We all remember the first games we got as children, whether it be on Atari, SNES, N64, these were the first stepping stones on our pathway to becoming gamers. There has been such great advances in the gaming industry to bring us cutting edge graphics, realistic simulations of real world activities, or just something that we can dedicate a vast amount of time to. What the gaming industry lacks now is the togetherness that the older generations of consoles brought with them. Sure, we can have hundreds of friends online from all over the world, but nothing compares to sitting on a couch with your best friends.

I was lucky enough as a kid to be given a Nintendo 64 with an assortment of games. There are so many memories attached to this console. I remember the joy I felt when I finally beat my best time on Mario Kart, or when I finally unlocked Captain Falcon for Super Smash Bros. What never ceases to amaze me is the timelessness of these games. These games are still as much fun as they were 10 years ago. Sure I could hop on my Xbox and play around with some of the newer games released, but why would I sacrifice the sheer feeling of nostalgia that comes with plugging in my AV Cables and blowing the dust out of all my old cartridges?

My friends from high school and I cannot help but break out the Nintendo 64 whenever we are all home for Christmas Break, Thanksgiving Break, etc. The distance we are from each other due to our choices for further education means nothing when we are together. We can sit for hours playing Mario Kart without growing tired of the polygonal graphics or limited courses. We'll yell and scream at each other when someone gets the dreaded blue shell (which automatically goes after whoever is in first place), but we couldn't be happier. We'd rather play games together in the same room instead of several miles away when we can.

That is one thing that current video game consoles are slowly getting rid of, split screen play. With many games today limiting cooperative and competitive play to a strictly online basis, we are losing the thing that made us want to play video games in the first place, the togetherness. I may continue to buy the newest console or the newest games, but I will never forget where I began. I guarantee that even ten years from now, I will still be busting out the N64 whenever my friends are around. That is where many of us began, and nothing can replace the memories that have been made from sitting down on the couch, plugging in the wired controllers, and flipping that tiny little switch on the console, nothing.