At this point, it feels like it's fundamental to survival.
What's that? Technology?
Don't you just hate it when TV or movies do that sort of thing?
Before I really get started, I have to get this off my chest.
One person says something like, yeah, it was.
And then the second person goes, what?
Then the first person goes, it was sweet that thing you said
referring to something like 5 minutes prior and completely
confusing the audience and the other individual.
Nobody talks like this, nobody says one or two words referring
to something from 5-10 minutes prior and just thinks, Yep,
everyone's going to follow along anyways.
Technology. Isn't it wild?
I've had this thought a few times over the last several
months. Technological and medical
advancements have been a massive part of my life, but in the last
two years even more so. Have you ever stopped to think,
wow, a stethoscope is an amazing thing and it's been around for
well over 100 years? Sure, it's been iterated on, but
damn, something so simple and something that you see Bugs
Bunny wear as a symbol for being a doctor is just available.
All right, now open your mouth and say that looks pretty.
Bad. But of course, in doctor's
offices and hospitals, that's as simple as it gets.
There's gadgets, gizmos, and what you might call it's all
over the place. Those are technical terms.
You don't have to worry about what those really mean.
My point here is it's all amazing.
My wife and I have been in and out of various doctor's offices,
appointments, hospitals for a while now.
We're Canadian, so it's possible that this perspective on how
this all works and feels may be a little bit different for us,
but by and large, medical care has been frequent and effective.
We are very lucky in that way. This technology and medical know
how has helped us expand our family to three and four if you
count our 15 year old free lady named Charlotte.
We couldn't be happier. It's has it been tough?
Yeah, at times. That's one of the reasons why
this podcast has been on a much longer break than I initially
intended. But hey, that's life.
Our little guy is now six months old and showing all the amazing
signs of being the incredible human we hoped our child could
be. Along the way, I've stopped and
looked around the offices and medical rooms we've been in,
staring at a stethoscope, machines that help babies
overcome jaundice, breathing apparatuses, pain meds, and
really anything you can think of.
Whether my wife or my child that needed them or not.
I sometimes caught myself thinking we're so damn lucky to
have this tech and the people to make all of this a reality.
Fast forward a couple weeks and I find myself and my wife in a
typical routine of feeding a baby every few hours, sleeping
at odd hours if at all, and quickly aching for my own
technology. In comes the Steam Deck.
Yes, here's where the games come into play, everybody.
I've told some friends that this has been a sanity saver, not
because I don't want to be around my family, but because
when I do have some time, it's a great way to get some gaming in
a hobby I hold dear to my heart. This particular technology has
allowed me to play quite a few games I had sitting on my
backlog, purchased on Steam sales and other websites, and
dipped into some comfort food titles from the Super Nintendo
and of course, the Nintendo 64. Yeah, it took this long for me
to mention that console, the console that this whole podcast
is based around, but here we are.
I'm happy to report that one of my favorite games of all time
was the first Nintendo 64 title that I played from start to
finish, with my son by my side, whether he was sleeping or
playing or in a completely different room at the time.
I completed Banjo Kazooie in about 9 to 10 hours.
I didn't intend to take the time from start to finish, and you
know, there was something about that childhood childlike whimsy
in the game and humor that just felt right at the time.
While it isn't the reason to play a great game like this, I
can now proudly and joyfully tell my son later in his life
that he and Dad technically played this game together and it
was his first N64 game. I do own each and every Banjo
Kazooie game in physical form, but I didn't use them to play
through the game. Technology allowed me to link my
childhood with my own child. A steam deck and emulation made
it happen, along with a pretty fun retro achievements tally as
well. Make sure you check that site
out and we can be friends. I'm Dave Petro there if you are
so inclined. But what about when my son is
old enough to game? When he wants to?
When he's able to? Do I take go to Steam Deck and
open his eyes to thousands of titles and files?
Do I break into retro consoles that I have?
Do I let him experience a bit of both with these approaches, with
the SNES and Genesis minis I have on my shelf now?
I'm not sure there's a perfect answer here, but there are
options. This is why technology is
incredible. Sure, stuff like emulation
creates somewhat of a Gray area depending on who you speak to,
but I doubt anyone can argue that just having all these
options available isn't just incredible in itself.
I also doubt I'm not the only one who likely took these
consoles and PCs for granted. Honestly, when we were younger,
as Bill from the Gaming and Collecting and 3D O Experience
podcast said way back on level 2 of this show quote, people just
want their stuff back. I was and am one of those
people. I've accumulated gaming
technology over the last five to 10 years in hopes of passing it
on while also being able to enjoy it.
I will never tell anyone what they need to play or how they
need to play it a certain way, but money, time, availability,
it all matters. But I do know that over the last
year or so of this recording, Jiggy look back and I have done
our best to play through games on this show with an authentic
hardware, even if some of the titles are emulated through an
ever Dr. cartridge device for example.
At the end of the day, technology has given me the
chance to be here and even write what I'm saying to you and put
it out into the world in this audio form.
I cannot wait to share more with you as this show continues and I
can't wait to experience the technology that I have around
our home with my son and share gaming memories together
throughout the years and pass that on to you as well.
At the end of the day, thank you everyone, truly.
It will be on with the show, I promise.
If you're listening to this in late 2024 when I'm releasing
this, expect new episodes being in your feed in early 2025.
We have some great ones planned to kick off the new year and
return to a regularly scheduled shenanigans.
And as the show and the shenanigans continue, I've
slowly but surely been putting myself back out there on
accounts with Remember 64 show. You can find me pretty much
everywhere but on Twitter or X whatever you want to call it.
Blue sky threads, Instagram, Tiktok all remember 64 show
episodes will be posted, their updates, funny quips and such.
Just anything best way to connect with me is there.
So instead of me continuing to talk your ear off here on a non
regular episode, this is the first one that's been on the
feed and I think roughly 6 months.
I'm sorry about that. But I promise things are getting
back to normal. And you can follow along on
those social media accounts. Like I said, best way to follow
along or you can e-mail me, remember 64, show@gmail.com if
you have any suggestions, any games that you want us to cover,
any of that stuff would love to hear from you.
Always would. So thanks everyone for
listening, being here through all this.
I'm sorry the absence was so long, but I promise we're coming
back with a bang. The first few episodes are going
to have some big heavy hitters, and then we're going to sort of
play everything in between, like we said, the good, the bad, the
ugly, and everything in between. Thank you everyone for joining
me on Remember 64. We'll see you soon.