How to Survive an NES Marathon
By The Scottsville NES Connection (Gromar, Danbird, and Cl@y)

If you ever decide to have an NES Marathon, or “NM” (hmm, I wonder where you’d get that idea?), you better be prepared. For those of you that don’t know, an NM is basically sitting there for 24 hours enjoying the NES and all it’s 8-bit Glory, something we have attempted 3 times (with limited success, but that’s besides the point). So we offer you these tips to help you survive for 24 hours and accomplish the greatest feat known to man (or something). First we’ll offer a few basic tips and then we’ll all offer our own individual input.

Basic Tips:
1. FOOD! We cant stress the importance of some good eats enough. Without food, you’re not gonna last (though I bet it would benefit your out of shape, video-gaming ass).
2. Any kind of drinks containing caffeine are a good idea (one of the keys to playing NES for 24 hours is to actually stay up for 24 hours).
3. An NES and some games would probably help too.

Gromar’s Tips: Alright, so I only lasted 19 ½ hours (back off, I doubt you’ve played that long), but I can still let you in on a few tips. One good idea is to find a long game, such as Final Fantasy (which I got, in box, for only 6 bucks) to keep you occupied. I’ll make this simple: Long Games=Lots of playing time. Simple games work great too, like Sesame Street Countdown. The tedious gameplay might get boring but theres no way youre gonna lose and you’ll waste some time (not to mention the ultra-cool soundbytes from the Count). Also, do it with some other people, to keep yourself talking (hell, I even busted out in an NES freestyle rap). Umm, I guess that’s about it, just have a game that you only need 1 hand to play , like Monopoly (just don’t pull a scam like Cl@y, for more info on that check any of our sites).

Danbird’s Tips: Ok well I am actually the only one of the 3 of us who actually made it the whole f ‘n 24 hours( The Masses Cheer!!) So all you of out there best listen up to the infamous Danbird. Well sure it took 3 times to accomplish this feat, but hell, it was worth it. But the thing I think that really drove me to do this was all the doubters. The old people saying it was to crazy of an idea, The ignorant friends saying “man your gay, why aren’t you playing playstion”, and then the law of nature where the human body needs sleep. So there’s a few things I could tell you to over come these problems. Number one, Coffee stunts your growth, correct? Well I don’t give a damn if it does, it keeps you awake! I had to of drank about 10 cups of that dudearifick Drink(don’t mind the cornyness that word, it’s just for the alliteration affect) and that stuff kept me going. Also I was drinking some of diet Dr.Pepper , which tastes so much like shit, not like regular. Ok. Lets get into some games to play to get threw it. I think that nice RPG you like, u can play for hours. But I had my problems with that. Played Zelda for about 5 hours, and forgot to save. . .@*^#%*@. So folks out there, unless you want to be sent into a rage out of control, then remember to save,ok, do it for me. Also once last tip, play your most crappy games first, play games you don’t usually play often cause they suck so bad. Ok? Well that’s all I got to say and you have better listened or. . .ummm. . .errr. . .it will come back to haunt you, yeah take that!

Cl@y’s Tips: Well I have been in all 3 NMs and made it 12 , 19 , and 20+ , respectivly. Enough talk about the marathons themeselves lets get to some pro-tips. Hmm… well lets see. Your gonna want a nice sturdy chair. NO Lazy boys etc. Especially in the end cause your gonna be damn tired. Find a nice good rpg or something to keep you setlled. Maniac mansion kept me busy for a few hours until the stupid walkthrough told me to do something wich in turn got me killed! Bastard walkthrough! But also a game genie is a gr8 invention! Get one of those babys , print off some codes for games that are hard for you and you got yourself some fun! I personnaly became invincable on zelda and beat all 8 dungeons… but I got too lazy to search for that gannon dude so I just turned off the system (couldn’t save because I couldn’t die!) hmm… also don’t try to scam your way through. No playing Monopoly with the game turned on all computers. You should play monopoly when you want to consume pizza so you can just keep pressing A. umm.. hmm what else to say but don’t doze off! U fall asleep you die!

In closing , NES marathons are a true test of your playing ability. They are fun and challenging so get some friends together get some beer … I mean pop and have ball. Make sure to check our sites regularly (shameless promotion)