As most people who know me would know, I’m a child of the 80s’. Well, technically 70’s AND 80’s, but I think of the 80’s as my formative years. Back then, I used to be attracted to arcades – those quarter-munching dens of iniquity that blinked, bleeped, and blasted their way into your heart and mind all for the princely sum of twenty-five cents – back then, that was a fair bit of change. Of course, you just can’t buy as much with a quarter as you used to (and forget penny candy).
I still like games, and I enjoy playing them, but I’m finding more and more of them are kicking my butt with reckless abandon on a daily basis, and I think it’s because I don’t play them as much as I used to. I don’t know if it’s my attention span or not, but I just don’t seem to concentrate on one thing as much as I used to. Maybe that’s something I need to get checked out? There are also times I still get easily frustrated with a game – especially if you are hip deep in a mission, something kills you, and you have to start from THE VERY BEGINNING OF THE MISSION. No – no checkpoints or anything like that………go back to START (of that mission).
Yeah………that can get a bit daunting.
I’m not getting too old for gaming, because studies have shown that activities such as playing video games can keep your mind sharp. Of course, going out and seeing the world and paying attention can do that too, but when the weather does not permit it, it’s a good backup plan. I still have a fair stack of games that I have started and have yet to finish, and these games go all the way back to the PS1/Dreamcast/Xbox/Saturn days! Yes……..there are still some there I have not finished. I am close to getting the last few trophies in inFamous (the first one), and am working on completing Assassin’s Creed II, but those are the only ones I’m close to finishing right now.
I think if I found a vintage arcade somewhere, I could still lose a roll of quarters within an hour or two, but it would still be fun doing it in the process. I think that’s what’s sad about the demise of the arcade – people interacted, even though most of the time, they were staring at the video goodness that was directly in front of them. Maybe I just need to sit down and learn more, have some more patience, and learn all of the nuances of the games I play. Maybe then I could last more than a few minutes per turn and actually make some progress.
Tomorrow is another day, and Watch Dogs and Skyrim are beckoning for my attention. EXCELSIOR!
A Different Door From Xanadu 
Hard Video Games are nothing new. The original Final Fantasy game was brutal with an Inn being the only place you could save a game.
At first, game play only required a joy stick and a fire/thrust button.
That was soon replaced with a control pad that had four directional buttons for your left thumb and two buttons for your right thumb.
Then we went to four buttons for each and that was quickly upgraded to four buttons, two joy sticks and four aux buttons on the front of the controller.
If that wasn’t enough, let’s keep those, add a touch pad and motion sensor.
Game play has gotten more complicated (thus the need for more moving parts. Also games now having difficulty modes for us novice gamers). It’s also a simple truth that as we get older our motor skills do slow down and hand movement is not as deft; and in video games a 1/10 of a second can be life or death.
Our hands also get tired and ache quicker, our eyes fatigue sooner, and we are not as easily amused by repetitious plots, moves or screens.
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