An Adventure Story

[danwinslow]

Well. It was sometime back in the (very) early eighties...I was a young geek in the strange land of Nebraska. I had joined the Air Force in a sudden fit of wanderlust and they had nabbed me immediately, ran me through boot camp, and then mailed me to Offutt AFB, Nebraska. I loved two things : Atari and a young lady. I married the lady, but eventually I moved on from the 2600 to the actual computers...but I kept the 2600 around. Every now and then I would drag it back out and play again for a while. I especially loved Adventure...what a cool, cool game, even if the dragons looked like spastic ducks. I played it for hours.

After we had been married for about 2 years, we got an assignment to Germany. We packed up all our stuff, and when it came to my 2600, for some reason we decided to take it along as we went around the country seeing relatives before the long tour overseas.

When we were at my wifes parents house, I got slightly bored and hooked up the 2600. My wife's mother was a very sweet little old lady type...think tiny librarian with REALLY thick glasses, so thick that it gave her a kind of goggle-eyed appearance. She was very quiet and generally just sat around and talked softly and giggled occasionally when something amusing happened. I heard later that she could be a bitch on wheels when drunk, but she had stopped drinking for good in her 20's. Anyways, she saw me setting up the 2600, and she came over to watch. She seemed really interested, so I puffed up and gave her a long speech about everyhting, and then started playing Frogger. She sat and watched me for about an hour. I figured she must be pretty bored.

When I quit, I asked her if she would like to play. She laughed and said she could never, but I showed her the joystick and how to hold it and walked her through messing around with Frogger. I watched her play for a while, and she seemed to have a really good time.

The next day we started playing Adventure, and she was FASCINATED. She seemed to like it so much that I just decided we would leave all that atari stuff with her. She seemed pleased and we went off to Germany.

Well, eventually she passed away. When we went back to the funeral, we had long conversations with people about her and they would always mention how much she loved the atari and especially 'that game with the duck things'. She would play it for hours and hours, and she beat every variation the game had to offer, and found the secret room or whatever it is...something about a moveable bridge..I forget. But I like to remember how much she liked it and how the simple machine we love could bring fun to someone from a different age completely.

[joeybastard]

That's a great story, thanks for sharing it

[Han]

That's a really nice story.

[Lord Thag]

Proof that games appeal to all ages. Really neat story!

[Atarifever]

Just goes to prove that even little old ladies are better than me at Adventure. Nice story.

[+kisrael]

Yeah, Adventure is a good choice, doesn't need the reflexes so much, it's more thoughtful, it's another world, etc etc

 

I could beat my mom at most games in general, but the ones she got into, forget it. Ms Pac Man, Burgertime, Pengo, Missile Command...

[EarthQuake]

That's a really neat story. Almost made my cry

Edited May 12, 2005 by EarthQuake

[Han]

Yupp, gaming is for all ages. Back in the days my mother wasn't very fond of games. But I remember that I got her to try Berzerk, and she really liked it. But now day’s things have changed after I got her a PC. She loves Doom/Heretic and pretty much plays it every day. I am starting to have problems finding new WADs for her. I have tried to introduce her to new games, but she still prefers Doom/Heretic ... And I have also desperately tried to teach her to strafe, but she can't quite manage

[maibock]

Yeah, great story