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Editorials 
Ramblings of a Tylenol zombie.
- By Neal
Gittens [Associate Editor]
This may end up being a random collection of thoughts, with no apparent rhyme or reason to them, but as I see it, it serves as something, and something makes for a better editorial than nothing. To make matters worse, this entire rambling diatribe is being fueled by extra strength Tylenol (nighttime formula), due to my tonsillectomy a mere 4 days ago. Yes, I am the fool whose medical procedures have caused us to delay the Ninten-debates an extra week. I also figure that our readership consists of Nintendo fans who do not mind waiting a little longer to get a truly superior product, so they will understand. With preliminary goodies out of the way, I’ll now spout off my over-the-counter inspired thoughts on topics that may or may not relate to sports, and I will try to stay as sports oriented as I can. Please bear in mind, they may seem sports related in my head, whether they actually are or not. I am trying to remain true to my particular genre. (Because I would never intentionally stray, as I know that it would be frowned upon by my higher-ups. *cough*Travis*cough*)
The main thing that has struck me (yet again) lately, is what a phenomenal piece of machinery the Gameboy Advance is. I’m not just referring to the hour I spent staring at it while receiving intravenous morphine at the hospital, but how incredibly powerful such a small system can be. If someone had told me in 1992 that I could, ten years from then, carry an SNES in my pocket and then play it anywhere I wanted, I would have laughed heartily in their face, and then returned to watching something on TV that a typical 14 year old watched. (I’ll make a guess and say that it was The Super Mario Brothers Super Show, just for geeky nostalgia’s sake.) Yet, here we are a scant decade later, and we have exactly that. A portable Super Nintendo, complete with a huge catalog of new games and games brought back straight from the golden age of SNES gaming. It just strikes me as incredible, because I can still distinctly remember reading the comic in Nintendo Power that chronicled the storyline of A Link to the Past, and now that game will (is there any doubt?) make its way to a system I can play on the toilet. I’m not sure if the kind of sentimental emotion flowing through me right now is a part of my recovery, or if I’m just odd enough to get all mushy thinking about video games, but I am unusually touched by how wonderfully fast the medium of video games has evolved.
OK, moving beyond the innate wonder of the GBA itself, I see that this wondrous device alone may be enough to sway the course of the latest “console wars”. The connectivity between the GameCube (which, frighteningly, will probably have an equivalent handheld in ten years) and the GBA is by far the most innovative feature found in any of the latest consoles. Forget the hard drive and broadband connection found on that other largish next-gen object, because either of those can be found on any PC manufactured in the last 5 years. (Take a look at yours if you don’t believe me. I’ll bet they’re there. If not, you probably need to upgrade, and quickly.) The multitude of possibilities that this connectivity opens up is mind-boggling. It goes beyond the simple matters of transferring characters and such from one version to another, the way the Transfer Pak worked for the N64. The ability to constantly and actively transfer data between the GBA and the GC allows for communication well beyond the simple abilities of the Transfer Pak. I have had numerous revelations as to how impossibly cool this can be, but I will save them for a later update. Two reasons for this:
1.It gives me a whole different week’s worth of material.
2.I took a nap in the middle of writing this paragraph, and can’t recall all of them right now. Damn you, nighttime formula! Damn you!
If Nintendo can utilize all of the potential features of its latest systems, I have little fear that it can set a new standard for future gaming. Between the GBA/GC connection and such tools as the SD Memory Card (a mini hard drive, only FASTER), the groundwork has been laid for great things to happen. I see the Q-Fund as a great start towards persuading companies to utilize these features in their games. I mean, it even brought Square back on board, for the first time since they made games for that system which has now shrunk down and become the GBA. By accentuating the uniqueness of their systems, Nintendo can show the world exactly what has made them the gaming giant that they are, and remind those who may have fallen out of gaming exactly why it is still great to play games. The potential for greatness is there, now it is up to Nintendo to use it to its fullest, maybe combine it with their incredible franchises, and once again step into the spotlight of the gaming world.
Oh, and Mario Golf may be the greatest game of all time. (Can’t say this column was entirely off the topic of sports, now. Can they?)
Agree with what I'm saying? Disagree? Let us know your thoughts on this issue in our mail bag. The views of Neal Gittens are not necessarily the views of NGenres.com or its affiliates.
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| "The main thing that has struck me (yet again) lately, is what a phenomenal piece of machinery the Gameboy Advance is. I’m not just referring to the hour I spent staring at it while receiving intravenous morphine at the hospital." |
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