The Conversation about Circus Atari

[Joel D. Park]

A friend of mine emailed me this and I thought I would it, (with his permission of course).

http://www.atari2600.net/aspConversation.asp

 

His 8 year old son in mention is a true video gaming wizard, I've watched him play Mario 64, and act like he was one with the controller... He looks around every corner and at every angle.. It's sort of creepy in a way.. He's been playing since he was like 2..

[Bob Bytchin]

LOL....I love it.

 

Actually, my son is only 3 1/2 and is already coming along nicely as a video game player. He started playing games when he was 2 - 2 1/2 and just loves a variety of games.

 

He can't read of course, so he hasn't quite grasped exactly what he needs to do in most games, but he knows his way around Super Mario 64 quite well. His two older sisters are 8 and 6, and my son can beat them both at Super Mario Kart. I started him on Shadows of the Empire, but that's still a little too complex for him. But pop in Goldeneye or Turok and he's ready to go. I have 3 (old) 2600's, and I have one hooked up for him so that he can just pop in any games he wants to play, and so far he likes Ms Pac Man and Missile Command. I do however limit him in his gameplaying. I make sure that he spends at least 1 hour per day outside playing, and that he spends at least 1 hour doing something creative like coloring.

 

But I did get a chuckle out of how that kid wasn't impressed by "old fashioned" video game graphics. My son hasn't reached that point yet, to him a game is a game for the most part. Although he does like watching me play a game like Tribes 2 and check out modern graphics.

 

Thanks for the article.

 

[ 05-11-2001: Message edited by: Bob Bytchin ]

[Tempest]

Maybe it's the old "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" syndrom, but I just can't get the hang of those new 3-D games. After 20+ years I just can't get use to thinking in 3 dimensions, I stay away from those games (which is what turned me off to the N-64 in the first place). Give me the flat 2-D anyday.

 

Tempest

[Joel D. Park]

A agree with that 3-D thing 100%.. A while back (While I lived in Denver Co.) I was a member of a Quake clan.. I honelty don't have many fond memories of it, it was actually sort of stressful.. and some maps gave me motion sickness, and I also forgot to blink alot. I think the main attraction of quake was the internet play. I still play new PC games, but I just don't get into them.

 

All my warm fuzzy memories are in 2-D.

 

My name was Redneck_Ed of Clan FLEM. :-)

[Tempest]

I never got the motion sickness (although my friend did), I just don't like to keep looking above me or behind me. You never get a good view either, you never see the whole screen (I hate that).

 

Everytime I see a 3-D game I think they had to try and wow you with the 3-D because the game sucks. Most of the time this assumption holds true (not all the time, there are exceptions). Most people will agree that back in the day games had to rely on good gameplay because it was al but impossible to wow anyone with the graphics (I miss those days).

 

Tempest

[Bob Bytchin]

3-D games are fun if they are played with a regular group of friends. I play games like Quake, TFC, UT, and Tribes 2 with real-life friends that I've known for over 20 years. We use Roger Wilco and play on our own servers. Remember the early 90's with the upcoming "Virtual Reality" explosion that was supposed to take place? Did you know that one of those Virtual Reality machines that were in many malls didn't have anywhere the computing capability of a single GeForce 2 Ultra video card? That's where I would like to see 3-D games head...is into actual 3-D. Where you can run with your keyboard/mouse and turn around and look behind you by moving your head.

 

Anyways, that went way off topic...LOL still nothing beats playing old 2-D games. 2600, 5200, ColecoVision etc...whenever I pop in a game like Pitfall or H.E.R.O., I'm taken to a different place filled with fun memories.