My father turned sixty years-old today and, while he’s never been too into it, the man has been playing games from the beginning. It ain’t father’s day and it ain’t mother’s day but today seemed like an appropriate time to say thank you to every parent that has encouraged their child to pick up a controller. Happy birthday, pop.
Since their inception, videogames have been terrifying red-blooded American moms and dads. As What They Play found just recently, parents are more concerned about their kids playing videogames than they are about them drinking alcohol or watching porn. My parents? Not so much.
I am not positive when the system came into my home, but it was there before I was old enough to remember it being new. I still remember playing my very first game on my folks’ Atari 2600. I was four years old and my brother took it upon himself to teach me how to play Defender. I didn’t quite understand what I was doing other than moving up and moving down, but that was enough for me to be entertained. There were other games in the house. Pitfall and The Empire Strikes Back are the only two still fresh in my memory. My parents weren’t concerned by the fact that they’re children were playing games. They were simply happy to see one more thing interest us and spark our imaginations. We had an NES by 1987 and both my mother and father continued to foster our love of games all the way into adulthood.
To my mother, thank you for your constant and genuine interest in what fascinated your sons, for Sonic and Knuckles, and for letting your child go out in public dressed like Vincent Valentine.
To my father, thank you for the countless hours in Playland Arcade, for the many two-player sessions of Bad Dudes, and for that trip to Kiddie City Toys when you bought that copy of Mega Man 2 “for yourself”.
To any parents reading, well, you’re already gamers if you’re here. But to any who might not be, don’t be afraid of anything your child loves. Unless it’s knives. Or fire.
Related links:
Raised On the Stuff
The Ten Games That Should Have Been Controversial