I’ve always been a Nintendo kid. One of my first game systems was a Game Boy Color, I grew up with a Wii as my primary console and I continue to enjoy their games as I approach my 30s.

Growing up, I felt a lot of pressure to outgrow them and their style of games. My friends all had an Xbox or PlayStation and were hooked on first-person shooters and treated platformers as if they were kid’s stuff.

Maybe this was because they were all in a hurry to grow up, or at least seem grown up. They would trash some of my favorite games — “Super Mario Galaxy,” “The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time,” etc. — and instead held up the likes of “Half Life 2” and “Portal” as the pinnacle of gaming. I never played those games, but wanting to fit in, I played along, often making jokes and references to things I knew nothing about.

At 29, I’ve still never played those games and I have little desire to. Truth be told, I don’t like first-person shooters. I find them to be clunky, depressing and thoroughly uninteresting. They are antithetical to what I want to get out of gaming: A fun escape that can help me relax.

This is not to dismiss the entire genre. I’ve had bursts of fun playing games like “Halo” growing up — I’ve beat several of those games at friends’ houses and I have found memories of its famous split screen multiplayer. But after nearly three decades on this Earth, it’s just not my cup of tea. The same is true for survival horror.

At my age, I find the idea of upper age limits for games completely ridiculous, especially for the likes of Nintendo. Sure, there are games geared specifically to younger kids and I’ve also played dozens that were so easy I got almost no enjoyment out of them. But Nintendo specifically makes games for everyone — they’re easy to start and even complete, but hard to master.

I should know. I have a world record for one of them.

I’m drawn to these games and worlds because they bring me to places I can only go in my imagination. Right now, I’m playing “Yoshi’s Crafted World” for the Switch, which is a great example of this. It’s filled with beautifully made worlds comprised of crafts that look hand-made that are a joy to look at — it’s so brimming with detail that a huge feature of the game is scavenger hunts for various items hidden throughout the game. It’s so cozy and warm — it sure beats the drab and depressing setting of the likes of “Call of Duty.”

There is a wide variety of people in this world with a variety of tastes. Not everyone will like what you like and that’s OK. It doesn’t make their opinion wrong or your right. It just means that you’re different.

Looking back, some of those people really weren’t my friends. This has become more evident now by who is still in my life and who is not. Time tests the bonds of friendship like no other as the weak and fragile ones dissipate into dust. So many of the people we meet are friends of circumstance — people we socialize with because we’re in the same place at same time consistently — and those bonds are usually fleeting.

I think that there is nothing more important in this world than self respect, which I’ve gained in adulthood. I like what I like unapologetically. And you should, too.