By Danielle Flint

Daily Titan Copy Editor

Photo courtesy of Flikr.com/cirofono

The gaming industry has made astounding progress over the last 50 years, jumping from the primitive beeps and blips of Pong to the more recent “Oh-God-there’s-so-much-pain-I-can-almost-feel-it” styling of Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Consoles come and go with the ever-expanding grandeur of technology, spawning thousands of obsolete games and systems that end up in the garages and attics of game enthusiasts across the country. As a young lass, I remember standing hopelessly in the video game isle of Wal-Mart, noticing that the game selection for my Nintendo-64 was getting smaller and smaller.

Little did I know, it would soon disappear completely.

No more. The N64 is a great machine with a rich history, and the certain ability to entertain even the pickiest of gamers. Why should you dust yours off and allow it the opportunity to become the focal point of your living room once more?

1. It’s great at parties. Sure, the Wii has Mario Kart and Mario Party too, but it isn’t the same. There’s nothing like a rousing game of “Who can burn the most skin off your palm while rotating the little joystick?” among close acquaintances. Impress your friends. Astound your enemies. Your parties will triple in attendance and no one will stand around the punch bowl making awkward small talk.

2. The sense of accomplishment. Rubbing a disk on your pants to get the fingerprints off is great and all, but there’s nothing like the overwhelming feeling of pride that washes over you when you blow a big gust of air into your N64 game, clearing off all ailments. You are the master of video game repair.

3. It had some of the greatest games of all time. Perfect Dark and 007 were primitive, extremely pixilated, and wouldn’t even pass as a joke as a reputable game today, but they were also a lot of fun. Do you remember the obscenities you uttered when that ominous red “blood” trickled down your boxy wood-grained television? And who could forget The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time? Sure the little helpful fairy thing was annoying, but that game kept thousands of antisocial children locked indoors and glued to glowing screens for days at a time.

4. It’s cheap. Why spend $50+ on a game for a system that will be ruled obsolete in the next year or so, when you can purchase any number of fine N64 games for under $5? Don’t have a used game store near you? Try another product of modern technology – the Internet. Who knows? Your junky plastic console could actually make you money in the next decade or so: “And next on Antiques Roadshow, a Nintendo-64 game console found in a local woman’s attic. Only one of six known systems still in existence, as most gamers have long since discarded the useless and archaic machine…”

5. Nostalgia. Don’t you remember those sunny Sunday afternoons beating your little brother to a pulp as you button-mashed your way to victory on Super Smash Bros.? Retro is coming back, if the sudden flurry of “Triforce” tattoos and Super Nintendo belt buckles is any evidence. The N64 could even become fashionable soon, and you could be the pinnacle of fashion prowess! Just don’t try to string controllers into earrings. They’re heavier than they look.