Andy Marsolais

I don't know if anyone will read this or even care, but I'm going to start blogging my NES reviews. This first post will be an intro about myself, what I'm into, how I got here and why NES.Attachment 1870

BIO

My name is Andy Marsolais, I currently live in Kingston, ON and work as the Director of MarkComm for a local nonprofit called St. Vincent de Paul Society of Kingston but grew up in Cornwall next door to Ryan Gosling. I'm a multi-sport college varsity athlete but spent the majority of my high school years competing in our local Magic the Gathering Arena league. I absolutely HATE hockey with a passion so that makes me some sort of Canadian/American hybrid super mutant (yes, that makes high school very tough up here)

I collect things from my childhood and since I was born in 81' that means the original NES holds a special place in my heart right next to my vinyl and VHS collections. Here's my stats so far:

NES = 140 games, 8 consoles, 5 light guns, 2 power gloves and a power pad
Vinyl = 7,000+
VHS = 800+

I'm a jocks worst nightmare since I play sports, bench 275lbs, squat 405lbs, deadlift 495lbs and can still tell you the value of a 4th edition Shivan Dragon.

How I got here

The KillerReviews podcast of course. I listen to KillerReviews on my way to work and recently discovered Digging up the 80's which I hope makes a return real soon (wink wink). The shows are great and inform me of fun movies like Troll Hunter that I might not of heard of previously do to a lack of advertising.

Why NES?

I've always loved NES games because of there simplicity and because they allow you to have fun for 30-60min instead of having to spend a day or two fully emersed in a game just to get started. My focus will be games most people can find at a local shop and none of this "hidden gem" crap like Earthbound which I admit is a favorite of mine but isn't affordable to the average person who just wants to rediscover an old classic. My recent focus has been games that where previously unplayable because of bad or confusing layouts but are now enjoyable due to the internet and the invention of walkthroughs which I can only assume have been invented by super nerds collecting social assistance while hiding in their mothers basement. My first review will be Castlevania 2, both because of its ridiculousness and because it's the last game I finished so look out for that.

Well that's me in a nutshell so I hope you enjoy my futuer blabbering and feel free to criticize me all you want.