Memories of a Former Gamer
As a teenager, I played a lot of video games both at home and in public places. At 14 I bought an Atari Video Pinball console. A year later I saved up my money to purchase an Atari 2600. While in high school I spent close to half my paychecks into coin-operated games. This was back in the days of “Space Invaders” when aliens simply disappeared when you shot them. The games weren’t as graphic as they are now. In the mid-1980s I decided to cut back on video games. Aside from wanting to focus on a music career, many of the newer games required you to spend more money just to get good at them. Nevertheless, there were times when I put chunks of change into “Dr. Mario”, “Klax”, and “Tetris.” I also enjoyed playing games like “John Madden Football” and “Sonic the Hedgehog” when with someone who had a Nintendo or similar system at home. I was never a fan of violent games. In 1993 while briefly working for a video game dealer, I was shocked to see blood splattering from the cha...