As some may know, I’ve been away from EFNcool this past month. My brother passed away on April 2nd, and since then, I’ve been dealing with quite a bit a grief, so I’ve kept my distance while I’ve taken the time to be there for my mom and sister-in-law. While I did deliver my brother’s eulogy, I thought I would do something different here.
My brother and I used to play a lot of video games together, but like all things, we grew up and grew apart with our interests. However, I’ll always cherish those moments, those memories. I’d like to share some of them with you.
First up is WCW/NWO Revenge for N64. My brother pulled me out of school to go pick this up ’cause EB Games called the house, and he answered it. I remember pre-ordering it with him there, because he was the one to put down the $5 for it. As we drove up to pick up the game, he kept saying he was going to be Goldberg every match and I said I was going to be Kevin Nash (’cause Wolf pack NWO was better at that time). We got home and played that game for HOURS! We’d play after school, before school, and some weekends. Eventually we stopped playing, because we heard of a sequel game they were making, but had no idea it would be Wrestlemania 2000! That was a shock to both of us.
Bond, James Bond. License to Kill, No Oddjob, Complex. You knew it was about to go down. We played Goldeneye 64 almost daily, and then my friends and his friends got into it, and then we were just all out yelling at each other. “DON’T LOOK AT MY SCREEN!”, he would yell each time I’d kill him. For the record, I’ve never looked at his screen on purpose, but it’s a damn split screen with 4 players! What freaking screen was I supposed to look at?!? No matter what, he would just get pissed and walk away each time. We’d then have to settle the score, like real men did in the 90s. No guns, slappers only! HAHA
Let’s get down into the dirt here. Wario Stadium, Lightning Bolt, right before the big jump. Got ’em every time! He was HEATED when we played that track. Look, I only did it ’cause he would do the cheap trick of jumping the wall at the start of the race if he had the boost! Someone (Me) had to put him in his place, so I felt it was equally fair. Balanced, as all things should be. 4 Player Battle Mode on Block Fort was the way to settle most scores when it comes to Mario Kart 64, if I’m honest. Even then, he still couldn’t beat me every time. He just beat me at the times I felt like not replacing my N64 controller ’cause he would toss that at the ground, wall, or sometimes at whoever beat him – HAH. Violence is never the answer.
44 years young at the time of his passing, 2 years longer than Dad when he passed in 1999. We had our ups and downs like most siblings do, but in the last 14 years, he tried so hard to correct his mistakes, and ultimately it was one fight too many. We didn’t have a lot in common, but growing up we had Nintendo 64 games and those games bridged the gap between our age difference (6 years) as well as his friends and mine. We all got together and we all played 4 player games all the time. It was one of the few times I could be the little brother and gloat about it. “You’re getting old, old man. No more reflexes for you.” There’s so many more gaming memories to share from growing up, but those stood out the most to me.
I could’ve talked about the time we were gonna fight 5 guys at a Cybercafé in 2001 over Counter Strike (B2B4B6. If you know, you know) or the time I finally nailed that 5-Star Frog Splash reversal in Smackdown: Here Comes The Pain to get the win. I don’t know where we go when we’re done on this earth, but I do know that we carry the people we love with us until it’s our time. You aren’t here, but yet you’re everywhere.
Thanks for passing me the controller.
I will miss you William.
