The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, October 31, 2005, Page 7, Image 7
ninTcnDo • conTinuco mom 5
^^:hey commissioned one of their
artists, Shigeru Miyamoto, to
create a game based on one of
their original arcade hits:
“Mario Bros.” The fruits of his
labor would go on to become
an international phenomenon.
“Super Mario Bros.” was
born, and brothers Mario and
Luigi became Nintendo’s
mascots. “Super Mario Bros.”
was packaged with the NES
when the system was released in
the US in October of that year.
The game is widely considered
to be the spark that rebooted
^^the fledgling industry.
The NES was released Oct.
18, 1985, with limited release
in the United States and was
soon followed by an extended
release in February 1986. The
system sold moderately well at
first, but took a while to pick
up speed in the North
American market.
Different packaged sets of
the system were sold, each
featuring different accessories
to accentuate the system’s
abilities. The Zapper, a modest,
futuristic-looking light gun,
was used ’for several NES
games, such as the easily
^Recognizable “Duck Hunt.”
Many other light gun games
soon followed, such as “Wild
Gunman” and “Gumshoe.”
Perhaps the strangest
accessory was the ROB, or
Robotic Operating Buddy. The
ROB only works with two
known games: “Gyromite” and
“Stack-Up” and works by
moving various gyros in
response to flashing lights from
the user’s television. The ROB
was extremely slow to move,
and often made the
accompanying games very
difficult. The accessory saw
less-than-stellar sales and was
soon discontinued altogether.
NES games soon numbered
in the thousands. Directly
following the success of “Super
Mario Bros.,” Nintendo
commissioned Miyamoto again
to create a classic for them.
Miyamoto, remembering his
childhood days where he would
go exploring in the forests and
caverns of Japan, came up with
“The Legend of Zelda,” a
technical marvel for its time.
The graphics were simplistic but
colorful. The game was also the
first to feature a battery save
feature, which would soon
become a common feature in
many lengthy games. Other
classics from Nintendo soon
would follow, such as
“Metroid,” the “Kirby” series,
and “Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!”
Third-party games also
shined on the NES. Tecmo’s
“Ninja Gaiden” series began
with a bang on the NES and
saw three iterations. Other
developers such as Konami
began their successes with
games such as the original
“Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles,” “Contra” and “Metal
Gear.” Capcom also began the
pivotal “Mega Man” series with
six Mega Man games for the
NES. The gothic-horror
adventure series “Castlevania”
also got its start on the NES.
Many pundits consider the
NES to be the greatest console
of all time. Not only did the
system sell spectacularly, but it
single-handedly revamped the
video game industry in the
United States.
The NES has not lost
popularity in the past few years.
In fact, the system is seeing a
period of revival. Gamers around
the world are revisiting the
highlights of the system through
ports. In late 2004, Nintendo
began to release a “Classic NES
Series” featuring such games as
“Super Mario Bros.,” “Metroid”,
“Castlevania,” and
“Bomberman.”
Nintendo has not forgotten
the drawing power of the NES.
For its next console, code
named Revolution, the
company plans to allow
downloads of a whole library of
NES games for a yet-to-be
determined fee.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecockfeatures@gwm.sc.edu
RiinnER • conTinucD mom 6
your foot, even if you can’t feel
it.’ It was awful.”
A week passed, then a few
more days. No answer.
Moving forward usually does
take longer when forced to
work backward; the doctors
were trying to determine what
Nic had by figuring out
everything he didn’t have.
The worst moment? A
neurologist asked Nic to lift
himself out of bed and take a
'step. He tried, his knees
folded instantly and he hit the
floor. The legs that the
previous week had carried him
for miles now couldn’t carry
him a single step. As he tells
the story today, his mother’s
eyes well up.
“Watching your kid go
through something like this is
terrible,” Julie says. “It’s so
difficult to see the suffering
some kids have to live with.
It’s so sad that we have to have
hospitals called Children’s
Hospital.”
When the doctors finally
diagnosed Nic, the answer
came with questions, starting
with what exacdy is transverse
myelitis? No one in the family
had heard of the
inflammatory disorder that
affects the spinal cord, usually
with no warning nor clear
cause.
Nic’s parents went to the
Internet, where the limited
information kept repeating
itself. Greg quickly couldn’t
read any more, mosdy because
the details weren’t great, like
the projection that one-third
of TM patients remain
permanently paralyzed and
that 15 to 30 percent develop
multiple sclerosis.
But Nic’s condition didn’t
seem to be worsening, and
one-third of patients do
recover almost completely. For
three days, doctors dripped
steroids into him. Then he
began physical therapy, mosdy
in a pool, this once-so-healthy
child starting with the simplest
of movements: toe raises.
Four days a week he went to.
the pool near the Smiths’
home, rolling up with the
help of a walker, often
encountering a group of older
women who also had walkers.
He made the trip almost
religiously, so determined was
Nic to become a born-again
runner. (He spent so much
time- in the water that, as a
sophomore, he participated
on the swim team.)
After a few weeks, he
pushed the walker aside.
Gradually, he began to do “the
Nic shuffle,” Julie calls it. He
almost was a toddler again,
grasping at walls and furniture
to stand and transport
himself. '
“Not once,” his mother
says, “did he complain.”
Says his father, “He’s special
that way.”
And-now, not quite a year
and a half later, Nic’s running
again, usually near the back
for the Dana Hills cross
country team. His legs always
seem tired, his muscles tight.
Running, he says, used to
bring on “a good hurt;” now
it’s more of a bad straggle.
