"Oh you're from place? What do you do out there?" "We leave and go to the next town over."
This was a conversation I had numerous times. But in the end I grew up in a town where you pretty much got left alone and that was nice.
I've since moved to a different town that's about as uninteresting.
I was genuinely unaware for a long time that P.N. 03 on the Gamecube was pretty strongly disliked, and now seemingly forgotten.
I love everything about this damn game - the ridiculous "inside a macbook" looking aesthetic, the Drum n Bass-esque soundtrack, the fact that it's a game based on getting a high score (which is probably the one game mechanic I miss the most in a lot of more modern games), what more could you want?!
The New Super Mario Bros. series is far from the first Mario games I played seeing as I was born in the 80's - but damnit they are all among my favorites. File this in the category of "I had no idea people didn't love these as much as I do" up until only a handful of years ago when I started spending more time on online video game communities.
I'll argue that New Super Mario Bros. wii is my favorite of the bunch, but U is also wonderful!
"From time to time" would be my N64, as in it is probably the console that I play the least but still have hooked up. I let a coworker borrow a few games in 2018 and it was only until I was leaving that job in mid 2022 that they realized they still had them.... which I had forgotten because I probably hadn't tried paying them in that entire 4 years.
But playing through Mario 64 or running through a few levels of Star Wars : Shadows of the Empire is a good kick of nostalgia for me.
On top of the tons of great suggestions, I'm a fan of Hardcore Gaming 101 which is basically the premise of a few dudes reviewing games that get recommended to them.
Or if you're into the collecting side, Collector's Quest is one of my favorite podcasts of any topic. Great and funny guys who get into the nitty gritty of collecting, prices as they change, and if you're into podcasts that aren't afraid to get sidetracked - they absolutely are kings of that.
So I hate to break this to you, but funny story...
(To clarify. It is this and other podcasts. I don't know why, but I like listening to people really while exercising.)