Page 30 - OSG Presents Classic Gamer Magazine #5

to harm your Mama Kangaroo, seems with me as their clumsy guide. Pooyan forced you to use your own imagina-
a little more noble than the average and her piglets always, without fail, be- tion – the classics are to modern 3-D
fighting game. It seems like many came slabs of bacon on some wolf’s games what 1940s radio drama is to a
fighting games are about seeking glory plate. My sincere condolences to all viewing of The Matrix on DVD with a
or vengeance. Mama Kangaroo’s try- those poor civilians who wound up good surround sound system and a big
ing to get her child back…and perhaps wearing the footprints of hulk Ro- screen TV. It's no coincidence that
so, too, are modern-day parents who botrons. Evil Otto used to eat me for imagination is needed to creatively
used to help her out with a fast finger lunch on an alarmingly regular basis. solve any conflict - to settle problems
on the action button and a steady wrist And let’s not even talk about the inevi- without raising voices or fists.
behind the joy- table fate of Mama Kanga- It all comes down to what kids have
stick. roo. been taught. But for those who are
I’m not hopping But I knew it wasn’t particularly young or impressionable,
on the bandwagon “Mama real. And never once did I what could it hurt to break them in on
and saying that walk away from a video some classics first? Maybe not Ro-
Doom single- Kangaroo’s trying to game, or a movie, or an botron, but perhaps something a little
handedly drove adolescent fistfight, with more innocuous like Kangaroo.
two troubled teens get her child back…and any intention of ending it And hey, parents, while you're intro-
to commit mass- by the most final and ducing your kids to video games…do
murder in Littleton, perhaps, so too are bloody means possible. I them a favor and tell them what the
Colorado in 1999. modern-day parents …” knew better. I knew that deal is with the quarter some guy just
But could today’s the games were my re- put on the cabinet. A stranger put it
video and com- lease – the place where I there, and they shouldn't take things
puter games - with would deposit my anger, from a stranger. There are things that
their realistic ammo, force-feedback, rather than allowing anger to eat me should be done, and things that should
and graphic bloodletting – inspire vio- alive until I saw red. be avoided…on both sides of the
lence in a child who hasn’t been taught The classic games forced you to screen.
to properly process that information as develop skill and focus – or get out of
fantasy, and who hasn’t been taught the way of the more experienced player
how to find healthier ways to deal with who just placed his quarter on the
anger and rejection? Oh yeah. You game’s marquee (see, I eventually
betcha. learned!). Their primitive graphics
And we’re responsible. Our soci-
ety has gradually come to accept the
casual violence of modern film and in-
teractive entertainment. Our society
has also distanced itself from its chil-
dren – parents have busy professional
and social agendas, and it seems more
and more that they can’t process their
kids’ expressions of isolation, or fear,
or anger, so they look the other way,
hoping these issues will resolve them-
selves. Parents don’t know how to
deal with these things any more than
their kids know how to process those
feelings without sinking into self-
destruction. We’ve allowed both of
these things to happen. We are re-
sponsible for the results.
Therefore, I think there’s more to my
classic gaming obsession than my own
nostalgic quest for the good old days.
I’d love to introduce more kids to these
older games. I bet quite a few vintage
video game veterans would like to do
the same with their own kids also.
To be fair, there were certainly
plenty of horrible deaths to be suffered
in the days when 48K was a lot of
memory for a game to take up. With
my help, poor Pitfall Harry was stung
by countless scorpions and engulfed by
many an alligator. The populations of
entire worlds fell helplessly if I was hav-
ing an off day behind the controls of
Defender. Pac-Man and his whole
family have died a thousand deaths

Classic Gamer Magazine December 2000 30