Confusions of a Gamer Episode 7: The Early Days
[Deans Note]: Well, weve hired a new writer and her original submission read so much like a confusions article that we decided to run with it. So without further ado, heres CoaG 7 written by our very own female gamer: Melissa Smith
Many of us can recall the early days and events of gaming and how it forever affected our lives. I remember spending my many hours of free time as a youngster glued to my TV with the telephone-keypad / joystick-like controller in hand of my fathers Collecovison or our (brand new!) NES. I always had a small companion by my side, my brother, to share the experience with. I think that most non-only children could agree that they too, had a family comrade by their side, and whether it is a brother, a sister or even a cousin, because of the creation of games, these people became closer and spent some good quality time with one another. Sure the very first thing that comes to mind is, No! Thats not the way it went! It caused more fights between us than precious family moments and yes, I highly agree. I myself remember how my parents would take away the controllers when fights began; however, though the reasons for resolution of the fights will forever be unexplained, my brother and I would often find ourselves watching the game intros and listening to the music, pretending as if nothing ever happened. My brother and I always created short skits to accompany the music of the title screens. We dressed in costumes and danced around the room and yes, we have the videos to prove it!
I think by now Im reaching a few more of you whom of which are recalling times when you also had been brought closer to a family member through the magical world of gaming. Whenever I bring up this conversation and ask others if they did this to, like I said, the first thing they say is they remember it causing fights. When I proceed to ask them if there were times when they watched someone playing a game, or if there were times when someone watched them play a game, their reactions are priceless, Oh, yeah! As they would say this to me, their heads would turn to the side and up to the skies with their fingers upon their chin, the unmistakable position for memory recollection mode. Its tough for some to forget these moments, for many it would be like a major part of their childhood, so much that many would admit to carrying on that tradition; take me for example, I purchased The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker when it first came out and who was their to watch it from Links home Island to the underwater land of Hyrule? my brother. More recently, he picked up two new games, Luigis Mansion (finished in one day thank you very much) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (awesome I might add), and what do you suppose he asks me every day but, Melissa, are you gonna watch me play Ninja Turtles?. My father, as another example, used to play endless hours of Super Mario, Duck Hunt, and probably his favourite classic Nintendo game, Dr. Mario. My brother and I would believe that our father could beat any game in the world (obviously, as he was our father parents know everything when youre that age.) and he would always announce to us in victory when he beat level 20 on high (speed)! We would all, as a loving family, sit around the warm glowing of the television to watch the ending scenes and credits.
Weekends were always the best; rent a 2-night game on Friday and keep it one extra day because theyre closed on Sundays; every morning it would be a race between my brother and I to the good ol NES to play the new game (especially as almighty player one). When my brother got there first, I wouldnt mind, in fact Id be sitting just as close to the television as him with in a cozy blanket yelling at him, WATCH OUT!, THATS NOT HOW YOU DO IT! and always a classic YOU HAVE TO USE (fill in action/weapon etc. here)!!!. I like to refer to this as backseat gaming. Often resulting in the unbearable urge to rip the controller out of the current gamers hand. It can be rather helpful too, especially when you do steal that controller away to beat that certain part, a chain reaction begins; the fight, the confiscation of the controllers, the settlement and celebration including song and dance to game music, both parties become closer and now both know how to beat that previously unbeatable portion of the game.
I always find myself turning back towards the original games. They give me comfort and remind me of the days when I was a young child without a single care in the world and all I wanted to do was play video games. This feeling is just like that one you get when you look through a family album and revisit all the places that youve been. For example, the game Battletoads for NES is a reminder of how my brother and I developed systems (i.e. he would take all the enemies on the left; I would take all the enemies on the right). This trait still shows up in our current gaming sessions (as I noticed when we were playing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles). All is good until one of us steps out of the set system boundaries and contortedly starts to take things that are rightfully the others. Ergo, the payback: just guide your character to walk in the opposite (backward) direction so the jerk cant advance in the game (remember, it was a 2D-world back then but there are still some games this trick will work with). When cooperation turned to competition, fighting games were a must between us two. The best part of fighting a human opponent means that when faced with the humiliation of defeat, you can unplug their controller and pummel their character into submission while the human counterpart frantically tries to re-plug the controller, all the while screaming Pause it! Pause it!
As painful as it is to admit it, there were a lot of things that could not have been accomplished if my brother wasnt there. Depending on the game, one of us had the quick thumbs for fighting, and the other had the logic for knowing what to do next (really, what more do you need). This tactic was always useful, especially in 1-player games, as there would often be a frequent passing of controllers depending on who was more talented in certain areas. As we got further into the game, beat levels and bosses and entered the realm of Nintendo (a.k.a. a place where there is no such thing as time) nobody could stand in our way, not no one, not no how! Then comes that familiar voice, Time for dinner, our mother, sweetly trying to lure us up from our dark cave in the basement we ignore. Kids, Dinner! the voice slightly angrier than before reminds us that there must be an outside worldwe ignore. DINNER NOW! a little more fierce, but still we ignore, besides, were in the middle of the climax of the game Cant pause here! we call up. Footsteps are heard traveling down the steps and towards us, then in front of our TV she stands finger upon the power button, Listen, if you dont shut this thing off and go upstairs for dinner, Ill shut it off for you. Pause goes on; controllers thrown down; up the stairs we dash.
Together siblings and various other family members can become the ultimate gaming machines, leading to the defeat of Koopas, Goombas, Bowser, Ganon, Shedder and other mortal enemies. Baffled to the exact reasons that video games can bring even the most different of family members closer together, myself and many others are faced to answer the question: Is there anything in the world that Id give this up for? No. Not big houses, fancy cars, $1,000,000,000,000,000,000 (well, maybe), nothing. So this may seem a bit crazy to some that I would give up these luxuries; however, if you ever experience the precious family moments like I have, then Im sure you would give up these things too. When youve come to realize how important these feelings are to you, its that very moment when you know that they will be with you for the rest of your destined gaming life.
Melissa Smith
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