Sonicmario

<forumuser name="Sonicmario" /> In the days of yore, and as the console wars raged on, I found myself in the middle of two fierce factions. I had friends who liked Sonic and thought that Sega and its Genesis could do no wrong, and I had friends who like Mario and thought that Nintendo and the SNES were equally infallible. Since I owned both systems, many times my friends would come over to my place to do battle, both verbally ("Sonic Sux!/Rox! No, Mario Sux!/Rox!" "I know you are but what am I" etc.) and on the electronic playgrounds of both consoles. One time, when I was kicking their collective asses in Super Mario Kart, I said something like this: "One day they'll make a game that has both Sonic and Mario in it together and it will be the greatest game ever!" Yes, in the console wars, I was Switzerland. After the laughter died down, someone said, "What would you call it, the sonicmario game? That'll never happen!" I said, "Yeah, sounds like a good game to me." For the rest of the day they called me sonicmario and I got my nickname. It seems that I eventually got my wish including good (SSB: Brawl) and iffy (Sonic vs Mario Olympics) examples.

As far as gaming goes, besides my bias toward platform games that star either a 2-Dimensional Sonic or Mario in them, I play just about every genre except simulation sports games. But, I can get into the "arcadey" sports games that focus on fun instead of realism. Competitive puzzle games like Tetris Attack/Puzzle League are high on my list as well. I also like to dabble in the classic-type games in XBLA since they accommodate my retro tendencies, and I love shmups. Shmups are like no-limit poker; easy to play but difficult to master.

My real gaming love though is pinball. Not computer pinball, but real, tactile, arcade pinball. I'm sure that this one may be coming out of left field for some people, but I'll continue. I am a highly ranked player in the world of competitive pinball. Touring and playing in various tournaments is great fun, and I urge you, if you like pinball, to find a league in your area and compete. Because of this, even though I prefer arcade pinball to video pinball, Sonic Spinball holds a special place in my gaming heart.

I look forward to contributing to the site. I hope this is a community where posters like myself can make thought-provoking statements, debate well, and not be afraid to be wrong. This seems to be true based on what I've seen so far.