7/8/13
As early as I can remember I have had access to a video game
console in my home. Atari and Intellivision
were my first game systems. They were
more for my Dad, as I was under 5 when we had those. I remember when I was about 4 years old my
Dad and I really wanted a Nintendo Entertainment System. My Mom was not a fan of the idea, but she
made a deal with us, if I stopped sucking my thumb and my Dad stopped smoking
then we could get one. We agreed to the
deal and went out right away to purchase a new NES. The deal didn’t last long though, I returned
to sucking my thumb for the time, and my Dad remained a smoker for the rest of
his life. The first game I had was of
course Super Mario Brothers. I was in
love. The game was so much fun! The controls were very responsive and I just
loved controlling the little man on the screen.
As time went on I started renting video games. Until I could read somewhat well, my Dad
would have to look over a game to make sure there wasn’t too much reading
required to play the game. If there was
a bunch of text, I would insist that my Dad come in the room and read it to me. He would do this occasionally, but after his
20th trip in as many minutes to read me the next screen, he would
become annoyed and stop. My Dad and I would
continue to play video games together until he passed away. We went up through all the generations, a
Sega Genesis, a Super Nintendo, a Nintendo 64.
I loved playing games with my Dad.
He loved it too. When I was a
kid, he would send me to bed at 10 or 11pm.
If I could force myself to stay awake though, an hour or so later he
would check on me, and if I was still awake he would let me get up and play
games with him. This led to me forming
complex games in my mind to try and occupy myself, so I could be awake when he
came to check on me.
What a sweet story. You and your dad were very close. I remember all those games. I think Atari being my favorite. I could only keep up with that one and Pac-man.
ReplyDeleteWalker,
ReplyDeleteThis is a really neat memory of your dad. I know how hard it can be to lose your father, mine passed away 17 years ago. I like to think back about all of our camping trips. I remember the Atari, we had one when I was growing up as well. I loved Frogger! You did a great job on capturing the relationship with you and your dad - and I love the little trick to keep yourself awake just so you could get up and play.
Thanks for commenting guys. I did have a great relationship with my dad, and I do miss him. That's awesome that you guys are familiar with the old school games too!
ReplyDeleteWow, what a difference a few years can make. My husband talks about Atari and other games and I don't remember those at all. We are only 6 years apart and the oldest system I remember is the Super Nintendo. Its crazy to think about. Now we have a XBox, PlayStation, and Wii, and I think the only one of those that we use for games is the Wii and that is my 5 year old that uses it. The rest we use for Netflix or DVD's or whatever else.
ReplyDeleteSounds like good fun...are first was the Atari Pong game then nothing until about six years ago when my parents purchased a Wii for my daughter. I had to go out and by a new television because mine was so out of date the Wii would not connect to it. Yes, it was an old TV. It worked just fine and likely lasted so long because we rarely watch TV. Nice reflection. ~Ms. A.
ReplyDelete