After a long day of trying not to tell people that JavaScript really isn’t that hard, I grabbed my daily plate of pizza rolls (just kidding… I don’t eat pizza rolls every day anymore), sat down on the couch and watched Luke and his pal attempt to navigate their newest Xbox addition, Portal 2. If you haven’t heard of it, consider yourself lucky. Basically, it’s an exaggerated version of Super Mario Bros (the one I played when I was a kid, none of this new garbage), but way more frustrating. When did video games move from being an outlet for dumb, mindless after school entertainment to this beyond extreme, obsessively complicated, emotionally manipulative garbage?
As many of you know, I still have all the game consoles from my youngest years to beyond my college days. And yes, I still play them from time to time. But I feel like… no… I’m sure these kids today do not appreciate what they have in front of them. I remember just getting the dang Nintendo to work after a half hour of smacking the sides and blowing into the stupid game being the greatest moment of my life. And every time I got it to work after that was the newest greatest moment in my life. And playing the game? Man! Don’t even get me started. So what happened. How did we get from there to here? I believe that my son’s generation was born into an era almost completely driven by technology… and I’m not just talking cars here. Think about it. Everything we do now, everything we see and everything we hear is completely (or nearly) automated. Who ever would have thought in 1991 that we would have this unlimited information source, and let’s face it, mind-controlling robot, in our pockets? And willingly to boot!? And what is the result of all of this? A complete and utter lack of appreciation for the countless sacrifices made over the past 40+ years from video game designers… or as I like to refer to them… pioneers. God Bless them. God bless each one of them! As a dad, therefore, it is my responsibility to instill this appreciation in my little ones (or at least the smelly 13-year-old gamer that still doesn’t realize that the reason his room smells so bad all the time is because every article of clothing he has, not only been worn a few times, but it just sits and stews right there on his floor).  So, I get out the ol’ Atari 2600, throw in a little Pole Position with the hope of showing him the days of yore and what happens? He thinks it’s the coolest thing ever and ends up playing all night. And I sit back and smile.Â