When Nintendo 64 came out, I thought it was amazing. Remember that idiotic commercial with that guy tagging along with Mario? I wanted an N64...badly. When I got one for Christmas of 96, I was really happy and came with Mario 64. I also remember the school playgrounds (I was in 6th grade) abuzz of Mario 64 and the new Nintendo. PlayStation fans were laughed at, Saturn owners kept their mouths shut about ever owning a Saturn in the first place, and now it was no longer cool to own either an SNES or Genesis. Then Mario Kart 64 came out Valentine's Day. Most guys didn't care about girls back then and were much looking forward to Mario Kart than the dreaded V-Day. I remembered a few kids skipping school (this is still in 6th grade) just to snag and play Mario Kart 64. They might as well, as Valentine's Day was a waste anyway.
I got Mario Kart a week later and enjoyed it. It took me just a couple of weeks to clear Mario (getting all 120 stars) and Mario Kart took just a weekend. As an impressionable youth, I was puzzled. Mario Kart 64 disappointed me and I couldn't get into Mario 64 anymore. I started getting into physical activity again and no longer relied on N64. My hopes for N64 were renewed with Star Fox 64. I thought that game was fucking amazing. Indeed it was. It was short but had high scoring ability so I can recall pulling off these insane scores for this game. I even unlocked the bazookas. Still, with little to play, this game took maybe a month to finish and was eager for more. Nintendo stood and delivered: Goldeneye.
The hype around Goldeneye in my opinion is the biggest of all time. More than Mario 64, more than PlayStation 2, more than Halo 2. It was insane. Everyone and anyone made sure they bought this game. Jocks and nerds alike could converse about what they liked about the game, their favorite weapons, levels, mode of play. Multiplayer became a good hanging out theme. We'd go to a friend's place, play Goldeneye for hours on end, and snack on whatever was there. However people were cheaters. Damn them! Most of them got Game Sharks and unlocked everything. Well, I got the special shit (even the 2nd level 00 Agent one) without a Game Shark.
Then that is where shit happened. More and more, the word "PlayStation" was uttered. Final Fantasy VII wowed us impressionable Junior High Schoolers. Suddenly, Goldeneye was falling out of favor to Tomb Raider, Final Fantasy, Cool Boarders, Crash, and Twisted Metal. See that? Games that came out just for that holiday season alone was about as much as a year of popular N64 buys. I stood by the N64, damn it. I got Diddy Kong Racing and yes, Yoshi's Story. DKR was tits. Porn star tits in fact. Yoshi's Story took me just a day to beat (Saturday I believe) and nobody was there to talk about it. Nothing about DKR too. Now it was "Wow, I was able to get Sweet Tooth on TW3" or some shit like that. I felt alone. The choice would have been to move on and find a better hobby but I was a complete shithead and refused to give up gaming. What few people stuck by the N64 was anxious for Banjo-Kazooie (the unofficial Mario sequel) and of course, Ocarina of Time. N64 was falling out of my peer's minds. Clutching to the console like a starving child with a loaf of bread, I was pissed. I started hating Nintendo. N64 was even made fun of by idiots pretending to be cool. I joined in. God, I suck.
Banjo came out and not a peep was heard. Now it was the children's console. Banjo was hardly the cool game and with Yoshi's Story and DKR, I felt like a Grade-A chode for standing in line for the game along with 6-8 year olds. I was going into 8th grade for fuck sakes. This was where I was supposed to be cool. Voice a cracking and growing an inch a day it seemed, the N64 got boring to me. Once again, replaying the old N64 games could not be done. Nobody even cared about Goldeneye anymore save for a few, the true, the N64 hardcore.
When OOT came out, the people who seemed to have forgotten their N64s were abuzz about it. In a way, OOT was the jolt that N64 needed. From that point on, people were playing Goldeneye more and more. Games like Smash Brothers helped solidify it as those fun multiplayer games. They were fun until High School when beer to N64 controllers were preferred but for the following 1-2 years, Goldeneye again was where it was at. OOT was huge. Like Mario Kart, people skipped out to get it. People who seemed above video games (but were jizzing their pants a year back about Goldeneye) were jonesing for the new Zelda. It was a good time to be a gaming nerd. Nerds and jocks can once again talk about their locations in Zelda. Beating OOT was a good achievement. Fuck school and fuck sports, OOT was where it was at.
From that point on, the only time people cared about N64 was limited only to playing Smash Brothers and Goldeneye until maybe the 9th grade. That was it. Later in 1999, I sold off my Nintendo 64. I no longer was satisfied with it. It was like a good lover who gave it up once a month. I have needs, you know. With the Dreamcast coming up and the (at the time) elusive yet attractive PlayStation 2, N64 just had no room in my heart. I went to another lover (DC) and didn't look back.
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