Games and Gaming #38 - All Grandma's Fault

My son was born during the absolutely perfect year to be born a boy. He saw the first season of Barney as well as the first (and best) season of Power Rangers, he was exactly the same age as Andy when "Toy Story" came out, and he celebrated his 11th birthday the same year as Harry did when Hagrid brought him that smooshed cake in the shack by the sea. He's also grown up with Nintendo as part of his life as much as Barbie was a part of mine. Up until recently, he's owned every Nintendo system ever made, and let me tell you, this was no easy task considering that every time we thought we had caught up to the latest/greatest game, Christmas would arrive touting the NEWEST hard-to-find system. I told myself that the plus side was that he was familiarizing himself with technology, learning unbelievable hand-eye coordination....and, he was usually the envy of all his less-indulged friends. (Gotta blame Grandma on this one - she spoiled him!) Another benefit was that we played almost every night as a family. I have fond memories of taking my turn at navigating Mario around all those obstacles to save the Princess. Usually, I sucked big-time and my child would look sadly at me and say, "Don't worry, Mommy. I'll help you get through that hard part next time." I'm not sure if he was learning compassion....or pity. Probably the latter. In later years, we'd compete against each other in various games: Crash Bandicoot, Super Smash Brothers, Clay Fighter, DragonBall Z and my favorite -- the only game I had a chance of winning -- Diddy Kong Racing. Actually, that's not true. I NEVER had a chance, although he always led me to believe that I did. He'd even let me have the controller with the rumble pack so I'd have more fun. Just when I thought I had him beat, he'd drop an oil slick in front of me or a soap bubble to suspend my car in the air until he could zoom past me. But his favorite trick was to be ahead of me by at least a lap, wait for me at the finish line and then calmly fire a missile at me right before I could taste sweet victory. This elicited a Homer Simpson response from me, "Aaarrghhh!! Why you little....!!!" which sent my son into hysterical laughter followed by an apologetic kiss and, "Let's go again! This time, try harder, okay?" *sigh* Ah....good times.

Now, when I'm asked to consider putting a console gaming system into the library, I can't help but think about those times. From what I know about kids, I'm sure they'll have a great time and perhaps that's our ultimate goal, especially for kids whose childhoods have been less fortunate than my son's. I do believe that he learned a lot from playing these games, not the least of which were the skills that kept him on par with his peers. No small advantage nowadays. All you have to do is visit the nostalgic game site and see how far we've come. The miniscule chance I had all those years ago of winning is all but gone now. I'm waiting for Guitar Hero X: Carpal Tunnel Edition. Maybe then, I'd have a chance. Probably not. At age eighteen, my son drives himself to work and school now and what free time he has, he spends with his girlfriend. He's shown little interest in a Nintendo Wii and the games he owns now are mostly Playstation2's. But occasionally, when we're at Best Buy or a store where a system is set up, I see his eyes light up and his fingers begin to twitch. Like most men, he will always love his toys. I half expect him to toss me a controller and say, "Let's go again. I bet I can beat you, Mom." And of course, he would.