I definitely owe thanks to Nintendo as well.

I really got into gaming with the NES as I was never big on the Atari systems when I was real little. Then the Super NES really got me hooked on gaming. The N64 kept me interested, but was a little bit of a dissappointment as the good games were a little few and far between and gave my playstation a good bit of playtime.

The GC was more of the same, a good bit of great games, but kind of few and far between. But the GBA and DS have really been the saving grace keeping me interested in gaming. There have been great games on the GC, PS2 and X-box, but I've gotten pretty sick of all three over the past couple of years as such a huge majority of games are rehash and sequels.

The GBA had so many good 2D games which kept my interests up as I simply prefer them to 3D games, and the DS has really piqued my interest both with 2D games and innovative games that make good use of the touch screen.

Now I'm anxiously awaiting the revolution and to see what they can do with that controller. Not to mention being able to download NES and SNES games.

So, I agree with the OP. Thank you Nintendo for getting me into games, and keeping me into gaming.

I'd like to thank everyone for their comments, both positive and negative.

Nintendo has truly been my favorite developer/publisher since I was a small child, and each new system only confirms my belief more and more.

I like to think of them as the only true gaming company left, as Nintendo and Microsoft want to dominate our living rooms, whereas Nintendo is happy just giving us something to play in our living rooms.

The delay of LoZ : Twilight Princess is another POSITIVE note to me. Any other company would have forced this out to meet the holidays for extra sales, bugs or not. Nintendo didn't like how it was at that point, delayed it, and when they do release it, I'm confident it will take its place alongside the rest of the great games in this series.

I've been a Nintendo gamer throughout my entire life. The first system I ever owned was a Super Nintendo, and I loved it. I played that thing for hours every day. I also ended up getting an N64, over a PSX, because I liked Nintendo better. I loved that system as well.

When it came down to either getting a PS2, or a Gamecube, I opted to get a Playstation 2. I guess it was just because the games were better, and I was becoming more of a mature gamer. I love the system (despite the fact that I've had to buy a second console, due to the fact that my first one broke on me), and I'm glad I bought it.

However, last summer, I decided to get a Gamecube. I had played my friend's and absolutely loved it. Plus, it has some awesome games that I wanted to play (Windwaker, Metroid Prime, the Resident Evil games, etc.) Overall, I'm really glad that I bought it because it's an excellent system (definitely better than the PS2 as far as hardware goes), and it's made me get back into gaming.

About the comments concerning marketing and all that for companies...I don't hold it against them but I don't think it makes them any better. Nintendo fanboys who complain about Sony's media blitz, oversaturation in the marketplace as well as using evil selling tactics to push out competition obviously weren't paying attention during the 80s.

Oh, we were.

Difference is its 20 years later.

I will not "thank" Nintendo except to say I appreciate their philosophy on software and hardware in the industry.

I "thank" Nintendo when I buy their games, that is good enough for me.

I'm aggravated that no one told me that the gameboy/DS was such a frickin' blast. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga is cramping me up I play it so much.

Looking back, I picked a side in the late 90s, and it was Sony...in spite of the fact that I adored the SNES. I guess some of the hardware moves that Nintendo made seemed shortsighted to me at the time. The PS1 rewarded me with some great games, and I never really gave the N64 a second thought.

Then I picked one up used a few years back, and I realized what a mistake I'd made. Mario 64, Goldeneye, and especially Zelda OoT were better games than anything that ever came out on the PS1. Sure, there were fewer "good" games on the N64, but these were truly "GREAT" games...and how much time do you really have anyway?

This generation, I bought a PS2 first and it's pretty much the same story. Some very good games graced the PS2, but nothing in the same league as Metroid Prime, Wind Waker, or Mario Sunshine (maybe the GTA series)...nothing as inventive as Pac Man vs. or Animal Crossing...nothing as functional as the Wavebird. Fortunately, this time I didn't wait nearly as long to get my Nintendo Console. Couldn't resist $120 with Mario Sunshine and a memory card included.

Next generation, the Revolution may be my only console.