Introducing My Daughter to Every* Video Game Console — In Order
Ever since I got my first green Game Boy, I was hooked. Thankfully, my parents were supportive of my habit, and despite it leading to countless nights staying up far past my bedtime, I turned out mostly okay. Now, I am hoping to share my love of video games with my daughter, Sarah, in a unique way.
I have started introducing Sarah to every* (criteria outlined below) video game console, as well as games for each of them, in chronological order. I am hoping this approach will help her frame the technological leaps and paradigm shifts that video games have undergone since they became accessible to consumers. I feel that jumping too quickly into modern games, with their life-like graphics and often predatory microtransactions, may set the bar too high and overshadow more fun-focused games.
Yes, this may seem like a long-winded way of a guy saying touchscreens aren’t a fun way to play games, but I feel this may reveal some interesting Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) insights for gaming accessibility. Me having a Halo co-op buddy in the future is also a plus.
Growing up, I loved video games, but as with many things in life, price was a limiting factor. But that didn’t stop me from enjoying what I had and finding new ways to get my hands on more games. I eventually discovered that I could buy old games and consoles at thrift stores for much cheaper than new games (this was the mid to late 1990s, back when most retro games were extremely cheap), beginning my embrace of retro gaming. After decades of lugging all of my game consoles around, and thanks to my wonderful and understanding wife, I was able to set up a dedicated game room after purchasing our home to play together as a family.
Which game consoles?
My criteria for “every” game console is subjective, but I will be focusing on consoles that I consider to have had a significant impact on the medium of gaming. I plan to mostly focus on video game consoles that:
· Have sold over 1 million units
· Are not “clone” consoles (e.g., Pong clone, Famiclone)
· Are not education-focused consoles
· Have interchangeable media (e.g., cartridges, CDs)
· Introduce features that I find to be significant
I reserve the right to break these rules if I think it would be fun.
The first game console — the Magnavox Odyssey
Some argue that the Magnavox Odyssey is not a true video game console because the game cards do not contain any ROM chips or software, and instead are just circuit boards functioning as jumpers, which tell the console how to function. I disagree with this notion and consider it to be a video game console, so it’s here on the list.
Sarah at this point
The first image above shows Sarah at 5 months old. I tried having her play the Odyssey then, but it was just not happening. She couldn’t even sit up on her own, let alone turn the knobs on the Odyssey with any coordination. I later introduced the Odyssey to her at each of her birthdays. At the age of one, she was sitting up, but still not able to turn the knobs with any coordination. At two, she was able to turn the knobs well, but could not make the connection that she was doing anything that had an effect on the square on the TV.
Finally, this past May was her third birthday, and I feel this year I can consider it her first time truly “playing” the Odyssey. She was able to control the square on the screen with all three knobs on the Odyssey controller and she could tell her input was directly affecting the movement on the screen.
Sarah has been playing with the Odyssey off and on for close to a month at the time of this posting. I am taking notes on how she plays the games on it, including improvised rules, and plan to make a follow-up post to detail her interactions with the Odyssey, then give a brief over of the next console she will be playing. For now, she seems to enjoy going to “play games”, so as long as she continues to ask for it and, I plan to keep this series going.
Sarah’s experience playing with the Magnavox Odyssey coming soon!
