WELCOME TO MY NINTENDO SHRINE! (WIP)

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MY NINTENDO CONSOLES!

GAMECUBE

I got my Gamecube as a hand-me-down from my older sister, and while I definitely didn't play it as much as my other consoles, it's still super special to me. We had a standard purple Gamecube and 1 (one) official controller. The other was a crappy MadCatz one. I vividly remember it had a button that would stop the game and make it play a really obnoxious screeching noise... still no clue what was up with that.

For whatever reason, my Gamecube never had a memory card, so I never got to save any games and as such never got far in any of them. I really only remember playing a handful of games, mostly Mario Kart: Double Dash and the bonus demo disk it came with. I also played some Pac-Man World Luigi's Mansion (though I always got scared and turned off the TV as soon as the first ghost showed up.

I really wish I had gotten to play some more games on it, but my older sister took it to a game night with her youth group and it was never seen again... sigh. I hope to buy one of my own one day, but they can be so expensive now that it's hit the nostalgia market. My girlfriend has one I've messed around with a few times though. :)

Games shelf!

WII

"You either had a Wii or your parents were a happy couple" WRONG!!!!!! I GOT BOTH!!!!

My Wii was also a hand-me-down from my older sister, but I have lots more memories with it than the Gamecube. I don't actually... remember most of the memories though I can't lie. Still, I can't even tell you how many hours I spent playing the same scratched disks and random demos over and over and over. That Shop Channel download screen is ingrained in my mind forever.

Weirdly enough, we never had Mario Kart Wii. I just played a LOT of Wii Fit and Wii Sports and some random demos I'd download from the eShop. I remember playing the demos of Pokemon Rumble, Chick Chick Boom, and 2 Fast 4 Gnomez countless times. The balance minigames were always a favorite of mine in Wii Fit, especially the ski slope jumping one. My whole family would be getting in on that bro!!! I also really liked bowling (ofc) in Wii Sports, but I am a BEAST in the boxing game. Don't even play with me.

Another tragic fate... the disk drive of our Wii started sounding really weird and eventually broke so we sadly had to get rid of our Wii. :( I'm not too sad about this one though because it was eventually replaced with a Wii U so I got the Wii backwards compatibility in the end anyway.

Games shelf!

DS LITE

This was yet another hand-me-down from my older sister. I didn't use this one much. I do remember playing New Super Mario Bros often enough but that's about it, aside from playing around on Pictochat every now and again (by myself (like a loser)). I had a red one and it had a broken hinge. I still have it but because I have a 3DS and also because I lost the charger it just sits in a drawer rotting away... sorry DS Lite.

Games shelf!

3DS

THIS is where a lot of my memories are. I got my 3DS when I was fairly young, I think a few years after it released?? It was just a standard model, which is the one I still own today. It's kinda small and I'd love to get a New 2DS but that's also annoying to get now and mine still works fine so whatever. If it's not broken don't fix it.

The 3DS was probably my main console through childhood, especially since it was portable so I could bring it with me on road trips and such. I even snuck it to school and church a few times to keep me busy heh. I feel like I played just a lot of Animal Crossing and Tomodachi Life as a kid, and sometimes Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (which I eventually lost?? I have no clue where that cartridge went). I also spent a lot of time playing the quirky little applications (Streetpass, Badge Arcade, Swapnote/Swapdoodle)... I always got a kick out of the sound app too. Just so so many voice memos of me and my sister screaming.

This is another console I played countless demos on. I've played, like, 20 minutes of so many games thanks to eShop demos. Some that stand out in my mind are Harmoknight, Rhythm Heaven: Megamix, Mutant Mudds, and all the Style Savvy demos... sidenote, who decided to make it so you could only play demos a select number of times? Who greenlit that? Punishment for 1000 years.

In recent years, I've modded my 3DS and play a lot of games through piracy (allegedly). Always pirate games and always mod your consoles. Life advice. Heart emoji. I'm sure you've heard this a million times but modding your 3DS really is as easy as everyone says and is SO worth it!! I love playing around with themes and digital Amiibo and Homebrew games. I use hShop for my games now that the eShop has closed, and it works great! If you're interested in modding your own check out this guide. I have also linked it in the sidebar.

Games shelf!

