Category: Game Development (page 1 of 1)

“And I heard your voice as clear as day. And you told me I should concentrate. It was all so strange and so surreal that a ghost should be so practical.”

— “Only If For A Night”, Florence + The Machine

My sixth birthday was the best one of my life. I woke up and darted downstairs. A pile of gifts sat in the living room, but my attention was drawn to the largest one. My mom was making breakfast in the kitchen. I asked her if I could open my presents. She relented. My fingers tore into the blue wrapping paper, but I already suspected what they would find. Inside was a Nintendo 64, my first video game console. Soon after, I discovered a copy of Super Mario 64.

My dad connected the console to the TV. The rest of the morning was spent throwing King Bob-omb off the mountaintop and racing Koopa the Quick. I had played video games at friends’ houses before, but this was the first experience that was my own. The three-handled controller felt strange in my hands, but soon that foreign feeling would disappear, never to return.

Soon enough though, I had to set the game aside. My parents were taking me to Celebration Station. We spent the afternoon racing go-karts, eating pizza, and playing mini-golf. No day could have been better, but I was not disappointed when we reached the end. Super Mario 64 was waiting.

Yet when we returned home, I made a grave mistake. Rather than continuing where I left off, I cleared my save data and started over. Recovering the first two stars again would serve as a warmup before I jumped into unexplored territory. While I did not know it then, I had been cursed with a terrible fate.