Remembering Retro Video Games

I am about to give away my age really quickly here. When I was growing up, video games were invented. We started out with something like Atari. Yes, that's right, I go that far back. Pong, Space Invaders, Asteroids. The graphics were horrible. We didn't know how horrible it really was because there was nothing to compare it to. You were the cool kid on the block if you had one to play with and all your friends would hang out at your house.

I can't begin to tell you the countless hours spent in front of the television as I tried to destroy all the aliens before they reached Earth in the smash hit Space Invaders. I never quite reached perfection, but oh, how I tried.

We then got the arcade game fever. Pac Man, Ms. Pacman. They were great. I got hooked on those games as well. Never quite reaching perfection. I did myself proud every time I would beat the little monsters that were trying to get me before I got all the dots. I also said many words that I wasn't supposed to each time they would get me.

Times moved on and when my kids were little, the big game was Nintendo. I believe that Donkey Kong Country was the game to play. I did beat that one, but then they kept coming out with more and more versions of it and I got hooked on every single one. Let's not forget the Mario Brothers either. What would life have been without them trying to save the princess?

The graphics on the new systems just keep getting better and better and the kids have to get a new system every few months just to keep up. It's hard for me to believe that things have changed so much since that first video game came out.

Actually, I prefer the old games to the new ones. I didn't have to kill anyone. I just had to knock them out for a few seconds. I still have Super Nintendo hooked up to my television and when it finally goes, I will be very sad to see that era of my life end.

I feel very proud to have been brought up in a generation so full of imagination that someone could actually make things like that work. If it hadn't been for that, I wouldn't be able to sit and write about it today. Because with each new technology, it allows us to be more open and have more avenues to discuss and learn.

Gaming isn't totally a bad thing, as long as the kids still get outside and play. It's also great for rainy days. I am just glad that I got to be part of the test market!