Nintendo has always been a huge part of my life.
Growing up, I was able to make close, long-lasting friendships because of my shared interest with them for Nintendo video games. Now as a college student trying to cope with social-distancing and COVID-19 anxiety, I find myself turning to those same video games to help keep me in contact with my best friends.
As a high school student, I already had to deal with physical distance in my friendships. Most of my best friends lived out-of-state, or even out-of-the-country. Between my best friend in Asia who always beat me in Super Smash Bros., my best friend in Europe who loved to quote Ace Attorney, and my best friend across the country who likes to stream Pokémon on Twitch, I had to rely on online communication and video games to keep in contact with them. Despite the thousands of miles between us, we were able to remain close friends by doing this and have remained close throughout the years through our shared love of Nintendo.
Attending the second semester of my first year of college, I thought that my newfound busy schedule would prevent me from keeping in contact with them as often as I used to. However, I didn’t realize how much I would be depending on them these past couple weeks.
Within only two weeks, California Lutheran University switched to online classes and students had to move out of our dorms in order to promote social-distancing. With everything changing in what seemed like an instant, I started feeling a mixture of sadness, frustration, fear, and anxiety. I cried more tears in one week than I ever had in years.
Luckily, I had the most amazing people in my life supporting me through these times. My roommates would start comforting me if they caught me crying, my classmates would check in on me to see if I was doing okay, and even my professors would talk to me to discuss troubles I was having. But the more I started getting closer to these people, the sadder I started to feel that I would eventually have to distance myself from them physically.
However, in an unexpected and strange way, Nintendo has helped me realize that I wouldn’t be as distant from my loved ones as I have previously thought. Being used to using online communication for video games has made it easier for me to contact everyone I knew for daily check-ups, updates, or just talking about how our day was. iMessaging, Instagram DMs, and Discord chat have definitely helped me so much with having the important people in my life stay in my life.
Video games also offered me and my friends a way to still hang out, albeit virtually. In the new game, Animal Crossing: New Horizons (which was conveniently released the day after I moved out of my dorm), my friends and I visit each other in-game and send sweet letters or presents to each other. In Pokémon Sword & Shield, we’re able to have battles with each other or catch Gigantamax Pokémon together. And in Pokémon GO, the raid group I met on campus still sends each other gifts and sends updates via Discord messaging.
Social-distancing doesn’t mean that you have to be distant from the ones you love. I learned that it’s important to stay connected with people regardless of distance, whether it be through video games or any other shared interests you may have together.