Video games meant to be played, just not all at once
I thought I had finally recovered from my addiction, but it has come back to haunt me. Luckily, I am able to handle it through indulging for short periods of time, and it mysteriously goes away, almost as fast as it hit me.
Yes, you guessed it. The addiction is video games. Another good way for me to stay away from video games is to just be so freakin' busy that I don't have time to play. But I have to make time for Circus Atari. I just can't stop playing it.
Jakks Pacific has come up with an ingenious way for old-school video gamers to continue the traditions started back in the '80s. With the Atari 10-in-1 TV Games, users can play favorites like Asteroids, Centipede, Pong and others. The joystick system comes with Audio/Video connectors that can be plugged into just about any TV.
I had never played Circus Atari before receiving this game system as a gift for being a groomsman in a friend's wedding. We tested it after the rehearsal dinner, and no one even cracked 500 points. Now, my high score is up to 8,651, and I'm still mesmerized by the clowns (stick men) jumping from a see-saw (slanted line) and hitting balloons (squares). Another friend who received the gift is on an Asteroids kick. He's still fairly far away from unseating the World Asteroids Champion, whose top score stands at over 41 million points.
My Atari received a lot of play when I was younger. I liked to play Burgertime and Empire Strikes Back, although there were always two AT-ATs on the board, no matter how fast you shot them down. One time my brother was making history on Frogger. He was on the 22nd board, with 15 extra frogs, when my sister got him in trouble. Can you believe my mom was ignoring the fact that he could have been famous?
The next logical step was the Nintendo, in which my brother and I had many memorable battles in RBI Baseball, Double Dribble, Tecmo Bowl and Ice Hockey. But we still managed to team together in Super Mario Brothers, Duck Tales and Contra.
Kids these days want more than games with washed out graphics. Now, you can compete against more players than your brother; you can compete against anyone on the Internet! Everquest, Diablo and PlanetSide pit contestants, or groups of contestants, against others in lifelike battles. These games are so real, and so ingrained in the psyche of those playing them, that users are known to buy and sell items obtained within the game on e-bay. I'm not even sure where to begin in explaining that you can bid on Diablo charms, pay for them then use them in a game. It's not as if you can pull them out of the computer and make a necklace.
While gaming could be seen as addicting, a recent study has shown young adults who play video games on a regular basis have sharper visual skills than those who do not. The research, performed at the University of Rochester, showed players develop enhanced visual perception, but in no way does game playing correlate to improved skills in reading, math, etc.
In the meantime, there are computer games that reach people of all ages in other areas. Games like the Myst series provide people with problem-solving situations in which you have to think and not just be able to shoot your way out of a scenario. Then again, many who play games are just looking to relieve stress from their daily routine. So is it critical that potentially, video games don't bring large chunks of nutrition into people's lives?
If playing video games is pulling you away from being an active member in society, or not allowing you to complete your work or homework, then you might need to alleviate some of the hours you spend at the game console. But if playing games is just another way to lessen the tension in your everyday activities, then play on!
For now, I'm going to stick with Circus Atari, although I noticed Jakks Pacific has also made one system that includes Pitfall and River Raid, and another system, which should be out this summer, that contains Pac-Man and Dig Dug. My addiction looks to continue into the foreseeable future, although it is only a break from my real job as the guy who gets shot out of a cannon at the circus. BOOM!
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