Wee!

I spent the evening at a friend's house last night having the biggest video game fun of my entire life.

But maybe first I should back up and say I'm something of a game-o-phile (if you will). I don't like every game in the world, for instance Chess is just too much thinking and not enough interaction for my tastes. And even though I'm a wordy person, scrabble tends to bore the crap out of me. Same for Monopoly.

What I enjoy are games that require people to interact together. I spent much of my twenties playing impromptu games of charades alot and of my youth playing cards (spades in particular and I still do play an inordinate amount of this game online--shhhh don't tell anybody).

It has been touched on here that I love Taboo and any game that includes just alot of talking (big surprise there). Also? Trivia. Love!

I'll just admit to being old enough to have personally witnessed the evolution of the video game. I was among those pathetic souls of yore who were absolutely shocked and amazed by Pong, the first video game. The game consisted of two bars and a white dot. Witness the wonder for yourself:



How impressive is THAT?

Then there was era of the video arcade that featured video games the size of refrigerators that allowed you to play for a quarter a game. I'll go ahead and further admit to spending a lot of time playing Space Invaders but most particularly Galaxia and Galaga the latter of which I am unable to pass up to this day, should I happen across the game in the lobby of a restaurant or in the odd truck stop. (Chase shares this obsession and it is totally my fault).

I've written about my experience with my son when he was little and the first generation gaming technology that we enjoyed together which was mostly the original Nintendo system.

Of course, Chase moved on the Nintendo 64 and now on to the PS whatever, but I didn't really make that leap along with him. As he grew older and his dexterity developed with him, the whole concept of controlling any more than two push buttons at a time was, for me, a talent that what with making a living and all, I didn't really have the time to hone.

But last night? Last night I experienced the Wii.

And, oh my gosh, ya'll! Maybe you already know all about it, and are all, "Wii--whatEVER" but this is a game that is interactive in such a way that you can pick up a control and start having fun at the get-go. Combine it with a (really) big screen TV and you've got yourself a party.

We played amazing tennis and golf (and I don't even LIKE golf) and bowled and I got to experience the new generation Zelda which in my case meant me hopping on the horse and galloping aimlessly around the kingdom for, like, an hour. But just doing THAT is fun.

Today I woke up actually sore in my tennis arm.

(But not so sore I'm not ready for a rematch).



So, yah. The Wii. Wow. Who knew?