Basic Info: John Lucas

I was not kidding that John Lucas will write a long essay if you ask him what his favorite game is.

•{ How long have you been a videogamer? }•

I have played videogames since I was 4 years old in 1980. I believe arcade Pac-Man was my first game.

•{ What is your favorite system? }•

Man, that's like asking a parent who's their favorite child! Uh, wow. Let's see.

Well, let's just say it's a Nintendo system. Hahahahaha!

My first "system" was the Game & Watch Tabletop version of Mario's Cement Factory. I got that for Christmas in 1984 when I was 8 & played it endlessly. I STILL have it all these years later & more or less it still works.

Got a Coleco Tabletop of Pac-Man in September 1985 when I was 9. Still own that & more or less it still works too.

First actual home console was, of course, the Nintendo Entertainment System. Got that for Christmas 1988 when I was 12 & it changed my life from that point forward. I pretended to have my own arcade with my tabletops now I actually had a true system. Played Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt intensely for about 2 months straight. Hahahaha.

Got my Super Nintendo Entertainment System right after Christmas 1992 in January 1993 when I was 16. Me & my friends played Street Fighter II like it was going out of style on that console!

As an adult with my own job & my own money I bought the Nintendo 64 in April 1997 at age 20/21.

Almost all me & my friends did was play WCW vs. nWo World Tour, WCW/nWo Revenge, WWF WrestleMania 2000, WWF No Mercy, GoldenEye 007, Perfect Dark. Heaven help me if I had Super Smash Bros. & Mario Tennis in my possession at the time!

Got my Gamecube in April 2002 at age 25/26. I lost so many hours to Animal Crossing it wasn't funny! Spent a lot of time in this era also picking up games I had missed in previous generations. I was simultaneously a retro gamer while playing in the current scene.

Always wanted a handheld & finally got my first one used from a game shop called Rhino's.

Got the Game Boy Advance in Summer or Fall of 2005 at age 29. Needed something to play at work.

Clerk suggested Wario Ware: Twisted & I'm thankful he did. One of the best games I have ever played.

Got a Game Boy Micro somewhere in 2006 at age 30, I believe. Price was already $50 & I was like you can't beat that. Wanted it for the option to have backlighting. Played lots of Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town on that thing! Nice cozy little system.

Was HYPED for Wii & tried to get it on launch day. But I never bought a system at launch before & TOTALLY underestimated supply & demand for the system. Luckily I learned they had another shipment weeks later & got it in December 2006 at age 30. I knew this system was the game changer & I was right.

Got my DS Lite as a gift from this website I used to write for (I really regret writing for it now) in December 2007 at age 31. DS really brought me up to speed on the handheld scene. I was comfortable with my GBAs but DS really did add a whole new dimension to gaming.

Bought my DSi in April 2010 at age 33/34 SOLELY for KORG DS-10 Plus. DSi gave it extra sound channels.

Turns out to be one of my most important buys. I ended up using this thing much like people use their cell phones. To this day I still play my onboard games/apps (Animal Crossing/Mario alarm clock anybody?) & use Personal Trainer: Walking to track my walking activity for the day.

Bought a used Game Boy Advance SP somewhere in 2011 at age 34/35 just for completion's sake.

Comes in handy when I want to test the multiplayer features of GBA games I have collected over the years. I tend to use it most out of the GBAs now.

Just bought mt 3DS this year in June at age 37. I use it at about equal frequency as my trusty DSi. Excellent system.

Bought my DSi XL this year in July. Wanted to have a good backup system & wanted to feel the difference in the regular DSi & DSi XL.

Just bought my Wii U this year in August. Unfortunately, 2 weeks after buying I lose it in a burglary at a relative's house. I was house-sitting for that relative & they broke in while I was at work.

Lost my Wii U, my 4 Wii U games, my newly bought DSi XL with SD card & carrying case, my 12 3DS games, the box for my 3DS (luckily I carried actual 3DS system with me that night), 31 of my 92 Wii games, my 4 original launch-era Wiimotes, 3 Nunchuks (they overlooked 4th one), & my Wii audio/video cable.

All that was left of that pile was one of the Wii U console stands.

However, when I DID own it, it lived up to everything I spoke of about Nintendo unifying the gaming world.

