WWE superstar John Cenamay be busy with WrestleMania right around the corner, but that hasn’t stopped him from promoting theNintendo Switch. Cena recently appeared at a special event where he played Nintendo’s new console with members of the press, in turn sparking interest in the pro wrestler’s history with the video game industry. As it turns out, Cena was a big fan of video games growing up, and is especially fond of the NES classics..
In a recentSports Illustratedinterview where he spoke about the upcoming WrestleMania pay-per-view event in addition to theNintendo Switchconsole, Cena was also asked about his history with gaming. Cena said he was a fan of the NES as a child, pointing to games likeDonkey KongandSuper Mario Bros.as some of his favorite games from the era.
“I am a certainly a child of the original Nintendo Entertainment System, or NES, as the gamer Hall of Famers attribute it. That eight-bit graphical interface has truly stood the test of time, and now you see so many vintage designs and content available in eight-bit. I grew up with the start of the original eight games licensed from Nintendo—Donkey Kong,Mario Bros., which was beforeSuper Mario Bros., thenSuper Mario Bros.,Ice Climber,Urban Champion,Gyromitewith the robot. You name it, I had it. I grew up through all that.”
What may impress some gamers is that Cena’s knowledge of games isn’t limited to just mainstream titles from the NES era. Games likeContraandMetal Gear, which were popular but didn’t quite break into the mainstream likeMarioandDonkey Kongdid, were also regularly played in the Cena household. Cena also enjoyed sports games like SNK’sBaseball StarsandTecmo Super Bowl, with the latter standing as his absolute favorite game.
While Cena could name a number of other NES tiles that he enjoyed, likePunch-Out!!andKung Fufor instance, it seems as though he stopped playing games after NES. It’s possible that Cena’s dedication to bodybuilding and training to become a professional wrestler distracted him from playing video games, but perhaps he will return to the hobby sometime soon.
After all, if Cena managed to find one, he could purchase anNES Classic Edition, which comes with a number of the games he listed as his favorites. Alternatively, if the eventual Nintendo SwitchVirtual Console servicehas NES titles, he may be able to play them on Nintendo’s latest device.
If Cena is genuinely enthusiastic about the Nintendo Switch, then the latter could be a real possibility for the WWE superstar to jump back into the world of video gaming. While his praise for the Nintendo Switch could be chalked up to the fact that Nintendo hired him as a paid celebrity endorsement, he still could have legitimately enjoyed playingThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildon it, which could prompt him to pick up the console on launch day…assuming he’s not too busy preparing for WrestleMania, that is.
