I’ve been crazy about Nintendo for as long as I can remember, and although I had acquired a few bits and pieces throughout childhood, I only seriously began building a collection 25 years ago.
It seems unbelievable to write that down, to think that the turn of the millennium was that long ago now!
I always did this for personal enjoyment. Driven by nostalgia most definitely, but I’m also drawn to both Japanese culture and innovation.
First and foremost I’m a gamer, and some of my earliest memories were loading games onto my home computer by cassette tape. As I was growing up I recall we had a Sinclair Spectrum, BBC Micro and Atari ST at various times. In fact I would say this is where my love for platform games originated. I must give that honour to the Dizzy series, developed by the Oliver Twins under the Codemasters label.
I can also vividly remember the moments when I got my first NES and SNES. I got the NES Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles pack for Christmas one year along with a copy of Double Dragon 2. Good times.
I started this website in 2022 as a place to share the great items in my collection but also with the ultimate aim of sharing knowledge on the Mario series with younger generations. Mario really has had a genuine cultural impact worldwide for over 40 years. And what’s even more remarkable is that the games have unrelentingly maintained their high-quality standards and innovation throughout that time. Beyond the most well-known games, there’s a deep and rich history there that deserves to be documented. Some of it I’m sure modern-day Nintendo wants to forget (Hotel Mario anyone?!), but it happened, and that’s what a true archive or”museum” should attempt to do, tell it how it was, warts and all.
I should also say that this website extends slightly beyond just Mario – I also like to talk about the Nintendo company more widely and in particular its heritage going way back to the very beginning. There are many non-Mario items in my collection and shown throughout this website. I’m sure you will find them interesting.
So, fast forward to today and I have made several recent improvements to this website, eager to keep the momentum in this 40th anniversary year of Mario and also the year of the upcoming Switch 2 release!
They include:
- This blog! I wanted to venture beyond the usual social media channels to provide more long-form content! Maybe I’ll get some interaction going with you my fellow readers and open up the comments!
- An A-Z list of the collection, so now you can locate items alphabetically, as well as by tag or category.
- Tweaks to the social media icons to reflect the latest logos and to add Bluesky.
- Numerous styling improvements and mobile optimisation
Thanks for dropping by and stay tuned as I plan to use this space to keep you informed about lots of cool and lesser-known stuff. I’ll give my own unique take on Mario and Nintendo history, and my travels to Japan and elsewhere!
As always, you can contact me with ideas or information, or follow me on social too!
Steve