Think back to your first video game memory.

Was it the neon glow of an arcade? Someone tossed you a controller at a neighbor’s house? Are there pictures of you holding a controller that you don’t remember?

Me? I’m that last one. It’d be poetic if the first game I remembered playing was The Legend of Zelda, but that’s not how this story goes.

I cut my teeth (literally) on the Atari 2600 and Texas Instruments TI-99/4A. There’s a picture of me in a diaper holding an Atari joystick. Don’t ask me where it is. Strangely, I can see the image in my mind, but I have no idea where it ended up.

Let’s fast forward a couple years…

The NES took off in the United States and, unfortunately, I was not one of the lucky 80s kids to have one…right away…but my neighbor did. I must have jabbed my finger into his back a million times to ask if I could come to his house to play Nintendo. We’re still friends to this day, but I’m lucky he didn’t kill me back then.

Right before I started 2nd grade, The Legend of Zelda was released. My neighbor had it. We played it. I LOVED IT.

Even more, though, was the fact that Link somehow imprinted on me. Now, as a 2nd grader, he already had my favorite color covered. Think back to when you were in elementary and how important your favorite color was. Don’t lie to yourself, it was a big deal.

MOVING ON-I remember reading the manual over and over again, loving the story and artwork, but then something occurred to me. The more I watched the sprite in the game and the more official artwork rolled out, I began to notice a pattern: Link held his sword in his left hand.

Now, FULL STOP, I know that this is a topic of contention in online forums, but give this 80s kid a break. ALL of the heroes that I grew up with (let’s just name the franchises to save time, shall we?): Transformers, GI Joe, Voltron, Silverhawks, Thundercats, He-Man…need I go on? ALL OF THEM, right handed. As a kid, when you’re a little bit different, you tend to grab onto some of those differences.

Time passed on…we finally got an NES a couple years later with The Adventure of Link…that I got to play every other weekend…

My family did NOT get an SNES…but my neighbor did…Fortunately, this time, I had developed some tact…not to mention that they never got A Link to the Past…so there’s that…

By this time, though, a steady stream of Nintendo Power was hitting my dad’s house every month, so I lived the SNES era vicariously through print and my neighbor. Shortly thereafter, however, I would become the proud owner of my very first, NON-SHARED, Zelda game. Link’s Awakening.

I loved that game and became so proficient at it that…that I can play the current remaster on Switch almost on autopilot…sadly…

I can go on…how my love for the series continued through Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask. How I was devastated when the Spaceworld 2000 Zelda video never came to fruition. How I raged when Windwaker was revealed. How I quickly recanted when I played the demo. How I lost it when my love for werewolves (different story, different time) was merged into Twilight Princess, by far one of the most engaging STORIES of the series (FIGHT ME). The dark time we basically broke up during the Wii years and the debacle of trying to play left handed. How we reconciled in the very first minutes of Breath of the Wild which, honest to God Almighty, made me feel like I was playing NES Zelda all over again (*).

(*) I loved and played A Link to the Past, Phantom Hourglass, A Link Between Worlds, and Hyrule Warriors. I played Spirit Tracks, Skyward Sword, Four Sword Adventures, and Link’s Crossbow Training…I own Triforce Heroes…I’m not sure what to do with it…

What keeps me coming back to all of this? What is it about the characters, lore, and stories that keeps me engaged enough to buy virtually any of their merchandising?

Like I said, Link imprinted on me.

A young man (predominantly left handed) that stands up to evil with courage and honor in the face of overwhelming odds and triumphs?

There could be better role models out there, but hey…LISTEN…this one wears green…(*)

(*) Except when wearing the following: Blue ring, red ring, blue mail, red mail, Goron tunic, Zora tunic, Zora armor, magic armor, Ordonian outfit, Champion’s tunic (and every other outfit in that game EXCEPT for one) or any other starter outfit that ISN’T the Hero’s tunic…