Know Your Roots - Retro Atari Gaming

There was a growing level of excitement as I unpacked this exotic gaming system from the plain cardboard box in which it has been stored since I bought it on eBay over a decade ago. Every few years I break it out as novelty entertainment during a party or gathering. Usually within a day or two it goes back into hibernation in the closet. This was the first time, however, that I was resurrecting the Atari 2600 purely for the kids enjoyment. Jameson was particularly intrigued by the idea that this system was the great, great, great grandfather of our Wii and PS3.

His enthusiasm was building as he poured over our catalog of games, each with a more magnificently illustrated label than the last. The game titles foretold of epic adventures to be had with names like Space Invaders, Missile Command and Air Sea Battle. He seemed appalled that I had withheld such an amazing collection of electronic entertainment from him up until now.

And then we put in Pac-Man. The disappointment was instant and absolute.

Let's try another one. Lame. And another. Lamer. And another. Barely playable. And another, and another, and another.

These are boring! The control doesn't work right! It's not like in the picture!

It looked like my attempt to bridge the generational video game gap was going to be a failure.

But then we tried Pac-Man again. The old man showed him a thing or two. Things started to be less about the graphics and sound and more about the challenge. The same thing for Space Invaders. Before long, that familiar look of concentration and determination had emerged on Jameson's face as he racked up points on Asteroids.

It's true -- much like storytelling in movies -- gameplay transcends technology.

So now we have a house full of Atari gamers. The most popular games so far are Ms. Pac-Man, Asteroids, Grand Prix, Berserk and Space Invaders.

The best quotes so far:

"Is there a hard drive in here?"

"How do you pause?"

"Why are the controllers so hard to push?"

"Can player two just hop in and hop out like in LEGO Star Wars?"

"Are these the only video games you could play when you were a kid?"

"Can I save my game?"

On a side note, let me just say it was refreshing to set up a piece of technology that required only three steps: 1) connect a single cable from the Atari to the TV, 2) connect the Atari power supply, 3) tune the TV to channel 3.  That was it -- Special Agent Oso could have done it. No digital audio cables. No networking. No sensor bars. No account creation. No set up and option screens. Apple only wishes their products "just worked" like this.

Game Room

I think this accurately describes the real driver behind the success of Apple's iPhone and iPad.

iHavenodignity

Not that anyone else but me cares, but Apple is getting ready to unveil some new mystery product. Most of the (nerd) world thinks it will be a tablet style Mac. A jumbo iPhone of sorts.

I guess we'll find out soon enough.

You can follow the event live here.

Whatever it is, I hope it doesn't suck. And I hope it means I can blog from the toilet. (And I hope I can afford it.)

Here We Go Again

I survived the first week of stay-at-home life. I seemed to have gotten a handle on things as the week progressed. Now I get to start up again Monday morning and hopefully the improvements continue. Any one of the kids could throw everything out of whack at any given moment, but generally speaking I think it will be possible to settle into some efficient routines. Last Friday, for example, went pretty smoothly. I think I'll need at least one of those effortless days each week to make sure I keep my sanity.

I just got done with some late night grocery shopping to make sure I'm as prepared as possible for the week ahead. It's a good time to shop because: a) I don't have any kids with me and b) the store is nearly empty. The bad news is that the produce and meat selections were iffy at best, so I still have a few more things to get tomorrow. Since I have to make another trip to the store anyway, that pretty much makes tonight's trip a waste of time. Sure, it will make for a much shorter trip with the kids, but just packing them up and taking them to the store at all is a chore. Shopping with the kids is relatively easy. Getting in and out with the kids is a challenge. The checkout line in particular is not fun. Checkout lines were designed by the devil himself. All civility breaks down in that candy and magazine hell. In a blink, a peaceful trip to the store can turn into a nightmare.

There's one other must-do on my list tomorrow: Get my nerd on and follow the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference. It starts at 1:00 PM, and I'll be following the Gizmodo Liveblog. I'm hoping we get some meaty iPhone upgrades. Even better would be some sort of new product announcement, like a tablet of some kind, but that's a pipe dream. It will also be interesting to see if Mr. Jobs makes an appearance as is rumored.

Time to get some rest.