Nintendo

It’s hard to deny that video games shaped my childhood. But most of my life until middle school was spent playing second-hand games on intensively used consoles. With the zeitgeist surrounding the Wii prior to its release slowly mounting, I begged and pleaded with my father for months to get my hands on one come the fateful day of the product launch.

At first, he remained firm. But as the excitement continued to build and the lofty rumors of Nintendo’s futuristic new console conjured grander and grander images in the eyes of children, teens, and adults alike, my pleas turned into begs and eventually full-throated tirades. If my memory serves correctly, I may have even delivered him a PowerPoint presentation as I grew increasingly desperate.

“Exhibit A of why I deserve a Wii in advance of my eleventh birthday,” I explained with a pilfered teacher’s pointer and projector. Colorful images of video game characters appeared on a whiteboard I’d shoddily installed in our living room as a prop of persuasion.