Plugging in my Old Nintendo

So this weekend my kids and I were building a Lego replica of the original Nintendo. I was blown away by two things: the Lego set’s quality of detail and the sheer joy that hit me like I was a 7 year old boy again … the wonder in exploring Mario Brothers, Zelda, Metroid, and Mega Man.

Then, my seven year old son asked if I still had my first Nintendo. In fact I do. He asked if we could plug it in so he could play it.

I pulled it out of storage, plugged it in, fiddled around with the jacks in the back of my flatscreen, blew the dust off the cartridge…

And it worked.

No patches, no firmware updates, no carrier settings or Wi-Fi login issues.

We just played Super Mario Brothers on the original NES.

Pure joy. Nearly 40 years later.

When you make something truly special and put the consumer first, you really can build something that lasts for generations. It's also a reminder that kids' video games can convey profound truth when they are created with purpose.