Even if you once did, you probably don’t play videogames too often these days!

Yet it never fails: every trade show and at all my events, I see people light up because they see a game they loved as a child (Duck Hunt, Mario, Wii Sports, and Tetris, for instance). And I get to see this truth play for every single person in their own special, unique way.

If you’ve ever played Tetris, Mario, Sonic, Wii Sports, or Space Invaders, you probably understand the childlike joy of being a world-beating hero in a videogame. But oftentimes I’m so wrapped up in my business — from “selling” game entertainment to endless repairs/upgrades to my arcade machines and retro consoles — I honestly forget why I love videogames so much in the first place.

Cleveland now has a “Videogame Symphony” and they actually played at Severence Hall, home of our world-famous Cleveland Orchestra. Hearing the immortal Super Mario and Legend of Zelda themes with a live orchestra is the kind of out-of-the-ordinary kickass experience to jolt me back to the basics.

I have to remember: Videogames are fun. Pretending to be a hero is fun. Achievement is fun. And you can take those positive feelings out into the world with you long after you push “power” on your Nintendo.

When I was in 3rd grade I had a Nintendo, but when Sonic came out, I had to have a Genesis. I just so wanted to be a part of Sonic’s world. He was fast and cool, but he’s not Mario.

Mario is a boring character, honestly (and I love Nintendo still!). He’s just some overweight plumber in overalls who’s always letting his girlfriend get kidnapped. He has no real personality outside of being “determined”. He’s even always the “slightly above average in every category” character in his modern games.

Sonic is pretty interesting and kind of hilarious. He screws up, like, a lot. He’s not the brightest hedgehog on the planet. He acts before he thinks all the time (and clearly has ADHD, something I would later identify with further). He loses rings like it’s going out of style.

But he’s kind, loyal and springs into action without a thought. He was marketed obviously as a “cool” character, but he is never too cool for his friends or people “less cool” than him. Like me.

In our brains, researchers have found that we map experiences we have in games as if they were real. And we always say like “I got to the last level in Mario” and not like “Mario got to the last level in Mario.”

Videogaming is a personal, emotional experience. Gaming is not separate from reality, it’s really “augmented” reality (even if that is totally another thing nowadays).

The thoughts, emotions, and experiences we take away from videogaming stay with us in some deep, unseen way, and if we want to, we can use those feelings to enjoy our lives a bit better: be a bit happier, a little more helpful, or a tiny bit bolder.

I was really insecure as a kid. I didn’t have any brothers or sisters and didn’t really understand the difference between someone teasing me or being really mean. It helped having a friend like Sonic to hang out with for an hour now and then, saving furry animals and squashing global pollution. It actually helps me to think “if Sonic can be brave, so can I”. When his theme in Sonic CD sings, “If you try, you can do anything”, honestly, it still makes me believe it every time I hear it.

I read lots of books and loved movies/TV shows too, and I loved my family, and I had a couple friends in grade school who didn’t make fun of me all the time,  but there was just always a deep connection I had to games that nothing else provided.

Play is ridiculously important — watching my 6- and 3-year-old makes that pretty clear. It’s healthy for our minds to reset, imagine, and pretend.

Obviously, we aren’t able to do it enough. Life is rather tumultuous, lately more so than usual (and if you have kids, it’s quadruply so).

My six-year-old and I are enjoying her first videogame together now, Dragon Quest Builders. What’s really cool is that it’s revisiting the world of the very first Dragon Warrior game on Nintendo, which was one of the very first console RPGs ever, and a game I loved in 2nd grade.

The feeling of gaining experience and saving a kingdom was really fun to me back then, and it’s really cool to see my daughter learning how to use her creativity (it’s Japanese Minecraft) and get excited about this play world we can enjoy together.

I hope you’re able to take at least a few minutes and engage in some simple, fun videogame from your childhood in honor of Sept. 12: National Video Game Day! (and btw, “videogame” is one word! Arg!)  Remember feeling like a kid. It’s fun. And your brain (and your heart) will say “Thank you for playing!” just like the credits in a Nintendo classic.