Pac Man is 30!! Can you believe that?
Being a gamer of a certain age, you might imagine I was probably around when that new game, Pac Man, started showing up in dark corners of public places. I won't say how old... or how young I was, but it was a few years post disco and I was in my prime.
Upscale bars with plants, shiny brass rails, big dance floors and fancy drinks were trying to hold onto the disco feel. They had cover charges and membership cards and called themselves night clubs.... and they had Pac Man machines, which didn't fit the decor or the dance party atmosphere at all, so they usually stuck them way in the back near the restrooms.
Pac Man What More Could a Girl Want?
In retrospect, I was never really a bar person. Like lots of folks in those clubs, I wasn't on the prowl for a mate; I had one of those at home. I danced sometimes, but not much. From what I can recall, those night clubs were a great place to escape family responsibilities for a few hours... and of course there was Pac Man.... What more could a girl want?
Pac Man was, indeed, the main attraction for me...hours of sipping Chablis and maneuvering that Pac Man joystick. I can remember the panic of giving up my machine when I ran out of quarters. I can see the neon colors on the screen. I can hear the sound effects.... the ghosts and that little yellow disc, Pac Man, with the big mouth, gobbling up everything in his path.
When my job transferred me to another city, I gave up my night club jaunts and forgot all about those Pac Man nights.... until today when I heard Pac Man was turning 30... Wow!
Happy Birthday Pac Man!
Friday, May 21, 2010
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Facebook, Zynga, Why Can't we all Just Get Along?
Will Zynga and Facebook be Divorcing Soon?
Yes, I am a video game player of a certain age, but today, I feel like a child stuck in the middle of warring parents. Zynga and Facebook have been at odds. I understand one of the reasons is that Zynga's social games are way too social... too many people... too many messages, and Facebook doesn't like it.
Something's going on for sure. For whatever the reason, I can't get my Mafia Wars messages through Facebook and haven't been able to since yesterday. I can't send greetings to my fellow Dons, ask for illegal transaction documents or untraceable cells, or keep in touch with my Top Mafia.
Could this be the reason I couldn't access my farm on Farmville and had to pay a ransom to get my little doggie back?
There's a lot of speculation about what's going on; and just like a pair of soon-to-be-divorced parents, both Zynga and Facebook are "lawyering up," according to Michael Arrington at Tech Crunch.
Social Gaming?
In case you don't know what a social game is, it's one where you play with other people online, many of whom you might never have met had it not been for the need to have people on your team. My favorite Social game is Mafia Wars, a mostly slow-paced, but sometimes fast-paced strategy game where the more people you have on your side, the more likely you are to win wars and grow into a powerful Don... or Donna.
To do these things you communicate. Facebook players communicate via Facebook. My Space players communicate via My Space. To put it briefly, there's a lot of communication going on. The more people you have on your team, the more you communicate.
I understand that's one of the big issues, too much communication; but like the child in the middle of those angry parents, you just know there's more to it. Of course when there's a battle this big brewing, reason tells you there's cash involved as well.
Will Zynga Leave Facebook?
These past few days, whether by accident or intentional FB sabotage, Mafia Wars Dons and Donnas have had a hard time staying in touch with their Mafia Families. They can still communicate on Facebook, but since game requests have not been posted, they are mostly trading messages about the relationship between Little Mamma Zynga and Big Daddy Facebook.
Zynga sent out a code to it's players the other day which turned out to be not just a code but the access code to the new Zynga only mainframe, the only thing tying players to Zynga if Facebook suddenly pulls the plug. There are messages being posted about litigation, the pending break up and users leaving Facebook if they can't access Mafia Wars.
And Mafia Wars is not the only Zynga game inivolved. There's Farmville, Cafe World and Treasure Island to name a few. It's a sad time for the Mafia Wars family. I say Facebook... Zynga.... Why can't we all just get along.
Yes, I am a video game player of a certain age, but today, I feel like a child stuck in the middle of warring parents. Zynga and Facebook have been at odds. I understand one of the reasons is that Zynga's social games are way too social... too many people... too many messages, and Facebook doesn't like it.
Something's going on for sure. For whatever the reason, I can't get my Mafia Wars messages through Facebook and haven't been able to since yesterday. I can't send greetings to my fellow Dons, ask for illegal transaction documents or untraceable cells, or keep in touch with my Top Mafia.
Could this be the reason I couldn't access my farm on Farmville and had to pay a ransom to get my little doggie back?