But it’s a better struggle
than the labor of just trying to
stand. His times are
improving, his goal being to
establish a solid base for next
year, his senior season. Gotta
like his chances. When you’ve
competed against failing legs,
how intimidating can the
skinny arms of a stopwatch
be?
“He’s my hero,” Julie says.
“His intelligence and tenacity,
how he’s come through this so
wonderfully is amazing. He
really is my hero.”
Mom and Dad used to
leave his hospital room so Nic
wouldn’t see them weep. Now,
they openly — and gladly —
cry right in front of him.
“I don’t know what I was
supposed to do,” Nic says. “I
could only do what my body
would let me do. It was
something I couldn’t
change.”
Today
“THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE
SHOW”: 10 p.m. Russell House
^^Theater
^‘UNDEAD”: 7,9 p.m. Nickelodeon
Theatre, 937 Main St., $5.50
with student ID
LIVE WIRE —MOTLEY CRUE
TRIBUTE BAND: 8 p.m. Art Bar,
1221 Park St., $3, over-21 only
Tuesday
VIOLINIST MARK O'CONNOR: 7:30
p.m. School of Music 206
“OIL ON ICE": 7 p.m. Nickelodeon
Theatre, $5.50 with student ID
The Rocky Horror Picture Show’
* CROSSWORD
ACROSS
1 Landing area
6 “Paper Lion”
star
10 Urgent memo
letters
14 Cake cut
15 Forest denizen
16 Perform a task
again
17 _, Porthos and
Aramis
18 Lisa’s first
name?
19 Blackthorn
20 Not give a rap
about
23 Prepared
24 Speck
25 Make law
a* 28 Current events
“ at old movies
31 Armed conflict
32 Preminger and
Kruger
35 Movie on a PC
36 Tortoise rival
37 Orderless
40 Fertility goddess
42 Gull relative
43 Shad delicacy
45 Convex
moldings
46 Period
47 Carolina team
50 Principle of faith
52 Patriot Nathan
53 Circle part
56 Green arrow,
eg
• 60 Part of speech
62 Good fortune
63 Skater Kerrigan
64 Leather
punches
65 Preacher
Roberts
66 Attempted
67 Dog tired
68 Noah of “E.R.”
69 Way too heavy
DOWN
1 Rhubarbs
2 Church
contribution
3 Punch again
4 Desktop image .
5 Most annoying
© 2005 Tribune Media Services, Inc. 10/31 /05
All rights reserved.
, t
6 Owns up to
7 Workout wear
8 Fender damag<
9 Inland sea of
Asia
10 Fiery crime
1*1 Conscious
12 Bother
13 “The Gold Bug’
penner
21 First gear
22 Snakelike fish
26 Blanche’s first
name?
27 Elm and oak
38 Lunch time
39 Actress Gabor
30 McBain and
McMahon
32 Two quartets
combined
33 At that place
34 Hairy spider
36 Crones
38 Author Levin
39 Pro’s opposite
11 Ripped operi
14 Moral
Solutions
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47 School org.
48 Type of artificial
fly
49 Golfer Ernie
51 Dada artist Max
53 Leibovitz or
Lennox
54 Tries to outrun
55 Glasgow’s river
57 Run smoothly
58 Intense anger
59 Clothing
60 Cgllar
61 Have debts
Quigmans ♦ By Buddy Hickerson
IT’S JUST ReAUy FRUSTRATING,
HoNe*.. TMRee MONTHS AGO you
l SAlD you U/ANTeD TO START A
-v fami'lv. j-—
m
NO, D6AR... X
5AiO I WANTED
TO STAtT A
FiRe AROUND
A FAMILY
l__
Don t miss VH1 s latest reality show:
"Chasing Satan.”
A College Girl Named Joe ♦ By Aaron Warner
HEY, ROOMIE!
LOOK WHAT 1601 WHAT?
FOR OUR ROOM WHILE ™ YOU REALLY
YOU WERE AJE07THAT?
... OR ARE YOU JUST
BUYING STUFF Vi TPOK'T
PEOPLE WALKIN6 PAST r4« Wnw
OURttTCWtSEElTANP
THINK YOU'RE COOL? /
HOROSCOPES
ARIES Invite a person with
strong navigational skills to be
your companion. Together the
two of you will get much farther
than either of you would alone.
TAURUS You should be able to
tell exactly what needs to be done.
Be quick about it.
GEMINI As you’re telling your
fantasies, also make time to listen.
Possibilities you never imagined
are out there.
CANCER Your place should be
fixed up well enough now to do
some entertaining. Conditions
favor a fabulous time had by all,
regardless of genre.
LEO There’s no point in arguing
about something that won’t
change. Discuss variations or
accessories instead.
VIRGO Once you get organized,
everything falls into place. Do it
on purpose and it’ll happen faster,
and you’ll have more time to play.
LIBRA Make sure your goods and
services are out where they can be
found. People want what you
provide, and they’ll pay well for
it.
SCORPIO How much things are
worth is a variable. Ask for more
than you think you’ll get and
you’ll get more than you thought.
SAGITTARIUS You’re the life of
the party; you’ve got them all
charmed. Don’t tell them
everything — make them guess.
CAPRICORN You’re making a
good impression on important
people. They like your
authenticity. What they see is
what they get.
AQUARIUS Let the celebration
continue. Your influence is
growing. Take- new territory now,
while you’re hot.
PISCES Indulge on a whim.
Venture farther out than you’ve
ever been before. Be the leader of
the expedition. You’re a natural.