When I was five, our babysitter’s daughters (8 and 10) got an Atari. I remember sitting for hours, watching them play Pac Man, Burgertime, Blasteroids, and Centipede. I was never allowed to play, but I sure did have fun watching.
Later, I guess when I was about 12 or 13, my brother bought himself a Super Nintendo (I think). The one that came with Duck Hunt and Mario Brothers. Again, I would sit and watch him play, but I never really played, myself, unless he wanted someone to trounce thoroughly at a racing game. I’m so bad at that kind of thing that I actually lean in the direction that I’m trying to point the car in. It’s pathetic really.
All through high school and university, friends of mine would have video games and I would watch them play and I would never play and I kind of suck at it all. Until my lovely husband came into my life.
So. Fast forward five years. We have all kinds of different games and game systems. I still don’t really play any of them… except for the DS, because I love a game called Harvest Moon. I’ll play that, or Scrabble, before going to sleep at night. But now! NOW!
Rob has brought into our house Super Mario Galaxy. I absolutely suck at this game, not having had the practice, in my youth, that so many of my contemporaries did with the controllers and jumping and such. But I’m plugging along, bit by bit. And I can’t stop. Every day, I spend like, half an hour waving my controllers around. I’m sure it’s making Rob wish there were addiction treatments for video gamers. Lucky for me, there are not, because I am loving running around and jumping from planet to planet.
I haven’t gotten over the habit of leaning in the direction I’m trying to send my ‘guy’, though.
I’m not bad with video games (no leaning) but I confess that Guitar Hero (I, II, & III) all drive me insane. For some reason it messes with my dyslexia and I get panicky and mess up even on the easiest setting. I got so frustrated, playing with my nephew and niece this morning, that I threw the guitar down in disgust and declared “What.EV.er! I can play a *real* guitar, so there!” They just laughed at me and started playing in expert mode.