There's a lot of speculation about what's going on; and just like a pair of soon-to-be-divorced parents, both Zynga and Facebook are "lawyering up," according to Michael Arrington at Tech Crunch.
Social Gaming?
In case you don't know what a social game is, it's one where you play with other people online, many of whom you might never have met had it not been for the need to have people on your team. My favorite Social game is Mafia Wars, a mostly slow-paced, but sometimes fast-paced strategy game where the more people you have on your side, the more likely you are to win wars and grow into a powerful Don... or Donna.
To do these things you communicate. Facebook players communicate via Facebook. My Space players communicate via My Space. To put it briefly, there's a lot of communication going on. The more people you have on your team, the more you communicate.
I understand that's one of the big issues, too much communication; but like the child in the middle of those angry parents, you just know there's more to it. Of course when there's a battle this big brewing, reason tells you there's cash involved as well.
Will Zynga Leave Facebook?
These past few days, whether by accident or intentional FB sabotage, Mafia Wars Dons and Donnas have had a hard time staying in touch with their Mafia Families. They can still communicate on Facebook, but since game requests have not been posted, they are mostly trading messages about the relationship between Little Mamma Zynga and Big Daddy Facebook.
Zynga sent out a code to it's players the other day which turned out to be not just a code but the access code to the new Zynga only mainframe, the only thing tying players to Zynga if Facebook suddenly pulls the plug. There are messages being posted about litigation, the pending break up and users leaving Facebook if they can't access Mafia Wars.
And Mafia Wars is not the only Zynga game inivolved. There's Farmville, Cafe World and Treasure Island to name a few. It's a sad time for the Mafia Wars family. I say Facebook... Zynga.... Why can't we all just get along.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Clearing Away the Dead Pumpkins & Paying The Puppy Ransom
My Farm is Back!
I've been farm-less since Saturday evening, but my farm is up and running this morning. I would like to think it had something to due with all the sage Farmville Support wisdom I received; but the fact is, I did everything Farmville Support said I should do to make my farm work again......and nothing happened.
I tried to load my farm, many times in fact.
I refreshed the page.. time after time after time..
I cleared the cache.
I redid my Flash program..twice
I updated my Direct X
I waited
I was prepared to do it all again during this morning's first cup of coffee and game-time, my daily computer play date before I get to work on what I really should be doing. I clicked on my Farmvile game link, and while I waited to see what was happening down on the farm, I opened another window and moved on to Mafia Wars. I'm working the Paris Mission, trying to steal the Mona Lisa, you know.
Just as I was retaliating against HolyFlip, who'd robbed my Mafia Wars Bangkok Drug Operation, I heard the cows mooing, the chickens clucking, the sheep baaing and that country music twang in the background.
Farmville Was Back - But My Puppy Was Gone!!
My farm was loaded up and ..... well...a bit withered.... dead pumpkins all over the place. And of course my puppy, little Nice-Nice, had run away. Puppies are pretty new in Farmville; but I understood if I didn't feed her on time, she would run away indeed.
But for a Farmville glitch, I fed her every day. Like a good little farm girl I did my part; so I was certain since it was a Farmville glitch they might send my little puppy home for free.
Nope!!
After a half hour of wandering through fallow forum pages and wading through a field of Farmville support links, I found out they would restore little Nice-Nice only if I'd paid for her with Farm Cash... that's pretend money paid for with real dollars. I'd bought little Nice-Nice with Farmville coins, virtual money earned from bringing in virtual crops.
My little puppy had been taken; and if I wanted her back, I had to pay a ransom to buy her freedom. I wanted to break out in a sad protest song.. you know, "We shall overcome" but I decided my energy was best spent in getting my farm together.
Dead Pumpkins & Mocking Signs
As I began clearing away all those dead and dried out pumpkins and vines, a sign kept popping up..."Nice-Nice has run away. Click here to rescue Nice-Nice." Of course I wanted my doggie back; but every time I clicked on that little pop-up sign, it slid back down into the farm innards from whence it came.
That little sign kept mocking me... popping up, then sliding back down, popping up, then sliding back down. Each time I clicked, nothing happened. So I decided to check out the Market. You can get anything at the Farmville Market, you know. And there it was "Rescue Dog" FV2 (Farmville Cash), that's not too bad for a puppy ransom. I also could have paid 30 Farm Cash for a bottle of "Unwither," a virtual spray that would have restored my crops to fresh and green and harvest ready without my lifting a finger.
