Saving a Princess

Dear Luigi,

It’s a me. Tonight marks the end of a long and tortuous journey. For twenty years we have toiled in vain, succumbing to traps and villains that Bowzer has set before us. Countless years we experienced self sacrifice; jumping down grimy sewers, being burned by lava pits, ingesting raw shrooms for life, and falling off ledges. Well tonight, the journey has finally ended!

How many times were we duped, thinking that the next castle in the far off distance was the one that held our beloved princess? At times, the journey was so difficult it felt like an external hand was pushing on towards the goal. It never occurred to me why we did not embark on this journey together but perhaps it is better this way.

As a final word. We are brothers and I know we hold to a strict bro code. How many chances does a short plump Italian plumber have with a princess? I hope you understand. dibs.

Con amore mio fratello,
M
9.22.2010

Saving a Princess
my contribution to the creative process
The first console and game I ever received was the original NES and Super Mario Brothers/Duck Hunt about 20 years ago. My youthful restlessness and being limited to 30 min of game play per week meant I never got really far with a game before I got bored with it. There were better things to do in the house and on the courts.

I once received a “Legends of Zelda” game without the manual from an aunt of mine. She may have bought it second hand. It confused me how my friends could say this game was any fun when all I was doing was wandering around the meadow lands killing creatures and hording rupees. In any case, I played the game for about 2 years on and off before I discovered that the game actually had levels! I was actually supposed to be recovering something called the triforce. With the help of the internet, that was the first console game I ever beat, and that only happened within the last 2 years.

Saving a Princess
The D-pad, select, start, A, and B are just about the maximum number of buttons I can handle on a controller. Just goes to show you what kind of gamer I am.
Saving a Princess
SMB has always been a game I wanted to beat because it’s such an iconic game. I just didn’t have the persistence and patience to do it. When I went home last month, my mom asked me to clear out my room. I figured this might just be time for me to bring it down to SD and put this game behind me. It took a few days and an awful lot of wincing and yelling in frustration but it sure feels good to finally beat a game on my own (no internet help)! The odd sense of accomplishment is so thrilling! Okay, so I only beat levels 1,2,4,and 8 thanks to the warp zones.Still counts.

Maybe I’ll return to the game in another 10 years and beat the remaining levels. Until then, Mario can run off with Peach and live happily ever after.

What was your first console game you ever beat?
http://www.vimeo.com/13118504

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