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First Impression

In 1997 I was behind on the gaming scene. I was in college full-time and managing a crappy bookstore at night. I didn't own a Sony Playstation, Sega Saturn, or Nintendo 64 (N64). I couldn't afford any of them and didn't have a moment of free time anyway. That December I took a second, seasonal, job at an Electronics Boutique/EBGames store. It was at that store where I would first encounter the recently released N64 Rumble Pak.

Being Christmas season, the first party accessories regularly sold out. We'd get 6-10 Nintendo brand N64 controllers every week and they'd be gone in day. We also carried a plethora of third party controllers to augment the selection. Their buyers were either parents looking to save a buck or gamers truly desperate for a second controller. The latter was especially the case the week after Christmas when proud new N64 owners flooded the store to stock up on add-ons.

The Nintendo brand Rumble Pak, like the control pad, was also tough to keep in stock. They'd fly off the shelves so shoppers would have to resort to knock-offs with names like Tremor Pak, Jolt Pak, Vibra Pak, and The Destroyer. Hmm.. that last one might have been something I saw at a different store.

Anyway, the only thing these knock-offs had in common was the missing letter 'c' which was their contribution to fighting childhood literacy. My first impression of the Rumble Pak was "Well, this looks pretty lame". Maybe I was stuck in the arcane ways of 1995 but I thought a shaking controller was an irritating idea.