Campfire Tales - The time Nintendo suddenly mattered.

What happens when a die-hard Sega fan takes a leap of faith into the world of Nintendo? 

Join me as I briefly reminisce on how the Switch rekindled a long-lost passion for multiplayer mayhem and the simple joy of gathering loved ones around a screen. It's not just the sleek handheld mode that captivated me, but the nostalgic memories of split-screen chaos reminiscent of old-school Xbox LAN parties. Imagine the scene: Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. bringing laughter and competition into my living room, bridging the gap between past gaming glories and modern innovations. This episode is a testament to how the Nintendo Switch became a pivotal turning point, redefining my relationship with Nintendo and reminding us all why these pixelated adventures hold such a special place in our hearts.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 0 (00:13):
Welcome, dear listener to whatever this is
currently untitled and, going bythe codename, you never get
those minutes back.
The Nintendo Switch made me abeliever.
The name Nintendo has beenfloating around my life for the
best part of three decades now,an undoubted goliath in the
video game universe.
It was only natural that apixel-obsessed kid such as

(00:34):
myself would travel fromchildhood to I'm not saying
middle-aged, to a bit older,with the mighty name of Nintendo
god of big mushrooms andplumbing, I believe echoing
through the air almost daily.
And so it should be for acompany with such a
stardust-sprinkled catalogue ofvideo game giants under its belt
.
Every kid should have been lostat some point in the

(00:56):
Nintendo-verse.
The first blossoms on the budsof Nintendo's gaming seeds were
part of one of the very firstgolden ages for gaming.
Nintendo's gaming seeds werepart of one of the very first
golden ages for gaming, and itwas magical and wondrous and it
was exciting and it was like awhole bunch of Christmases were
squashing themselves down thechimney at the same time, before
exploding in a mess ofpixelated magic across the
living room floor.

(01:18):
Except, I was a Sega kid and, aswe all know, in the very strict
rules of conflict associatedwith the not-at-all-pointless
console wars.
Sega kids hate Nintendo kidsand Nintendo kids envied us Sega
overlords.
Obviously, casualties andconflicts occurred on the school

(01:42):
playground.
I missed the Super Nintendo andthe N64.
Never owned a Game Boy and onlyever had a Nintendo console as
a sort of completionistweirdness that gnawed at my
brain and wallet.
My GameCube was a neglected,dusty old thing.
My Wii was utterly bloodybrilliant For about two hours

(02:04):
Before the dust began to settleon that too.
The Wii U was even worse, aconsole so utterly ignored in
our home.
It might as well have starredAdam Sandler.
And then, a few months ago,that gnawing completionist
returned and my wallet wept as Ibecame the I'm not going to say
proud I'd rather saymiddle-aged than proud.
I became an owner of a NintendoSwitch.

(02:24):
As I fired it up and awaitedexpectantly for a cloud of dust
to begin to drift down andsettle on yet another Nintendo
bit part player, a veryunexpected thing happened.
I became smitten with this newconsole.
I was suddenly immersed in anew world of Nintendo.
Goodness, that took me bycomplete surprise.
Surprise.

(02:49):
I sat with a dopey smile notunusual plastered across my face
and the tears of the Segafairies dampening my head as I
slowly fell in love In a scenereminiscent of the Grinch
acquiring a heart.
I suddenly felt a warmth comeover me and, despite encroaching
middle age, my trousers weredry.
And the truth of it is, thefoundations for this awakening
are not built upon the modernwhistles and bells of the Switch
nice though they are butinstead stand upon the rekindled

(03:09):
memories of one of those goldenage fingies.
The Switch is an undeniablybeautifully modern machine.
The handheld mode is justdraw-droppingly wonderful and
slick.
To play Zelda on handheld onthe move is such a weird
experience simply because itfeels too good to be playable
whilst sat on a train or insteadof actually working in the

(03:30):
workplace.
But this is not what made mefall in love with the Switch.
My joy went supernova, based onthe gathering of people around
the screen, fully engaged in theaction, with some magnificent
multiplayer split-screen gaming.
This was what I used to lovewhen we would carry Xbox
consoles to each other's houses,to split-screen Halo over a few
TV sets, and nothing the XboxOne or PS4 had delivered managed

(03:53):
to reignite that magic feelingquite as much as when my Switch
was spilling out Mario Kart andSuper Smash Bros for the utterly
deliriously happy clamouringcrowd.
Although, undeniably again, thehandheld mode is the true
unique selling point of themachine.
Although, undeniably, again,the handheld mode is the true
unique selling point of themachine For me, nothing quite
captures the picture why I lovedvideo games so much as the
family gathered around thescreen in beautifully frantic

(04:14):
competition as we fight forbragging rights.
And which poor fool has toempty the dishwasher.
The Switch for myself, a Segakid turned predominantly Xbox
adult Is the turning point in myrelationship with Nintendo.
Where I would once brush themoff with a disinterested wave of
the hand, I now beckon them in.
This is a special console.
The game's catalogue is wideand varied, the control system

(04:36):
with the joy-cons feels way morethan a gimmick, and the fact
that I wish I had a two hourcommute to work just so I could
play on the move speaks volumes,not least about my own sanity.
This is a console basking inbrilliance.
It's a modern age cutting edgesystem that takes me right back
to a video game age I used toadore, back when we played for
fun and when what was takingplace around the screen was as
important as the action on it,and where the actual game itself

(04:59):
is transcended by the sheer joyof playing it with good people.
See, I told you I was old.
Now, as a former Sega kid, Ithink I need to take a shower.
Is the Switch waterproof?
Do you know?