When it comes to writing about video games, specifically Nintendo, it's always fun, because it's a console drenched in memories and nostalgia.  Going through old SNES video games, I came across so many forgotten images and sounds that brought back not only virtual worlds and cheat codes but places in my life, friends, moments, my hometown in Massachusetts.  Like an image blooming on a Polaroid picture, memories illuminate.  And I started to think about the times when I sat in my room, my basement, my friends' house, and I played sports games, RPGs, and racing games for hours with my buddy or my little brother.  So, I decided to put together the top 5 multiplayer games for Super Nintendo.  But it's not just about graphics and game play; it's an homage to buddies, to games that brought friends closer together and created a strange competitive rivalry.  It's about the games that forced N64 to have four controllers. 

5. Donkey Kong Country 

How can anyone ever forget Donkey Kong Country?  How can anyone forget about the old monkey spinning the vitrola in the opening credits?  Or how can anyone forget that the giant monkey riding a rhino and knocking the crap out of little gopher-like creatures?  The game had a ton of interesting graphics, for the time, and the different colors of the sunny jungle or the dark landscape at night or the purple tint in the rain persuaded viewers that time and weather existed in a virtual world.   But what made this game so cool for friends was that you could switch players in the middle of the game.  It was a tag-team video game, and if someone died, then you could find the other character somewhere in the landscape knocking around in a barrel.  Oh yeah, remember you could actually ride on a freaking marlin?  Awesome.  How could I forget about that?  

Electronic Arts today announced its collaboration with Katy Perry for The Sims. The life-simulation game will feature Perry-themed content and virtual goods such as clothing, hairstyles, props and furniture. The Collector's Edition expansion pack for The Sims 3 Showtime will be out in March.

Steve Schnur, worldwide executive of Music for EA, explained the company chose Perry because she'd been popular "for several years." He also said the song "Hot and Cold" (featured in The Sims 2 series) "became the most popular Simlish music video to date.