Game On!

This past Saturday, a group of us went to the Tech Museum to check out the Game On! exhibit, a showcase for the history of video games. It ended up being more of a free-play arcade, with old video games, than an actual museum exhibit. The "exhibit" part was you reading the little cards placed on the wall next to some of the games. Many genres of gaming were represented from action games to thinking games, from rhythm games to dating games. Yep, that's right, dating games. According to the card I read, dating games are "very popular among boys in Japan." Because of the rigors of school, they go to school early in the morning, and with after-school clubs, they often don't get home until late at night. They even have school on Saturdays, so they don't have much time for a social life. This is all according to the card. You couldn't play any of the dating games on exhibit though, maybe because they were all in Japanese, but more likely because I somehow doubt these 'popular among Japanese boys' games would have gotten an ESRB rating of E for Everybody here in the states.

Walking around the exhibit, the focus was clearly on the more recent gaming consoles, from the 8-bit Nintendo system, to the now defunct Dreamcast, through to the present day Xbox, though there was one section devoted to old arcade games, like Asteroids and Pacman, and another devoted to handhelds, like the good ol' LCD Game and Watch of yore and the now ubiquitous Gameboy.

Overall, we had a good time just milling around playing the different games, some new, some from our childhood. For a few games, the nostalgia factor was especially high like for River City Ransom for NES. I never played this game as a kid since I didn't get into console gaming until much later, but I was impressed at how everyone else, on seeing this game, would gasp and go, "Oh my gosh, I remember this game!" I have to admit, it was a pretty fun game, and it just goes to show that a game doesn't need 3D graphics and 20 buttons to be fun.

Controllers have gone from this...

...to this. The future looks bright for our kids.

George, Chris, Joy, and Bob. Note Chris and Bob's assumption of the perfect Gamer's Position, with the intense eyes and the slack jaws. Obvious seasoned veterans. Keep practicing, kids, and one day, you too will be able to reach this state of Gaming Mastery!

Girls bond over food. Guys bond over...

Pictures 1 and 4 courtesy of George.