There are major milestones common to every boy’s childhood. Learning how to ride a bike. Finding out Santa Claus isn’t real. Kissing a girl for the first time. For those of us who spent our cherubic years playing video games, one additional milestone belongs on this itinerary: writing a letter to Nintendo.
Nintendo practically raised me. I dragged my Super Mario backpack everywhere with me when I was in elementary school, watched the Legend of Zelda cartoon when I got home, and begged for Super Nintendo games every birthday and Christmas. It was inevitable that I would eventually try to contact this beneficent absentee father, and in the summer of 1998 I did just that.
As best as I can remember, in my letter I asked Nintendo to produce a sequel to EarthBound, my favourite Super Nintendo game of all time. I then went on a heartfelt diatribe explaining how much I loved the Super Nintendo and hoped many more great games would continue to be released for it even though the N64 had already hit the market.
Here is the response I received. Now that the naïveté of youth has washed away, it’s obvious that much of the letter is a form response. But when I was twelve, receiving a letter from Nintendo was excitement enough in itself.
Thanks for humouring this trip down memory lane. Remember, don’t settle for the next level when you can go light-years beyond.
