Everybody’s a Gamer

When I see stories touting the health benefits of the Nintendo Wii, I'm reminded of the comedy, Sleeper. In the film, a man (Woody Allen) is placed in cryostasis and revived in the future. One scene in particular reveals that doctors have discovered that smoking and eating red meat are in fact beneficial and encouraged. After years of being told that video games are rotting my brain, the new studies have created an up-is-down, black-is-white, cats-and-dogs-living-together whiplash.

For as long as I can remember, I've loved video games. I spent more time on the Atari 2600 than my siblings, obsessed over any new computer games my dad brought home and plunked piles of quarters into arcade games. Many nights were spent holed up in my room, saving the planet from evil sorcerers or marauding aliens while dear old mom wanted me to turn it off and go outside.

So imagine my surprise when I catch my mother swinging away with my sister's Nintendo Wii, bowling 10 frames with the motion-capture paddles. Hand it to video game developers like Nintendo and the makers of Guitar Hero, who figured out how to make games attractive to everybody and are making a mint.

It probably started with those Dance Dance Revolution machines at the arcade, which still frighten me. I can't help but feel my age when 12 year olds are hopping around, marching to the lights of their digitized master. You can find me plugging away at the old-school pinball machines.