Spring in Three Dimensions

For students in school, there comes a time in the year when the flowers start to bloom, the sun seems to shine brighter, and all we can think about is how long left until we can get out of the hellhole known as a classroom (not all classes really, I’m sure there’s one or two that most people like) to enjoy it all. It’s Spring Fever, and as much as some wish to deny it, we all have that idea to look out the window, and wish we were out THERE in the sun, than in class.

And that’s why schools invented Spring Break, for everyone to have that chance to go out and enjoy the blooming wild, ride ATVs, hang out with friends, see a good movie in the theater, play a butt-ton of video games and stay up late (though you could do that already), go out to a theme park and puke from all the rides, or anything else you could think of, and maybe bring back a good story about it when school started back up a week later.

This is the case with this story. It’s basically been a year since this tale had existed, and it’s something I really didn’t expect to happen, and it remains one of the luckiest things that has happened in my life.

Last year, me and my family went to Stockton (near Sacramento for those who need a map) to visit some family for Spring Break, about a few years since our last visit to Stockton. About a day after we arrived, me and my brother Dan were able to see a film at a real nice movie theater on El Dorado Street. We would go to this theater when we could when we visited our Grandma every month when we were kids, and before she moved down to Yreka to live near us. When we were younger, there was always a bunch of people there to go see a film.

But then, walking back into that place years later, it felt it was on the brink of abandonment. It still looked nice, but there were almost NO people in the lobby except for a few employees. And this place was HUGE, so it felt completely EMPTY. Maybe it was a slow day, but I still don’t remember that many people in our theater watching the film.

Anyways, after the film, me and Dan hit the arcade in the lobby, where we saw the usual skill games, racing game, basketball hoop game, and DDR. Some of the prizes in the skill machines from what I can remember, came down to gift cards, headphones, iPods, and even a season DVD of a Television show. At least two skill machines (a blade cutting machine, and a keyhole game) had the item I had wanted: The Nintendo 3DS.

I’ve always had mixed feelings for Nintendo and their platforms, and this came with no exception for the 3DS. I liked the idea of glasses-free 3D, it was a cool concept. But I couldn’t find that many games outside of Nintendo’s franchises that would interest me. At that point, the new Pokemon game was announced, and I wanted one, and I would’ve done almost anything to get one. (especially the special edition Pikachu XL one, but that’s a different subject) So even burning all money I had on a skill machine to get one was on that list of things.

Something like this.

So after playing a couple other games, I went up to the blade cutting game first, either out of closeness or because I didn’t trust the keyhole game, and put in a dollar of tokens in. I was probably going to lose automatically, but at least I knew I was trying. I knew where I was targeting.

I held down the button to make the blade go right, and watched it go to the first string where the 3DS was, and from there, I instantly let go of the button. And at first, I was thinking it wasn’t going to cut, as I saw I possibly UNDERSHOT my target, with the blunt side of the cutter near the string. When I looked down and pressed the next button, the one to send the blade up, I thought the string was going to go to the outside area of the blade, and was going to be a part of a continuous cycle of losses.

Then, all of a sudden-

*SNAP*

*THUD*

When I looked up, all I saw was a broken string where the 3DS was hanging a second ago.

And from there, I felt like I had won the lottery.

I picked up my prize, and was shocked to see it in my hands. A Nintendo 3DS, in the box and everything. I went off in a nuclear burst of happiness, yelling and cheering and doing ridiculous victory dances in the arcade, eventually expanding to the empty lobby. One of the employees had noticed me doing this, and wanted to know what I was happy about. I told him, and couldn’t help but hug the guy in celebration.

By the time our ride came, I went out carrying my prize with my head held high.

It’s been a year since that day, and I’ve picked up games like Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon, Legend of Zelda, and even one of the new Pokemon games, and have always had an enjoyable time with each, all in spectacular 3D. I’m also looking forward to games like the new Mario Golf, and the new Smash Bros., which looks awesome on a 3DS. I’ve had my issues with it, like a quirky R button, but still managed to get enough fun out of this handheld. This story is to celebrate my time with it since, and I hope to still get enough fun experiences out of it as I continue to play it.