I am working on replenishing my lost goods as we speak (no thanks to the sorry local law enforcement).

I also own an Atari Flashback 3, an XBox (gift from relative), & a Jakks Pacific/Namco Plug & Play.

As you can see, I simply can't pick a favorite. I like 'em all!

•{ Favorite game for that system? }•

Can't really pick favorites here either. Even though if you were to pin me down, I would say that as a child I wanted to own every single Mario game ever made (much easier to do then than now, right?).

Anyway, I'll just mention a sampler of notables I have played from each system.

NES: Super Mario Bros. 1, Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario Bros. 3; Duck Hunt; Donkey Kong Classics; Mega Man; Mega Man 2; Mega Man 3; Mega Man 4; Mega Man 5; Mega Man 6; Ducktales; Chip & Dale: Rescue Rangers; Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!; Pro Wrestling, Tecmo World Wrestling, Kung Fu; Double Dragon; Double Dragon II: The Revenge; River City Ransom; Bad Dudes; The Adventures of Bayou Billy; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project; Contra; Super C; Friday the 13th; Faxanadu; Demon Sword; Clash at Demonhead; Golgo 13.

Really big into platformers & beat-em-ups back then.

SNES: Super Mario World, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Super Mario All-Stars, Super Mario Kart, Mario Paint, Donkey Kong Country, Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy Kong's Quest, Donkey Kong Country: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble, Mega Man X, Mega Man X2, Mega Man X3, Star Fox, Super Castlevania IV, Street Fighter II, Super Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat II, Mortal Kombat 3, Killer Instinct, The Legend of Zelda, A Link to the Past, Super Metroid, Super Turrican, Shadowrun, Syndicate, Out of this World, Flashback, Blackthorne, Prince of Persia, Final Fantasy IV (posed as II), Final Fantasy VI (posed as III), Chrono Trigger; Robotrek, Illusion of Gaia, Breath of Fire, Breath of Fire II, Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals, Brain Lord, Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV: Wall of Fire, Genghis Khan II: Clan of the Gray Wolf, Populous, Civilization, Sim City, Sim City 2000, Tetris Attack, Uniracers, Earthworm Jim, NBA Jam.

Started branching out in tastes in this era. Much more RPGs & strategy games added to the mix of platformers & now head-to-head fighters.

N64: Super Mario 64, Mario Kart 64, Mario Party, Mario Party 2, Mario Party 3, Mario Tennis, Paper Mario, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, Star Fox 64, F-Zero X, Super Smash Bros., GoldenEye 007, Perfect Dark, Turok Dinosaur Hunter, Turok 2 Seeds of Evil, Turok 3: Shadow of Evolution, Doom 64, Duke Nukem 64, Hybrid Heaven, Killer Instinct Gold, WCW vs. nWo: World Tour, WCW/nWo Revenge, WWF WrestleMania 2000, WWF No Mercy, Fighter's Destiny, Fighter's Destiny 2, Mystical Ninja featuring Goemon, Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie, Conker's Bad Fur Day, Mischief Makers, Yoshi's Story, Tetrisphere,

Played with friends a lot during this era so many multiplayer games in the mix. Also lots of pro wrestling & first-person shooters taking center stage.

GC: Animal Crossing, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Luigi's Mansion, Super Mario Sunshine, Mario Kart: Double Dash, Mario Party 4, Mario Party 5, Mario Party 6, Mario Party 7, Mario Power Tennis, Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, Mario Superstar Baseball, Super Mario Strikers, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, Wario Ware Inc.: Mega Party Game$, The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, Killer7, XIII, TimeSplitters 2, TimeSplitters: Future Perfect, Resident Evil 0, Resident Evil 4, Bloody Roar, Viewtiful Joe, Viewtiful Joe 2, Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble, Pikmin, Pikmin 2, Odama, Mega Man Anniversary Collection, Sonic Mega Collection, F-Zero GX, Custom Robo, Chibi-Robo!, Harvest Moon: Magical Melody, Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life, Harvest Moon: Another Wonderful Life.

In between Animal Crossing & Super Smash Bros. Melee, I was playing a lot of Nintendo exclusives as well as an eclectic mix of various interesting games. The slower output of the Gamecube fit in just fine now that I was hitting game shops for older games to past systems.

