My nephew invited me to play a video game the other day, and I was amazed.
I’ve seen him and others play before, but I’d never picked up a controller myself and went head to head. The command they have over that small device is incredible.
The whole experience took me back to my early days and games like Space Invaders, Centipede and Joust. The fun we had with nothing more than a joystick and a red button.
Today’s advanced game controllers have expanded the element of movement to where practically the whole room becomes part of the game. And not only are the controllers more sophisticated, so are the users, their minds programmed to navigate and conquer dozens of challenges simultaneously.
Kids playing video games are generally criticized for wasting their time. But is this creating a generation of super user? With dexterity and the ability to “multi-task” with each finger, while they talk on a mobile phone and eat popcorn…
What will this person be like as an adult? What will their expectations be for restaurants, cars, homes, everything?
By the way, you can still buy those Atari controllers online. Touted as “extremely rare,” they’re worth about $100 each.
The Pac Man cartridge is extra.
