The Ye Gameboy Story

By Jack Tellier

Up until 2023, there was a melted, charred Gameboy that sat on display in the Nintendo store located in New York City. I even saw it and took a picture back in 2017 when I was a yungin and my body hadn't fully changed yet!

This Gameboy was caught in a fire that happened when barracks were bombed during the 1990-1991 Gulf War that occurred in the Middle East. The 1991 Nintendo Power Magazine issue that originally broke the news of this had attached a letter from its owner, Stephan Scoggins of Oklahoma. Scoggins served as a registered nurse in Operation Desert Storm and -while still deployed— sent in the Gameboy and letter hoping for a replacement. The Gameboy still worked despite its f**ked up, bullsh*t condition. A Google search on Dr. Stephan Scoggins reveals that he is actually the cousin of Kanye West, damn son. Unfortunately, Scoggins name appears most when reading about the death of Ye's mother, Donda. Donda West was in Stephan's care after undergoing a cosmetic surgery. West died a day later which lead to the nurse and her surgeon Dr. Jan Adams to be investigated by police. Could Stephan Scoggins also be the cousin who stole Kanye's laptop? Who knows? I saw that Gameboy years ago and did not know of this insane connection until fairly recently. I feel like I would've appreciated the experience more had I known this but I was in middle school and its hard to make a pre-teen care about anything. Middle school was honestly the worst time ever like l'd rather take my own head off than have to be that age again. I was nervous and awkward constantly and one time in a food court I dropped an entire pizza face down on the floor and legit everyone in the food court started scream-laughing. However, man was born to suffer as it is what makes him human.