Game old

What happens when a museum puts on an exhibition with this description?

Game On tracks the development of videogames from the first computer game to arcade-era hits and the very latest from today's billion dollar industry.

Original illustrations by Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto and concept sketches behind classics like Tomb Raider and Grand Theft Auto provide unique insight into the creative process of game development. Rarely-seen consoles, controllers, arcade machines, packaging and collectables are brought together in a showcase of game history like no other.

Answer: crowds. I looked at this and thought, "am I to understand that we go there and can play from over 125 video games as much as we want and to class the activity as 'educational'" Apparently so and so went we did.

To say that the 'history' and 'science' was hard to bring out was an understatement. To be sure, there were 'exhibits' with consoles pulled apart and some older pieces of technology such as an Apple IIe which my son said reminded him of a laptop -- which, without the screen I guess it did. But they weren't even trying. There were no grand timelines. No display videos running with 'how do they make video games' and such. Instead, you could have been fooled into thinking that this was a travel through the arcades and living rooms of the past.

First stop, a display of Pong -- although Pong like you have never seen it before on a big projection screen. I insisted that we play. Big mistake. This was the button rather than the paddle variety and suffice it to say, getting a rally going was difficult. Moreover, we were on the big screen which was a magnet for embarrassment. We quickly moved on.

Next stop, into the late 70s with Space Invaders. "Did you really play game built into a coffee table like that?" "Why yes we did." "Why don't we do that these days?" "Good question." Perhaps Microsoft surface will be a winner. Anyhow, I pointed out that, because the computers were not that powerful, you could only fire one missile at a time which was a challenge. They pointed out that the game seemed slow and also there did not seem to be apparent reason why so many aliens were continuing to invade.

Next up, Asteriods. "You see you shoot at the asteriods and they break up." "Those are asteriods?" "Yes." "Then, how come when they leave the screen on this side they appear at the bottom as if it is one big sphere?" I muttered something about theories of the universe at that time and moved on ...

... to around 1980 and Centerpede. This was definitely a big favourite of mine. The track ball. The rapid fire bullets. Not only the centerpede but spiders, slugs and those damn mushrooms. But I got to the next level first time up. "Woo hoo, I finished the first level." "How come it hasn't changed?" "Yes, it has. See the centerpede is a different colour." "That's it? How do you know when you are done?"

Packman proved a bigger hit with my daughter for reasons I wasn't sure and we spent some time there while I attempted to hit the high score on Centerpede on the next machine. I didn't manage it even though the machine had been on for less than an hour. Also, a hit was an old Star Wars arcade game complete with a responsive X-wing controller. The kids like the novelty of feeling like they were in the ship even if the graphics were stick like. As they said, it worked because "that is how it was like in the movie." Authenticity counts.

Then I showed them Donkey Kong. "Wait a second, Mario and Donkey Kong were enemies?" "Yep, it was a harsh and divisive gaming world then." There was a warm glow that somehow we had moved to a more peaceful and understanding era (well, until we got to the violent video games down the track).

And so we left the early 1980s and entered the living room era. There was an original Atari (thankfully, no ET game; I am sure they were all pulped) and there as well as a whole heap of things I had not remember such as the Sinclair computer -- it was so small! But these weren't part of my childhood as the recession of that time left our family out of that generation of technology (and after that I grew too old). But there were old Nintendos and even computers running the text-based original adventure game and the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. I could have stayed there some time but this didn't hold anyone else's interest.

Then we happened upon the hand-held 'exhibit.' It didn't include an original Simon (too many thrown against a wall in frustration to have survived) but a Simon 2 -- we lost out at about 15 in the sequence. It also had one of my cherished toys from the early 1980s, the Game and Watch Donkey Kong with a double screen; working and in its original orange. I showed it to the kids with delight. "This is what I used to play all of the time." "How does it work?" "Well like a normal video game. You move forward and jump of the barrels as they hurtle down at you." "Hurtle? They are just moving from one space to the next." What can I say, we took what we could get. "Look it also had a clock."

After that, we got beyond the past and to a regular video game era from Nintendo 64 right up to the Wii. There was lots of fun to be had. It turned out that my otherwise pacifist son (click here for a reminder) took a shine to the hand to hand combat games. We didn't have any of these in the house but he lapped them up from Street Fighter on. I had never played them before.

"Hang on stop hitting me. How do I kick?"

"Well, you need to work it out. I can't teach you everything."

"But my guy is bleeding."

"Too bad. Take that."

"OK I got it now. Take that back. And that you little terror."

"Dad, please."

Suffice it to say, he enjoyed giving me a pummeling but I eventually got the hand of it.

For those in Melbourne, Game On is a great day out. Just remember, it is 'educational.'

A Wii Game of Note

When Steven Spielberg hooked up with EA Games to produce a game for the Wii, one could imagine that it would turn out to be all hype. But Boom Blox lives up to all of the promise that the Wii could be. It is one of the best video games to come along for some time.

Basically, it is a series of puzzles that requires you to throw balls at various constructions or to carefully pull those constructions apart. Some are easy while others are quite tricky to solve. But you can come back to the game and progress in as short or as long steps as you like. Actually, during one long session my throwing arm hurt considerably afterwards. I call that 'exercise.'