Wii: Wii Sports, Wii Play, Wii Fit, Wii Music, Wii Sports Resort, Animal Crossing: City Folk, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Super Mario Galaxy, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Mario Kart Wii, Mario Party 8, Super Paper Mario, Wario Ware: Smooth Moves, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Link's Crossbow Training, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Trauma Center: Second Opinion, No More Heroes, No More Heroes: Desperate Struggle, Okami, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3, The Godfather: Blackhand Edition, Bully: Scholarship Edition, Punch-Out!!, Doc Louis' Punch-Out!!, Grill-off with Ultra Hand, Boom Blox, Rhythm Heaven Fever, Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree, Wordjong Party, Elebits, Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility, Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure, Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection, Excite Truck.

I was playing so much from Wii. All the varied ideas & novel usages of the Wiimote & accessories. I hated the 3rd party for protesting this system. Too much good was on it.

Wii U: Pikmin 3, New Super Mario Bros. U, New Super Luigi U, Game & Wario, Nintendoland.

My Wii U collection got cut short due to me being robbed but my just bought New Super Luigi U & soon The Wonderful 101 will reunite with the rest once I get another Wii U.

GB/GBC: Super Mario Land, Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, Super Mario Bros. Deluxe, Mario's Picross, Donkey Kong ('94), The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX, The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages, The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons, Metroid II: Return of Samus, Pokémon Pinball, Game & Watch Gallery, Burgertime Deluxe, Ms. Pac-Man.

I never owned a Game Boy proper but through my GBAs I have been playing the Game Boy & Game Boy Color games I have collected here & there. Some of these I have just played by 3DS's Virtual Console.

GBA: Wario Ware: Twisted, Wario Ware Inc.: Mega Microgame$, Mario Tennis: Power Tour, Mario Golf: Advance Tour, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Mario vs. Donkey Kong, Super Mario Advance, Advance Wars, Advance Wars: Black Hole Rising, The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, Metroid Fusion, Metroid: Zero Mission, Bomberman Tournament, Drill Dozer, Castlevania: Circle of the Moon, Golden Sun, Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town, Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town, Pac-Man Collection, Namco Museum, Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire.

GBA helped kill a LOT of time at work! Experimented with many games & franchises here.

DS: Clubhouse Games, Wordjong, Picross 3D, Picross DS, New Super Mario Bros., Mario Party DS, Mario Kart DS, Wario Ware: Touched!, Wario Ware: DIY, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourhglass, The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. Metroid Prime: Pinball, Rhythm Heaven, Elite Beat Agents, KORG DS-10 Synthesizer, KORG DS-10 Synthesizer Plus, Namco Museum DS, Game & Watch Collection, Game & Watch Collection 2, Geometry Wars: Galaxies, Advance Wars: Dual Strike, Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir, Professor Layton and the Curious Village, Trauma Center: Under the Knife, Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2, Personal Trainer Walking, Cooking Mama, Cooking Mama 2: Dinner with Friends, Cooking Mama 3: Shop & Chop, Gardening Mama, Brain Age, Brain Age 2, Big Brain Academy, Scribblenauts, Super Scribblenauts, Animal Crossing: Wild World, Touch Solitaire, Art Style: BASE 10, Art Style: PiCTOBiTS, Art Style: BOXLIFE, Number Battle, Tetris Party Live, Absolute Chess, Game & Watch: Donkey Kong Jr., Game & Watch: Mario's Cement Factory.

Played all kinds of stuff on the DS. Got deeper into brain games & puzzle games.

3DS: Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, Super Mario 3D Land, New Super Mario Bros. 2, Mario Kart 7, Kid Icarus: Uprising, Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, Brain Age: Concentration Training, Fire Emblem: Awakening, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate, Scribblenauts Unlimited, Paper Mario: Sticker Star, Mario & Luigi Dream Team, Shin Megami Tensei IV, Picross e, Picross e2, Star Wars Pinball.

Before I got to enjoy most of these titles in depth, I was robbed. Luckily I kept my 3DS on my person so I can play the Virtual Console games & 3DS downloadables until I restore what I lost. Paper Mario, Mario & Luigi, & Shin Megami await the reunion.