For countless gaming fans around the world - and especially those who create and read the pages on this very website - Nintendo represents something truly special. For many, its games, consoles, franchises, and everything in between make up our childhoods, and this extends to those lucky enough to now be directly working with the company, too.
Cabel Sasser, co-founder of Panic Inc, has shared a rather heartwarming story online about his history with Nintendo. If you're unfamiliar with the name, Panic Inc is responsible for publishing the upcoming Untitled Goose Game on Nintendo Switch, which was revealed recently in the Nindies Showcase Summer 2018. Having your own company featured along the classic red of Nintendo would be special for anyone, but Sasser has explained why it means so much to him in particular.
This thread should act as a nice way to kickstart your week:
A lovely story showing that, in some cases, dreams really can come true. Congratulations Cabel! Of course, in this particular case, we all get to play a brand new game on Switch featuring a fantastic-looking angry goose because of it, too. A win-win!
Do you have any childhood Nintendo memories that you'd like to share? Feel free to let it all out in the comments below.
[source twitter.com]
Comments 19
My childhood Nintendo story is rather sad
As I didn't have the money to buy an NES in the early 90s, I used to walk into rental video and game stores and keep looking at the games and covers on the shelves, wondering what all those games would play like - which made me think some terrible games would be amazing. That's how a kid's sense of phantasy can be. That was until they installed some TV sets and gave you the option to pay and play on NES or Mega Drive (SNES was such a new thing and things didn't happen so fast in my corner of the world). That day I decided to pay to play on the NES and chose Mega Man 3. And I was amazed... Some may ask why the hell I didn't choose to play on the MD, which was the new generation at the time. Can't answer that. All I can say is that I was crazy about the robot and I even had a gaming magazine special issue about that game release before I could even play it. Hard to explain...
Well that story melted my tiny stoney heart.
If Nintendo want to make other people's life long dreams come true they could let me direct a new Super Metroid, just if their asking for who's next
Game of the year 2019
Love the letter from nintendo - we have the 8 bit nes, no plans to release a 16 bit system in the us at the moment. Imagine nintendo now having the switch out in japan and undecided on whether they would bother releasing it in us or europe!
No, you're tearing up.
I’m buying this game regardless of reviews sniff
These type of stories are always nice. Regardless of the vitriol that sometimes gets said Nintendo, at its heart, is an example of a company that tries to care and have empathy for its customers.
Really keen on Untitled Goose Game. I would jump at the opportunity to own a physical release as I love the concept and its sense of humour.
His name is Cabel Sasser??
That’s really trippy; my brother’s name is Caleb. And we’re Sassers.
I plan to get this even more now.
What sells it is the smile he has in the photo at the end.
You can really tell there's his preteen self inside.
Two things I wrote about Nintendo when I was a bit younger:
1.
That Christmas would transform my life forever. I was given a Super Nintendo Entertainment System with a copy of Super Mario World.
Through this game I was transported to an enchanting island filled with wonderful landscapes and magical creatures. Here, I was tasked with the heroic charge of defeating an evil king and his minions, and rescuing a beautiful princess. I controlled my own destiny through my actions and decisions, and found ever more inventive ways to overcome the obstacles before me. The challenges grew constantly harder and more risky, but the reward of success became ever more satisfying.
As a young boy I was reminded that I had to face similar obstacles in real life, but I was ready to face the challenges no matter how hard, and overcome them, because I knew that I too could be a hero if I was determined enough, in any world, real or imaginary.
2.
When I first applied for a job in videogames at Rare, I was asked to write a cover document detailing why I wanted to work in the industry and what it meant to me personally. I have provided a slightly updated version of that original document here because I feel it clearly sums up my passion for and commitment to video games, and the views expressed within still hold true to this day:
Over the years I have played many great video games, including all-time classics such as Super Mario World, Street Fighter II Turbo, Dungeon Keeper 2, Advance Wars, GoldenEye, Sega Rally Championship, Halo: CE, and Journey, to name a few of my favourites. And each time I experience a genuinely great video game it reminds me why I love them so much.
As a child there is a certain magic quality about many occasions: The night before Christmas, waiting for Santa to visit and deliver your presents, and the excitement, tension, and anticipation that something special is going to happen. On Christmas day when you open your presents, it is enchanting playing with your toys for the first time. When people grow up and as the world itself matures, this excitement is often lost, and along with it those childlike feelings of wonder and magic.
I want to recreate the magic I experienced as a child discovering the power of video games for the first time. I would like to work on video games that are so special that when a child, teenager, or adult plays them they are immediately inspired and their lives changed. I want to help inspire the next generation of game designers and enkindle the passion in people who had not previously been interested in video games to become a part of this amazing industry.
It is my ambition and desire to create exciting new worlds, characters, and experiences that allow people to escape from the daily routine for just a little while and travel to wondrous new places full of imagination and adventure. Some people do this by directing awe inspiring film epics or writing wonderfully enchanting fairy tales, while others compose beautifully moving and uplifting melodies--I wish to realise it in video games.
What a lovely story. I can't wait to buy Untitled Goose Game. It's exactly the type of game my 4 kids and I enjoy taking turns playing together.
I love the story and the letters. That said I laughed a few times reading the letter Nintendo had sent him back in the day.
"[NoA] doesn't have any current plans to make a 16-bit system for home use in America"
-NoA 1989
"A version of [SMB3] compatible with the NES has not yet been scheduled and at this time we have no further information on this game"
-NoA 1989
"Details about the new paid online service will be revealed closer to launch"
-NoA 2018.
Oh, Nintendo, the more you change, the more you stay the same....
Having done DigiPen summer workshops, I always felt I was being sneaky about it.
I also learned I cannot code worth a wart.
Years later in college had a nice secret project with Sega as an art lead, which inevitably crashed due to inner working being shady and my personal life going to ruins. Reading this was like watching what happened to me in reverse.
Not trying to mourn over my lost op. Just a trippy feeling I had reading this.
I always though Nintendo of America was in New York. I was just in Seattle earlier this year too =(.
Oh gosh Cabel! I know him. He’s a buddy from a long time ago. If anyone remembers he made what was considered THE DS Lite review vid back in the day before YouTube. I still have it downloaded. Cabel is good people. He also funded/helped make Firewatch. One of the best story games ever made (if you’ve never played it. Personally I was hoping for a PSVR port but I’ll happily settle on the Switch version. WHAT a story. I cried)
@Paraka can you talk about it or is it still under a tight NDA?
I never went to DigiPen but I remember back in the day it was considered a breeding ground for industry talent. Instead I studied quantum physics at Cambridge… something I do get to use in dev work esp programming and planning.
@Mynameishello - Not quite NDA, but namely the project was pretty much burned and salted so it never saw any light, but happened during the Wii era and some garbage amongst people within and without having split ideas of what to do with us.
Then we had a few heads wanting to just sell us off for pocket money and let Sega take the weight, all the while my personal life had a best friend and my fiance elope and sell my projects off to another company (which I was pitching to Sega to keep my career if the company tanked). Lost everything in a very brutal fashion, and took 8-ish years to repair financially, but betrayals left me not wanting to even draw until just recently.
Nice story.
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