The Nintendistance of Two Young Lovers
The year was 1991. His name was Chris, he was 15. His most attractive quality was that he was some kind of Nintendo Tournament champ. Chris responded to my posting on whether or not it was possible to play US CD games on a Japanese PC engine console. He not only knew the answer (yes, they were interchangeable), but in his first email uttered these sexy words:
“I think gameplay is more important than graphics!”
At 14, I believed I had found my soulmate.
In her story “The Keeper,” Raina Lee reminisces on her first romance, faxing long-winded letters and discussing favorite import titles with her video game valentine. The internet was a different world back then–MySpace stalking, webcam dates, and trading Youtube’d videos of rapping cats just weren’t possible with a 9600 baud modem.
They managed technology’s limits, but were never able to exchange Zelda tips and consummate their affair unfortunately. Raina’s parents found out about their nerdy courtship, and swiftly octorok-blocked Chris, forbidding their daughter any further communication with him. Their two hearts were never reunited.
I was CRUSHED. I had to return to the reality of not having a special someone who liked me not for my looks or popularity, but for my secret geek knowledge. My mother never told me this, but those are the keepers. I found the curly fax paper years later, and I wonder if Chris is still out there playing import games.
You Only Live Twice: Adventures In Game Culture – The Keeper
“Maybe We Could Get Together” Artwork (Sam Brown)
source: GameSetWatch
Eric Caoili - September 28th, 2006 - 
ENiGMA on September 28, 2006 at 3:02 pm
im confused….
Sphinx on September 28, 2006 at 3:07 pm
Awwwwwwwwwww, I WANT A NERD GIRL!
Dave on September 28, 2006 at 3:18 pm
who dosent?? to little nerd girls in the world! i think the world should invest more money in that!
Playswithwii on September 28, 2006 at 3:37 pm
No, really, I lmao’d reading that.
LitoJ on September 28, 2006 at 3:58 pm
lol you people
I have a girfriend who’s a Metroid fan
and I’m frineds with this new girl who likes Mortal Kombat as much as I do though both my g/f and her hate each other…
[MaSQuE] on September 28, 2006 at 3:59 pm
That’s sweet… in an incredibly geeky way. ^_^
Grant on September 28, 2006 at 4:21 pm
I love explodingdog.com
johanna on September 28, 2006 at 4:24 pm
Aww… dat’s sho sad. Hope they find each other…
Marc on September 28, 2006 at 4:32 pm
Strangely, that’s saddening…
And not all girls who like games are ugly. Two cheerleaders in my school plan on getting a DS and/or a Wii by year’s end(what’d you know, cheerleaders play videogames).
raindog on September 28, 2006 at 4:46 pm
Nerd girls are the only kind of girls who have ever turned me on. Ever.
I’m pretty sure that “Chris” the author was talking to was actually 45, though.
brother phil? on September 28, 2006 at 5:12 pm
i’m definitely adding octorok-blocked to my vocab. thanks 4cr!
siempre on September 28, 2006 at 10:37 pm
There’s more geek chicks than you’d think, and some of them look normal and maybe even… wait for it… attractive(zomg wtf!?)
9th Sage on September 28, 2006 at 11:07 pm
Geek girls are awesome…I once dated a girl who had a personal vendetta against (I know this is a Nintendo-focused site, but..) Robotnik. lol She was a pretty good gamer too…I mean, she had a lot of other attractive qualities, but it was nice to see someone who’d geek out about games as much as I would.
Boots on September 29, 2006 at 1:05 am
siempre is right.
some of them are even reading 4cr on a daily basis.
Duncan on September 29, 2006 at 2:38 am
Yoink!
Screenplay’d!
davidbc on September 29, 2006 at 8:36 am
I knew that was a sam brown drawing the instant I saw it. His stuff is awesome.