Almost 40 Years Later, I’m Still a Kid
In 1998 I went to Toys R Us and bought Ocarina of Time, the gold cartridge. It came out Thanksgiving week, and I knew exactly how I was spending my time off.
I spent this weekend at my mom and dad’s. Their church had a community Thanksgiving dinner Sunday, so on Saturday my mom made bread and pies all day. I sat in the other room while the whole house smelled like that and watched a little over an hour of my Gaming Uncensored co-host Tommy playing the new remake on YouTube. I can’t physically play it, so I watched. I was instantly back in 1998, and the rest of the world faded away.
It looks great and sounds great. Logan Plant said on IGN’s Nintendo Voice Chat that it’s the best looking Nintendo game ever. He might be right. But I watched it on a TV that isn’t mine, with no surround sound and none of my game room, and it didn’t matter.
There’s a lot of uncertainty in the world. Sitting in my parents’ house watching something new that reminds me why I love games and the holidays, you just don’t get that every day. Just shy of 40 years after Zelda II, I’m still the kid I always was, and I wouldn’t trade that for anything.
When the hour was up I rolled into the kitchen to see about a bite to eat. There was fresh bread, and Mom told me how hard she’d been working. I said, well, I haven’t been working. I’ve been looking at a game.
She said, “Were you watching Zelda? I recognized the music.” She’s been hearing it since I was eight.
