From the land of quarters

It never ceases to amaze me how perspective can change everything.

A few days ago, I was playing Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe video game with my teenage son. Full disclosure—every once in a while I like to play this game and keep the fictitious land of Metropolis safe.  (this time around, I picked the DC side) Also, it’s a healthy way to take out aggression and let loose pummeling the imaginary opponents. However, I can totally see how these fighting games can lead to aggravation. Unfortunately, a person can lose sight to why he/she was playing these games in the first place.

I was midst in the final boss fight. As my character of Superman was defeated yet again by Dark Khan, I let out an amused chortle. My son, who takes his video games very seriously, asked me how I can laugh when I lose.

I immediately answered because back in my time, we didn't have the luxury of being able to save our video games progress on a console. We had to keep feeding a video game machine quarters to be able to beat the level.  I can remember spending a roll of quarters on the video game Sinistar as I tried to beat the evil pixelated, floating skull. I would get chills when the title character’s ominous taunts and growls filled the speakers.

Now, with these home game systems, it’s a treat to be able to walk away or put the game up until another day.  My son, however, has only been exposed to the game consoles most of his life, so he takes for granted their saving mechanisms.

Hopefully with this brief history lesson, my son will not take his video games losses too much to heart. Otherwise, I can always take him to the arcade and let him experience firsthand how these video games don’t have any memory without a pocket full of tokens.