November 26, 2001
Spider Solitaire and Free Cell were great baby sitters. They could keep my baby sitting for hours on end, back in the day. Maybe playing the same game over and over, sometimes winning but more often losing, was preferable to my company. I never chose to look at it that way, but… well, see above. I have to admit, video gaming today is a huge hole in my cultural experience. That isn’t something I necessarily take pride in, because even I am aware just how vast and influential the industry has become. It’s the same as saying, in 1925, “I don’t understand those movin’ pictures.” But I would have to go back to Super Mario to begin to catch up, so you can appreciate my problem. I do see that the character Super Mario is still around and still big; he’s like Superman, or Bing Crosby.
9 responses to “Happy Days of Yore”
I leave “Tutor” on when I do Scrabble (usually on iPad in bed). It tells me the best word I could’ve made. It usually elicits “what? That’s not a real word!” from me.
Even though I am a few years from retirement, I have kept up with the computer and technical issues since I work in the IT industry. Plus I have always liked gadgets and techy stuff. I can open the garage, start the car, change the house temperature and answer the door from my phone. It is amazing what new things are available. I am thinking of getting an Alexa or something to get used to to help us when we get older and may need the help.
Don – they’ve got one with our name on it…
https://youtu.be/YvT_gqs5ETk
Thanks Matt. I have avoided Saturday Night Live like the plague, so I missed this, and it is funny. By the way, there is a website with tech items for the experienced generation: https://www.firststreetonline.com/
One of my co-workers plays one game of solitaire before leaving for the day. If he wins , then he feels like he accomplished something.
I tried it last night. I won. Yippee!
This is the go-to site for 80+ Solitaire games. Just the thing for a rainy winter day
https://www.solitairenetwork.com
Actually, Jimmy, you DON’T have to go back to the original video games. A dirty secret is that many newer games “adopt” game concepts from older games. Sometimes it’s obvious, as a form of homage, and sometimes is obvious, as in “well, THIS game is a ripoff of THAT game”. Other times, it’s less obvious, similar to the way one musician influences other musicians.
What you can do, though, is pick up an NES mini, or a SNES mini, or early next year, a TurboGrafx-16 mini, and capture an entire generation of games for under $100 (and the device connects easily to your current TV).
My wife can spend what could’ve been nice, romantic evenings with the phone in her hand social media surfing. I’ve been replaced too….
I play Solitaire while I watch news and current events, like hearings, trials, etc. It keeps me from hitting the TV.