The Tangrens

When I was 7 or 8 years old my family purchased a Commodore 64. I spent many hours playing the typing game that came with it. Letters would descend from the top of the screen and you had to type the letters before they got to the bottom. As you went through the different levels, the letters would fall faster and there would be combinations of letters you would need to type. I also remember writing a little program that would change the color of the screen to a value I selected. Man I was a nerdy kid. I spent plenty of hours playing on that old computer.


I received my first Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) when I was in 6th grade. It was totally worth all 8-bits worth of graphics. I remember going to the video store and renting new video games on Friday nights and playing it with friends, sometimes all night. Sometimes my thumb would get so raw that I would tape a cotton ball to it so I could keep playing.
From the original Super Mario Brothers...


...to Zelda II: The Adventure of Link...

...I have many fond memories of gaming enjoyment.

The NES was replaced with the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES).
The SNES was based on a 16-bit graphic system which meant that the graphics were TWICE AS GOOD!


My video gaming was ultimately fueled by the decision to purchase a 14.4 modem for our then Compaq computer, a decision made largely due to the insistence of my good friend Eric Jenkins who worked at a store in our local mall, Software, Etc. Thereafter, much of our time was spent figuring out how to connect our computers so we could and play games like Warcraft, Warcraft II, Starcraft, and Age of Empires II against one another.

We'd also hang out on the Bulletin Board Systems (BBS's), the closest thing we had to the Internet in those days, playing Barren Realms Elite. I will never forget the time several of us, lead by Eric, overthrew another one of our good friends, Chris Arnell, the then Barren Realms Elite Champion after weeks and weeks of secret planning. I can trace many of my closest associations for more than a decade back to the decision to purchase that modem (along with the decision to introduce Eric and Josh to Magic: The Gathering...which is an entirely other post...)

Missions came and went and we never seemed to have the hours upon hours to devote to gaming. Eventually, I passed on the SNES to my niece and nephew, so they could get some enjoyment out of the old system (who consequently have been converted into little gamers themselves much to the dismay of my sister-in-law). I was system-less for a while until my sweet wife and her parents bought me a Nintendo Gamecube...

That was followed a couple of years ago by my folks getting me a Nintendo DS...
...both of which I still have. I wonder if Sunny ever regrets getting me that Gamecube seeing as she has had to endure, on many occasions, watching me play this game or that game (although we've opted lately for games that we can play together like Lego Star Wars). Recently, I haven't really seen a lot of video games that I was dying to play. Then the Wii was released.

I first played the Wii at, guess who, Eric's house. As soon as I played one, I knew I needed to get one, especially because it is the first Nintendo system to be backward compatible with the previous system (my Gamecube). You can also purchase games from the old systems for $5-$10 to play on the Wii.

Time passed and thanks to a promotion at work, I finally convinced Sunny it was time to get a Wii (I think she just got sick of me pestering her). Only one problem....
You can't find one! (unless you want to pay at least $100 above MSRP to the eBay pirates who wait in line at Circuit City at 5 a.m. to get one...) So, until supply catches up, I wait...patiently...sometimes....

In the meantime, today is Eric's birthday. I'd like to dedicate this post to him. Thanks for convincing me to buy that modem those many years ago. Happy Birthday my friend!