WII U

I believe I also got my Wii U a few years after it released, but still before the Switch; online games still had quick matchmaking so it must not have been too long after release. It was a Christmas gift I had begged and begged and begged for and finally got one! I still have it today (now in my room instead of the living room), and it gets used every now and again if a friend comes over or I'm in a nostalgic mood, but admitedly it is collecting some dust... sorry little Wii U! :( Funnily enough it also had disk drive errors like my Wii, but it kind of just magically resolved itself so whatever man it's none of my business.

The Wii U was the first home console I have substantial memories with, and it definitely shaped a lot of my childhood. We had a lot of games for it, at least relative to the other consoles we had owned, so there was lots of fun to be had! I think the game I played the most was probably Splatoon, I played that game SO much... and still sucked. I've never been good at Splatoon. I can't even count the number of times I replayed the story mode... I still vividly remember the Final Fest (I believe I had voted Marie, she was always my favorite). Crazy times.

I also played a lot of the usual stuff: Nintendo Land, Super Mario 3D World, Mario Kart 8, Rabbids Land... wait y'all didn't play Rabbids Land??? Who hasn't played Rabbids Land??? Joking. Kind of. Me and my sister played it so much because it sucked so bad. That and Nintendo Land are always my go-to when friends come over. Nintendo Land Attraction Tour is always a riot, especially the Mario Chase minigame. Holy crap. The Pikmin single player campaign was always my favorite though-- which isn't shocking, as I'd go on to download the Pikmin 3 demo and become completely hooked. I had replayed that demo so many times, savoring every second... I think I still have 1 final available play that I'd saved all these years.

In recent years it mostly gets used for Wii Fit U when I feel like it, and Nintendo Land, Mario Kart 8, and Wii Sports when I have friends over. I'm thinking about modding it since I love my modded 3DS so much but less people have done it so I'm a bit nervous to try it myself. Maybe one day!

Games shelf!

SWITCH & SWITCH LITE

My most recent and most played consoles! Lots and lots of memories with these over the last few years.

I got my original Switch for Christmas a few years after release, which was the best!!! I played a lot of Splatoon 2 in that first little while, and eventually Animal Crossing: New Horizons as well. Here's the catch: my sister got really into Fortnite around this time and since we shared the Switch... I did not get to use it. Ever. She also absolutely destroyed those Joycons; I have never seen Joycon drift so bad!!!

I begged my mom enough and eventually got my pride and joy... my yellow Switch Lite!!! MY BABY!!!!

It was so nice to have my own console; this was one of few consoles that belonged to me and only me, and it felt nice to have something special to play all my games on. And it was my favorite color! It was the only yellow one available for miles but by god I wasn't gonna buy a Switch if it wasnt yellow. I got many good years out of that Lite, and played lots of indie games rather than full Nintendo titles; I only really played a handful of specific first-party games (Splatoon 2 and 3, Animal Crossing, Pikmin 3 and 4, Miitopia and eventually Tomodachi Life). Ok maybe that's more than I thought. But relative to the amount of indie games I played on my Switch that number is miniscule.

Funny story; this past Christmas (2025) I charged up my Switch to bring on my trip out of town to keep me busy. And all of a sudden the battery was draining within MINUTES. I had just bought some new games and I could barely play them without being attached to a charging cord!! What the hell!!

I did plenty of research and troubleshooting and it turned out I just needed a replacement battery; no problem! My dad was pretty handy, and he told me he'd handle it. So he did! ... Yeah he broke it I had to get a new one.

Luckily, I didn't lose any progress in any of my games! After lots of hours of redownloading and many conversations with customer service, I got all of my stuff back no problem. Yay!!! I even bought another yellow one, so really nothing changed (it did come in a Japanese box though, which was kinda cool. Apparently Switches are region-free, which I didn't know until this whole ordeal!).

My Switch Lite is still my main console, especially now with the release of Tomodachi Life: Living The Dream (god help us all). I don't plan on buying a Switch 2 anytime soon; much too pricey for my taste, and most of the games I want are still coming out on Switch anyway, so it hasn't caused any problems for me yet. Maybe if they release a Switch 2 Lite I'll think on it. I'm excited to see what the modding scene will look like for the Switch once it is faded out and has less security; I hope modding it will become as easy as the 3DS, I'd love to have a Homebrewed Switch! But I think most people who want the appeal of a Homebrewed Switch just get Steam Decks (which I would also love to try out someday, but sooo expensive...)