Nintendo Entertainment System, or “The NES” as it was referred to, first garnished my appetite for video games in the fall of 1988. I was one of the many fortunate souls who came home from Toys R’ Us with the Mario/Duck hunt package, complete with an orange zapper gun. It was a big deal, spending over $100 on a toy for a kid. But having no concept of money I equated the intrinsic value of an NES as something closer to that of all the birthday presents I ever accrued in my short life combined.
Game cartridges quickly became the currency of my youth. My friends and I became day traders of sorts, gathering on the playground floor to discuss the importance and availability 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 no longer had a hold on the market. Stock prices tumbled. And seeing as how there was no Internet, we were forced to wait for the monthly issue of Nintendo Power to read in depth analysis of current market trends. Times were slow back in those days.
This rise and fall was common until the summer of ’91 when Nintendo released its follow up gaming system. With 16 bit graphics it doubled the rendering power of the original, truly earning its title of “Super Nintendo.” It was the most beautiful piece of machinery I had ever laid eyes on. The industrial design was years ahead of its time, replacing sharp pointy edges with beautifully rounded ones. The stark black and red color scheme was exchanged for gray and shades of purple. Everything was so subtle, so subdued.
Needless to say, it became the must have toy for every kid on the block. I begged my dad to dish out the required $150 in order for me to become part of the video game elite. But a lot had changed since the release of the NES. As a small child, no parent can put a price on your happiness. But as you get older and start to talk back, that value quickly begins to drop. My father now had a price, and it sure as shit wasn’t worth $150.
Being an immigrant, my father had no concept of being 9 years old in America and the importance of keeping up with social standards. He suffered many financial hardships growing up so like most fathers, he felt it necessary for me to do the same.
That being said, he never said I couldn’t get one; He simply wasn’t going to pay for it. He made a simple proposition in order to help me: sell my NES and all the games to raise money so I could buy it myself. This of course was like putting a dagger through my heart. I had spent years building and perfecting my collection. Suddenly it became as expendable as my happiness.
But in business terms, it made perfect sense. The NES was quickly depreciating in value and would soon become obsolete. Little did my father realize he was giving me a crash course in business strategy. Or maybe he did. I suppose I just never thought of him to be that clever.
