Friday Fondness: Nintendo, Original

Old school Nintendo.  Super Mario Bros and Duck Hunt.  Ah, nostalgia.  The first time I ever played SMB was at a friends house after they got it.  I was...9? 

Does anyone remember the game with the mat you put on the floor?  It was some type of racing game, track meet style, and you ran in place?  The faster you ran, the faster your player went.  Let's face it, that was some really cutting edge gaming right there.
My all time favorite Nintendo game was Kid Icarus.  Holy smokes, was that hard.  Now, most games give you a halfway point if your player dies.  But you could be at the very end of one of the oddly long levels of Kid, and die, and have to start all over at that level again.  Oh, but the mythical creatures, the flying eyes, the grim reaper character, battling Medusa at the end. 

Those were some good times.
When your Nintendo system got old, and the games wouldn't play well, did you blow into the bottom of the game cartridge?  I did.  Apparently under the assumption that it was dust or grime that caused the system to crack out on me.  Most likely it was just wear and tear of a well loved game.
If you ever have enough spare time and want to experience these vintage games of the NES, visit http://www.nintendo8.com/ for a free flashback experience.
Or, just go play your Wii.  Which, believe it or not, I've yet to play.  Whatever.