This week has seen the release of plans for a PlayStation 4. What does this have to offer that the previous PlayStation doesn't? Apparently not a busting lot besides a couple of GB more potential data, and a worryingly realistic portrayal of gang culture available to mere five-year-olds ... It's the first new PlayStation in seven years, so for avid fans, I guess this is a big deal, I however will remain in the eighties, with my Super Nintendo and Super Mario World.
This game repeatedly blows my mind more than any modern, technical PlayStation. Despite the fact we have a limited number of games, on account that they don't even produce them any more, I have wasted significant hours of my life on this console and will continue to do so for as long as it lives.
Some may find my fascination difficult to understand but here's what keeps me coming back for more: you don't have to wait half an hour for your game to load; I still find myself humming the theme tune from time to time; there is no violence with the exception of throwing a couple of shells and fire balling some tortoises here and there, and the 2D graphics are just irreplaceable.
I have never been a gamer, nor have my brothers to be fair. We lived in the country for the majority of our childhood and making dens in fields and trees was much more appealing. However, this has been the game, if any, that I have played. I've lost count how many times I've completed it but it's given me no end of joy and entertainment over the years; you can never save Princess Toadstool too many times from Bowser's kingdom.
It didn't cost the price of a car and it hasn't broken despite the fact that it's 25 years old. Given the choice, I'll always favour Nintendo. Although the DS and Wii in recent years seem to have been five minute wonders, their eighties products are undoubtedly the ultimate video games. When I was sixteen, my Mum brought me Super Mario Bros for our Wii and I can count on one hand how many times I have played it; the controller is just not the same, nor is the life like, animated graphics; nobody wants to see little 'Pavarotties' running around. The graphics don't need to resemble real life. It's a world where little Italian men can fly. They ride green dragons and they seem to have an indispensable amount of lives. If you ask me, it sounds like the effect of an evening of hash cakes but this is why I still revel in it: escapism. I don't want to kill people, I don't want to race cars in Japan or fight wars in COD. There's too much horror and suffering daily on our news screens. I want to climb up bean stalks, save the princess and live happily ever after. Simple.
So, no matter how many versions PlayStation introduce, they will never top Super Nintendo. It disappoints me that I now struggle to find a TV old enough to accommodate the fuzzy graphics but I won't let it die until it's ready. My Mario has several green mushroom lives left yet.
