Well, it’s 2026. Last year at this time, I saw Kyle Orland on Bluesky prepare to write about 365 games, one for each day of the following year. I liked the idea, and intended to do something similar, but I put off actually doing anything about it, and pretty soon days, weeks, and months had passed and the project no longer had any urgency or momentum.
Now that we’ve hit the beginning of a new year, I am once again inspired to write about the games that I’ve played. Sometimes there will be a post here, other times I’ll post a skeet or a thread on Bluesky. I will see what I can do about getting those skeets embedded here so that this is the canonical timeline of this nonsense, but for today I just want to get up and running.
To that end, the first game I want to discuss is also (probably) the very first video game I ever played: Super Mario Brothers for the NES. I was four when I first came across an NES at my mom’s friend Linda’s house. I say probably because it’s possible that I played a cousin’s Sega Master System prior to that, but that’s just beyond the edge of my earliest memories.
In any case, I can’t quite remember what it was like to play a video game for the first time, but I can conjure how it felt to have my eyes glued to the little TV it was hooked up to, struggling with the controls as I died over and over again. I don’t remember the first time I heard the underground music. I am not sure who first told me about the world warps that could propel me forward in the game with much less work than going through each level in order. I am pretty sure that there are still levels in the game that I’ve never seen or played, so pervasive is my warp use.
In short, what I have for memories this far back are just vibes. Good vibes, to be sure, but very little in the way of concrete evidence.
I’ll have a lot more to say about growing up playing games (and having parents who assumed it was a habit, and then a phase, and then something to be doled out sparingly until I was a teenager) and what they meant to me then and now. I am certain that I will dip into autobiography on the regular. We’ll see how it goes.
For today, happy new year! On this day, at least, I am resolute.