| Friday November 1st 2002 It seems that video games are once again going to enter my life. You'd think I'd know better by now. Who wants to spend the time? The money? Anyone who wants proof I am indeed prone to swearing on occasion, just set me down with some video games and give me ample time to get frustrated, then cover your ears. Nonetheless ... My first courtship with video games was around 1983 - Atari 2600, featuring 'Combat', 'Donkey Kong' and 'E.T.' Wow - those graphics were amazing. Actually we didn't use the word 'graphics' in those days - it was just cool to see something move on your TV screen when you pushed the little joystick thingy. Pretty much all the games were 'play til you die' sorts of things, just trying to rack up points. Had an upgrade to the 7800 for a while, loved that Xevious game. When Nintendo came along, I was in awe. Set it up next to my Atari and you could see the times were changing. Those were the Mortal Kombat days, when I'd gather the guys around and we'd take turns trying to outmaster each other at the controls. The all-nighters with GB trying to get to the end of Super Mario 3 ... those were good times. Bought myself a Super Nintendo a long while later, after meeting my ex, and discovered my favourite video game of all time: 'Donkey Kong Country'. Man I love that game. Even after I beat it I'd keep playing it over and over. So now I'm eyeing an X-Box. LA indirectly put the idea in my head when she confessed to being an enthusiast. Our interests even match up pretty well; these days we're into racing games and adventure (ie. similar to Mario) games. Racing games never get old, they're non-confrontational for the most part and they don't take forever to play. Adventure games give you puzzles to solve and a nifty feeling of accomplishment (although you have to get one you really like, else you'll never touch the thing after you've done it once). I can picture us already - we've got our snacks, we've got a free evening, and now we've got our eyes glazed over and all you hear is clicking buttons. And a bit of swearing from my end of the couch. And a bit more. And who knows - maybe I'll even let her win sometimes. :) |