life forever. A brand new Gameboy Color along with one of the many forgettable games for the system. I would play the system for a few weeks and drop it just like any other child with the attention span of a goldfish. That was of course until March of 1999 when my parents bought me Pokémon Red Version. The game would become my unofficial babysitter for long car rides and cost my parents more money than I can imagine in AA batteries. I wanted to catch them all, and I could only do that in one place. Nintendo had just won over a customer for life.

Even in 1996 Nintendo understood the importance of their IP’s. With a super Nintendo already in my home for my older brother Mario,Zelda and Donkey Kong were household names. At the time Zelda was too difficult for my liking so I stuck with what I knew best. Collecting them all as Pokemon Gold and Silver came in arguably better than the first games. Handheld still had a chokehold on my heart until once again Santa brought me a box of happiness in the form of a cube.

At this time most households including mine had a PS2. Everyone had GTA which I did enjoy along with several other titles but the DVD player made it a “game changing device” (pun intended). What Nintendo continued to do however was make games worth playing. Every weekend was a Super Smash Melee tournament with friends and computers. Mario Kart double dash had the unique new was to race with a friend in the back of the kart, and for those of us who loved to grind Phantasy Star episode 1&2 online became the place to spend any available hour grinding your character alone so when you met up with your friend you could show off all the legendary weapons you found. The game cube era was special for me although it struggled in sales compared to the PS2 and newcomer Microsoft’s Xbox, it still had its IPs. Even when I wanted another system they didn’t have Pokemon. And if I could only have one system growing up. It was going to be able to play Pokemon.

It was the WII’s turn next to shine and as a big Nintendo fan by this point. I never owned the system. I had a DS I rarely played but high school had changed my interest. I became a gear head focused on girls instead of video games and stayed so busy I never had the time to enjoy a video game let alone validate spending the money on a new console. I didn’t know that I ever would own a new console as the games had gotten very intricate and I was falling behind and to intimidated to jump back in. That is of course until I found out I needed to have ear surgery and would be out for work for 2 weeks. This was months after the Nintendo Switch announcement so on my last day of work I drove straight to Meijer (the same one my father bought Pokemon gold version for me so many years ago) and I bought the Switch my first new system in a decade.

As advanced as the Switch was compared to my GameCube (Which I still have) and my DS the system became a glorified Pokémon system once again. However after a few year into its life cycle I started traveling full time for work. Rocket league and Mario rabbids became my new obsessions. As someone who was never a big Mario fan, Mario + rabbids was game changing I couldn’t get enough. I loved the ability to be able to play my games on a plane with no internet issues. I always had a spare battery and could always do another run of Pokémon. At home I started to dock the system about 5 years into owning it as my now wife would play Mario party and Mario kart with me starting during a big snowstorm in 2021. That weekend alone will always be a core memory with my switch. Although I loved the system it was years behind it’s competition. There was not much online play or coop games I could play with friends as they were playing GTA 5 or whichever new COD that released. So again my love for gaming started to dwindle. In 2025 I learned the switch 2 was coming out and I was ready for some updated hardware and a place to be able to play with friends once again. So as a final send off I finally picked up and played what many consider to be one of the greatest games of al time. I had 4 months before the switch 2 released and I was heading to Hyrule.

Breath of the Wild changed everything for me. For the better part of two months it was all I could think about. I would take my switch on every work trip playing throughout the evening and nights in hotels. Every plane ride became sad efforts to speed run each different shrine. Not only was I spending most of my travel time playing but I had finally dusted off the old dock and set it up in my bedroom so I could play each night as my wife generally falls asleep an hour or two before I do. I was planning days just to cook meals, trying to learn how to defeat the at the time impossible lynel’s. Stealing horses and raising them to bolster my stables and chasing the hearts needed to finally pull the all elusive Master sword. For the first time in 30 years I had finally saved the princess and remembered what it was like to be sucked into a game all over again. As I looked back and remember I went 8 years with only one system and that system did me proud. It completely changed the game when it came to portability and couch coop in one system. So of course June 4th I waited in line with my wife and some snacks at midnight to secure my Switch 2 opening night.

I was immediately hooked like never before. With being years behind on other systems that first night was my first time playing Cyberpunk 2077 and I never slept. The game as many of you know is incredible as it is, but I finally was able to play intensive AAA games wherever I desired. Not only were the single player games incredible I managed to pick up Split Fiction (sadly the day I learned what code in box meant). After getting my wife to agree to try it out with me we spent the next week every night after work trying over and over to solve each puzzle and beat every level. I really felt like the game brought us closer and I instantly knew what this system was going to mean not only to me and my family but for the future of Nintendo as well.

In December of 2025 my wife was hospitalized and had our first son early…. Four months too early. Born at 1.5lbs we were in for an extended stay in the NICU. With the emotional struggle and long nights taking turns in shifts I turned to the Switch 2. I started playing all of the great games that were out for the switch but everyone said couldn’t handle. Witcher 3 was first up playing 65 hours from the end of December to the middle of January followed closely by Skyrim (yes I may have been the only person on the planet who hadn’t played it yet). Next up was the AAA proof we all waited for that Nintendo could ball. Resident evil 9 delivered everything and more to the system with me admittedly having to turn it off some nights and switch to a happier game. Only Nintendo could put out a game like Pokopia at the same time of one of the scariest franchises of all time and it was a perfect balance. Life in Pokopia made me think about everything around me a little less and look at it in a more positive light. Less than a year in and I likely had as many hours in my Switch 2 as I had in 8 years in my OG Switch. The only thing missing was a coop shooter which is always promised and never delivers on Nintendo. Again I am proved wrong as Deadzone rogue was released on the switch 2. Living an hour from home due to our situation a friend from home had also purchased the game and next thing I knew we were actually using gamechat. I was playing an online shooter again like my post high school days of modern warfare and Destiny. We were having Mario Party nights with friends we could not see due to us needing to quarantine for our son, and once it was time to travel for work again I finally purchased Tears of The Kingdom for those long lonely nights. The Switch 2 has hit on all promised aspects and while it may never sell more than its predecessor I truly believe it can become the greatest system Nintendo has ever released. Only time will tell, until then I will be enjoying all Nintendo has to offer.