Dear Future Gamer,

It's been a long time since my eyes caught a glimpse of the entertaining world of videogaming. Seven years to be exact, and I call myself a serious, amateur gamer.

In response to Rick's letter in issue 14, I think that some very good formats have emerged since the launch of the Game Boy and I ask: 'What is a serious gamer? A gamer who wants to live with today's expectations or a gamer who makes a distinction between graphics and playability?'

I agree that Nintendo made a terrible mistake in choosing cartridges over CDs as their base format for games. Let's face it, Nintendo release 'childish' titles because unlike PlayStation, it's aimed at a younger audience.

I own Mario 64 and Zelda and just because they seem like kids' games doesn't mean they're garbage. The playing areas are huge and they surely aren't the only titles which stand out from the others?

I own many formats and enjoy playing them all as long as they give me enjoyment, and over the past two years I can assure you that NOTHING on the competitors' formats has ever come close to Nintendo's magical feel and pure blend of gameplay with graphics.

A replacement is surely on the way and this will terminate all emulation circulating the Net. And believe me: Nintendo learns from its mistakes.

Matthew Azzopardi

FG: A Nintendo fan who recognises that good graphics alone do not a great game make. But what about all those rubbish N64 games then, eh? EH? As for Nintendo learning from their mistakes, I'm not sure they do when it comes to marketing their products in Europe specifically.