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Nintendo Entertainment System, or “The NES” as it was referred to,first garnished my appetite for video games in the fall of 1988. I wasone of the many fortunate souls who came home from Toys R’ Us with theMario/Duck hunt package, complete with an orange zapper gun. It was abig deal, spending over $100 on a toy for a kid. But having no conceptof money I equated the intrinsic value of an NES as something closer tothat of all the birthday presents I ever accrued in my short lifecombined.
Game cartridges quickly became thecurrency of my youth. My friends and I became day traders of sorts,gathering on the playground floor to discuss the importance andavailability of games like Double Dragon. It was a fun game and not many kids owned it, bringing up its value. When Final Fight was released however, Double Dragon nolonger had a hold on the market. Stock prices tumbled. And seeing ashow there was no Internet, we were forced to wait for the monthly issueof Nintendo Power to read in depth analysis of current market trends.Times were slow back in those days.
This riseand fall was common until the summer of ’91 when Nintendo released itsfollow up gaming system. With 16 bit graphics it doubled the renderingpower of the original, truly earning its title of “Super Nintendo.” Itwas the most beautiful piece of machinery I had ever laid eyes on. Theindustrial design was years ahead of its time, replacing sharp pointyedges with beautifully rounded ones. The stark black and red colorscheme was exchanged for gray and shades of purple. Everything was sosubtle, so subdued.
Needless to say, it becamethe must have toy for every kid on the block. I begged my dad to dishout the required $150 in order for me to become part of the video gameelite. But a lot had changed since the release of the NES. As a smallchild, no parent can put a price on your happiness. But as you getolder and start to talk back, that value quickly begins to drop. Myfather now had a price, and it sure as shit wasn’t worth $150.
Beingan immigrant, my father had no concept of being 9 years old in Americaand the importance of keeping up with social standards. He sufferedmany financial hardships growing up so like most fathers, he felt itnecessary for me to do the same.
That beingsaid, he never said I couldn’t get one; He simply wasn’t going to payfor it. He made a simple proposition in order to help me: sell my NESand all the games to raise money so I could buy it myself. This ofcourse was like putting a dagger through my heart. I had spent yearsbuilding and perfecting my collection. Suddenly it became as expendableas my happiness.
But in business terms, itmade perfect sense. The NES was quickly depreciating in value and wouldsoon become obsolete. Little did my father realize he was giving me acrash course in business strategy. Or maybe he did. I suppose I justnever thought of him to be that clever.
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