I'm Thankful for Nostalgia

I know I'm a little bit late to the whole "I'm Thankful For ..." cliché, but I didn't get the chance to post yesterday and I have a little something to talk about.

So, in a nutshell, I am thankful for nostalgia. I am sitting in my basement, wrapped tight in a warm sweater and warmer blanket, making a small nest in the leather of my couch. I don't usually come down here, because, as an academite, I don't spend a lot of time at home, but this time something called to me. Hidden away, inexplicably, amongst the Christmas decorations, was my box of Nintendo 64 gear.

I had this sense of strange eagerness, an excitement I haven't felt for a while, as I unpacked the stuff and started plugging it into my TV. I quickly selected the only game that ever really interested me in the box, Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.

Seeing that floating, turning mask on my screen brought back a lot of memories, I spent an entire summer break playing this very game, and don't regret a second of it. I quickly lost myself in this, quite aging game. Nintendo released this classic ten years ago (the equally classic, if unplayed by me Ocarina of Time 12), and it has not lost a single big of charm. The same confused grunting from the voice-actor-less town's folk, the same irritatingly long cut-scenes, I loved every second of this game the first time around, and find myself enjoying it even more, with the added feeling of nostalgia.

So, I am thankful for this feeling, the warmth inside that Nintendo has reached across a decade to deliver to me, I am thankful for this temporary resurrection of my childhood, complete with hot chocolate and warm blankies.

Majora's Mask is the game that set off a lifetime of games, I haven't stopped playing in those 10 years. And although the graphics have gotten more and more "high definition", and the devices running them louder and louder (I cannot hear the fan on my N64), nothing really beats just sitting in my parents basement, enjoying a classic, a true relic from times I wish I still had.