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Your Mom And Gaming
Tomorrow is Mother's Day in the US, and Newsweek's N'Gai Croal rightly estimates that many gamers owe a lot to their mothers. Because they indulged what they likely initially saw as a strange choice of hobby, we have a thriving gaming industry to enjoy today. The Level Up site offers an interview with a woman on the Newsweek staff who learned to tolerate those 'console things', and another piece where N'Gai interviews his own mom about his games-related past. "N'Gai: Growing up, you allowed us kids to have a computer, but we weren't allowed to have a videogame machine. What was your thinking behind that? Yvonne Croal: Well, in my estimation at that time, videogames were just another silly game. We certainly didn't want you to be spending 24/7 playing these games that we considered not productive in any way." If you're still looking for a gift for your own mom, Pop Cap is giving away a free copy of Bejeweled to anyone that signs up for their newsletter. Worked on my mom. Happy Mother's Day.
Back in the day, my favorite game was Defender for the Atari 2600. I was good. I was really good. I would routinely reach level 100. Good days, I'd hit 200. I played that game constantly. I played it so much, that I got a blister on the webbing between my thumb and index finger from moving the joystick around so much. (HEY! YOU IN THE BACK! Quit snickering!) I remember going to my mom crying because my thumb hurt, but I still wanted to play. (I was like 6 at the time.) She put a band-aid over the blister and gave me a white satin glove of hers to wear to keep the band-aid in place and to protect the rest of my hand. I still remember what she said, "There. Now you look like Michael Jackson." Bandaged up, I rejoined the fight the protect the world's cities from alien invasion.
You son, and greatful planet, thank you.