There’s something deeply satisfying about clicking an old Nintendo cartridge into place – it's like ASMR for kids who grew up before the internet. Sadly, that tactile ka-chunk has been lost when gaming moved online. Today, like everything, gaming is digital, online, and endless. There are no cartridges, manual inserts, or downloads and microtransactions. It's cool to buy a game instantly, but we lost some magic in the convenience.
Lately, I’ve been chasing that old console feeling—a specific kind of nostalgia wrapped in chunky plastic shells, from the SNES to the N64.
I’ve tried to recapture it with the Nintendo Switch which lets you play a limited number of N64 and SNES games - Donkey Kong Country, Wave Race 64, Golden Eye, and Zelda Ocarina of Time. But there is something missing. The experience is different. Too clean. Too modern. The soul of it — the weight of the controller, the slightly blurred pixels, the slightly loose rattle of an N64 controller joystick is missing.
The Nintendo Brand
Over the years, I’ve come to deeply admire Nintendo as a brand — not just for its games, but for its masterclass in building lasting worlds and characters. Nowadays you hear a lot of brands talking about “world-building” and “lore,” but Nintendo has been doing it effortlessly for decades. Their characters have become cultural icons.
Even if you’ve never picked up a controller, you know Mario and Donkey Kong. The same goes for Zelda, Link, and Pokémon’s Pikachu. These names carry instant recognition, much like Disney’s Mickey Mouse or Marvel’s Spider-Man. That level of brand power isn’t accidental… it’s the result of decades of masterful character-building and storytelling that cements Nintendo’s place in pop culture.
Some of my fondest memories are connected to Nintendo. I remember hearing my parents playing NES late at night – just the two of them – laughing as they played Super Mario Bros on our first NES.
I remember saving up and going to Toys R Us to get the SNES and buying Mario Kart, Street Fighter, and the first John Madden football game. We also bought Mario Paint, which was the first time I ever used a computer mouse. It was like Adobe Photoshop for kids – I love it.
But most of all, I remember all the time I spent sitting next to my brother, controllers in hand, fully immersed in Zelda or Earthbound (Or racing jet skis in Wave Race. Or fighting in Mortal Kombat. Or hunting each other in Golden Eye. Or playing Bills vs. Raiders in Madden. Or building cities together in SimCity). The Nintendo universe was the backdrop to countless hours of bonding and joy for me and my brother.
And now I'm chasing that again. Last night, I played an hour of Zelda Breath of the Wild. I still haven't beaten it. I've just spent years meandering through the world, talking to villagers and exploring.
It's meditative.
Nintendo has achieved something that only Steve Jobs was able to do: create products that people connect with on a deeply emotional level. Jobs famously said, “It’s not about speeds and feeds. It’s about the experience.” Apple sells how a product makes you feel, not just what’s inside. Similiarly, Nintendo has never tried to outgun competitors on graphics or power. Instead, they focus on how a game makes you feel joy, wonder, and maybe most of all, nostalgia.