Jeffrey Luppino-Esposito EDITOR

I am not the owner of a Wii, but I may as well be. For the last decade I have been ducking under Link's fiercest villains, swinging my controller in All Star Baseball 98, and literally steering my way around Toad's Turnpike (especially when I decided to get crazy and access the backwards 'extra' mode with the trucks coming at me). Though these games didn't feature the intensely fantastic abilities of the Wii, and most of my flailing usually just confirmed my status as a social misfit, I am not alone in my love for these instant 'classics.' Just minutes ago when our N64 was plugged into my 19-inch TV (which needed a converter box from Radioshack because it doesn't have the red/white/yellow cables), the whole apartment flocked to the mediocre graphics and the simple gameplay. Though we explored this in a previous cultural conclusion based on some revealing poll results, I regret not expanding more on the legend that was Nintendo's early reign. So come join me now on my quest for Peach's castle.

As I dump out all the 90s items that I've yet to hang up in my dorm room (you'll get a video reenactment of this in the near future when it happens), the awkwardly shaped N64 controller and the ultra-durable super nintendo system bring tears of joy to my eyes... or maybe it's all the dust, who knows. Either way, I can't help but reminisce, and come on, you know you want to as well. Though our poll results that day proved that our fans were obsessed with the Nintendo series, there was nearly a perfect split between their love of Super Nintendo and N64.

This didn't necessarily surprise me. After a few weeks of analysis, I think the safe decision is actually the N64 over the Super Nintendo. Yes, SNES kicked ass, Street Fighter was ridiculously cool, and Donkey Country was way ahead of its time in 32 bit graphics. But when it comes down to it, you and I both know that you had a way better collection of N64 games, and you played it much more consciously than you played your SNES. Seriously, go look at your old Super Nintendo games, I bet you have Lion King, and you're a little embarrassed. Don't pretend you played the original Mario Kart that had no railings on Rainbow Road, you never would've beaten that, you were five years old.

Unfortunately, I actually voted Super Nintendo at first. It's my obvious initial reaction to value the older system over a newer one, regardless of how much enjoyment I actually got out of playing it (or KNEW that I got out of playing it). Although this is a short post, I found it necessary because it teaches us a valuable lesson here at PopSense. Often we are obsessed with an older era, one that seems more pure, more natural (yes, video games can be natural). And in doing so we forget the actual worth of things because we get so caught up in their retro-ness. Most of you an relate to this idea in film-- "Yes, Dad, I'm SURE it's a classic... it's just boring as hell now."

Don't get me wrong, Super Nintendo was incredible. This is just my way of vindicating myself for voting against my true inner child. Thanks for letting me talk about this, PopSense loves you.