To the Arcade!
Trying To Process Modern Gaming
“What are you watching?” I ask Little Bean. We’re at her cousin’s house and the two of them are spread out on the couch in front of the TV watching some sort of - what looks like - an epic fantasy. Two characters have just emerged from a long cavernous tunnel and come upon a huge castle atop a crumbling butte.
“We’re not,” she says. She holds up the controller. They are playing a video game. In this case, I find out, it’s some Harry Potter universe adventure where she’s created her own avatar and is apparently being shown around by some wizard. I don’t know.
My brain is unable to process gaming today as set against the gaming of my day. Yes, this is exactly what you think it is, a reflection on those good old days of 2-D Asteroids and Space Invaders. I showed my daughter a video of Asteroids a little while ago and she gave me the sort of look she’s going to be giving me more of when she’s a teenager.
“I don’t understand, daddy.”
There’s been a lot written about the way the pre and post Internet/Gaming generations see the world, and that difference is pretty stark when you have a little gamer girl in your house who doesn’t know what Pong is.
I can only assume that in 30 or 40 years, her kids are going to be - I don’t know - climbing mountains with holographic avatars? Fighting dragons with brain chip implants?
Back in 1985, if someone had shown me a picture of the game Little Bean is playing and told me that was what video games would look like in the future I would have thought they were mad.
Somebody mentioned to me the other day that that’s how it is with everything though, generation to generation, but I don’t think that’s quite accurate. Cars have gotten more advance, but they still look like cars. If somebody in 1910 with a Model T was shown a ‘72 Chevy, they’d recognize what it was. Same with kitchen appliances. Or instruments. Or clothes.
But I literally didn’t recognize that game as a game. A better equivalent to me would be showing a ‘72 Chevy to an ancient Roman. There’s just nothing for me to calibrate, comparatively, what I’m seeing.
But then again, maybe it’s just me. Yeah, it’s probably just me.
Housekeeping: Today, Little Bean and I are so proud to officially launch the second volume in our NH Rocks Series. Titled “More NH Rocks That Rock: Memorial Stones” the field guide is a wonderful adventure through NH history via the ever present dedication stones all across the state.
Learn more about the book and how you can earn a completion patch and certificate here: More NH Rocks That Rock
Thanks for spreading the word. And keep on rocking!
Take her up to Funspot sometimes and show her the original 1980s stuff in the cabinets. They have an original Pong, Space Invaders, Pac Man, Frogger, QBert and so, so much more.
I think it's like comparing checkers and Monopoly. They're both board games, but are very different. What Little Bean was playing is probably an RPG--role player game. Basically, you have an avatar that represents you inside the game. It's much more involved than, say, Pac-Man. Maybe a better example is if the images in your head while reading a Choose Your Own Adventure novel were displayed on a TV or computer screen. What throws me is how good the animation is in these games. I used to be able to tell at a glance if something was a movie or game. I can't always make the distinction anymore.