You can play with the kids in a cooperative mode too but really, why let them have a go when they can just watch and shout at your poor choices?

Real versus virtual danger

These days we read time and time again of how video games are dangerous. Shoot them up games encouraging them to think violent thoughts. Car racing games make them into reckless drivers. Police games encourage drug trafficking. Space shooting games fostering anti-alien prejudices. So this holidays I bought my 8 year old daughter, The Dangerous Book for Boys, for some good old-fashioned values.

Suffice it to say, in this iPod generation, that book was an incredible hit. She will not let it leave her possession. It goes everywhere and is read all of the time. She will happily recite the blurb on the back cover by memory to anyone who asks:

Recapture Sunday afternoons and long summer days. The perfect book for every boy from eight to eighty.

And so what does this book have in it that was so instantly engrossing? Well, to say it lacks a theme is an under-statement. It is just a random set of entrys (not even alphabetically ordered) with titles such as "Fossils," "The Laws of Football," "Dinosaurs," "How to play poker," "The Origin of Words" and "The Patron Saints of Britain." I mean how many 8 year olds do you know who aren't fascinated by St David of Wales and his heroic efforts to establish churches and monastries in the 500s?

But that is not all. It teaches you about life. For instance, in the entry "Girls" (which is a whole page), there is a list of 8 points of advice including the critical message to "be careful about humour" limiting yourself to one joke followed by silence. You just can't buy that kind of information.

So how does it stack up relative to those damned computer games? Pretty well. The entries with the biggest hits were those that compelled activity. Within minutes "the greatest paper airplane ever" whizzed by. But then came the pleas for the base equipment for larger projects. So there were calls to make a bow and arrow, slingshot, box car, crystals (literally drugs I think), battery (!), skin tanning (including hunting the game) and tripwires. Unlike those computer games where there is still debate about whether they lead to poor behaviour, there is no doubt with this stuff. In this book, there is direct and unequivocal linkage between the playtime activity and the potentially criminal behaviour. With computer games, you still need a gun to be violent. But this stuff tells you how to make a weapon. Things were just clearer in the olden days and when it comes down to it, the kids know when they are just getting virtual stuff as opposed to the real deal.

Anyhow, if you would like to order this book, click on the link below. I can't write anymore as I need to extract a poison dart from a younger brother before he collapses (again)! Good to be an involved parent again rather than rely on the electronic babysitter.

Learning poor behaviour from video games

This has been the summer holidays where our household has been overrun by video games. It all happened when my son (the 6 year old) went to play at another boy's house and his mother observed him losing dramatically in a video game we had but never let him play. Suffice it to say, he needed skills and plenty of practice. So the flood gates opened.

Basically, the six year old, the eight year old and the thirty six year old have been absorbed for hours and days on end on the GameCube. That has left me and the two year old to our own devices. Of course, the two year old is often amused by being handed a controller and so becomes part of the whole thing, leaving me just to watch.

One of the popular games is Super Mario Cart: Double Dash. My son played this quite a bit. The major event occurred when he finally won a race against his older sister. This was much to our delight but suffice it to say lead to tears, complaints about the intrinsic speed of the motor vehicle and arguments about the aggregate relative allocation of time spent on these games.

I ended up consoling my daughter that ultimately this was all her fault. You see in this racing game, there is an option that has one person drive while the other throws things. My daughter always took the wheel while my son was stuck on back throwing things. I argued that what this meant is that he had developed those skills while she had not. After he had practiced, finally, driving, he was able to tackle the race with a full arsenal and so won. That was part of the story. The real part that I also explained was that he had caught up and so with a bit of luck he might win from time to time so she would have to deal.

Anyhow, she dealt by switching games. This time to Pikmin. This is a game that obsessed our thirty six year old some years back and that obsession has resurfaced. Basically, this game involves some guy who crashes on a planet and in order to get off needs the help of little creatures called pikmin to gather parts and fight dangerous creatures.

Now there is alot of press about violent video games. You know ones that involve shooting, slicing open, punching and all sorts of other things said to cause children to learn poor behaviour. These games getting rated M or some such and so parents avoid them.

On the other hand, we have Pikmin that involves cute little creatures. However, to my observing eyes, it is truly horrific in its message. Basically, the pikmin are slaves. They are born and bred to serve the invading spaceman and to assist him in vast quantities just to leave the planet. A planet he leaves in ecological ruin by killing off natural predators; usually while they sleep. And this killing off is done by the pikmin who are unceremoniously thrown at the dangerous creatures and who died in vast numbers. Some pikmin also die by 'accident' drowning as they can't swim but blindly follow the spaceman across a pond or what have you.

I have argued that perhaps the pikmin need more respect and should have some rights but to no avail. Instead, the thirty six year old can be heard to say, "don't worry about them, you have plenty more back on the ship." Then fifty odd pikmin get abandoned, unprotected on the planet only to get eaten alive or squashed.

So apparently, rampant genocide and slavery are rated G. I am not the only one to think this. When it comes down to it, if we are looking for games that might lead to brutal dictators being bred, look to Pikmin rather than Grand Theft Auto. The latter at least is localised violence rather than the meaningless, short term exploitation of an entire planet.