Buying My Puppy out of Bondage
Even if I do spend a lot of time in the virtual world of Social Games, I refuse to pay for virtual money to operate a virtual farm. I made up my mind about that. Fortunately I had earned a few Farm Cash, how I don't know; but it only cost 2 Farm Cash to buy little Nice-Nice out of Farmville Bondage, so I clicked the Rescue Dog link and little Nice-Nice came running across the field. Home again!
Don't you like a story with a happy ending
I've been farm-less since Saturday evening, but my farm is up and running this morning. I would like to think it had something to due with all the sage Farmville Support wisdom I received; but the fact is, I did everything Farmville Support said I should do to make my farm work again......and nothing happened.
I tried to load my farm, many times in fact.
I refreshed the page.. time after time after time..
I cleared the cache.
I redid my Flash program..twice
I updated my Direct X
I waited
I was prepared to do it all again during this morning's first cup of coffee and game-time, my daily computer play date before I get to work on what I really should be doing. I clicked on my Farmvile game link, and while I waited to see what was happening down on the farm, I opened another window and moved on to Mafia Wars. I'm working the Paris Mission, trying to steal the Mona Lisa, you know.
Just as I was retaliating against HolyFlip, who'd robbed my Mafia Wars Bangkok Drug Operation, I heard the cows mooing, the chickens clucking, the sheep baaing and that country music twang in the background.
Farmville Was Back - But My Puppy Was Gone!!
My farm was loaded up and ..... well...a bit withered.... dead pumpkins all over the place. And of course my puppy, little Nice-Nice, had run away. Puppies are pretty new in Farmville; but I understood if I didn't feed her on time, she would run away indeed.
But for a Farmville glitch, I fed her every day. Like a good little farm girl I did my part; so I was certain since it was a Farmville glitch they might send my little puppy home for free.
Nope!!
After a half hour of wandering through fallow forum pages and wading through a field of Farmville support links, I found out they would restore little Nice-Nice only if I'd paid for her with Farm Cash... that's pretend money paid for with real dollars. I'd bought little Nice-Nice with Farmville coins, virtual money earned from bringing in virtual crops.
My little puppy had been taken; and if I wanted her back, I had to pay a ransom to buy her freedom. I wanted to break out in a sad protest song.. you know, "We shall overcome" but I decided my energy was best spent in getting my farm together.
Dead Pumpkins & Mocking Signs
As I began clearing away all those dead and dried out pumpkins and vines, a sign kept popping up..."Nice-Nice has run away. Click here to rescue Nice-Nice." Of course I wanted my doggie back; but every time I clicked on that little pop-up sign, it slid back down into the farm innards from whence it came.
That little sign kept mocking me... popping up, then sliding back down, popping up, then sliding back down. Each time I clicked, nothing happened. So I decided to check out the Market. You can get anything at the Farmville Market, you know. And there it was "Rescue Dog" FV2 (Farmville Cash), that's not too bad for a puppy ransom. I also could have paid 30 Farm Cash for a bottle of "Unwither," a virtual spray that would have restored my crops to fresh and green and harvest ready without my lifting a finger.
Buying My Puppy out of Bondage
Even if I do spend a lot of time in the virtual world of Social Games, I refuse to pay for virtual money to operate a virtual farm. I made up my mind about that. Fortunately I had earned a few Farm Cash, how I don't know; but it only cost 2 Farm Cash to buy little Nice-Nice out of Farmville Bondage, so I clicked the Rescue Dog link and little Nice-Nice came running across the field. Home again!
Don't you like a story with a happy ending
Monday, May 3, 2010
Stealing The Mona Lisa - The Mafia Wars Paris Challenge
Paris is Open!
If you were diligent enough to wait out a week of Mafia Wars quirks, glitches and disabled feeds, late last Friday night you received a pop-up message: "Challenge: Mission Paris, Up for the challenge?"
Mafia Wars families have been offered the Mission Paris challenge. A wealthy art collector wants to acquire the Mona Lisa; but he needs a Mafia family with world class influence and enough manpower to do the job right. Mafia Wars Paris has opened up. It's a “limited time only” opportunity available to those who have what it takes to step up to the challenge.
When you sign on, you never know what new element to the game might have opened up. With Mafia Wars virtual criminal empires in New York, Cuba, Moscow and recently, Bangkok, the next stop was supposed to be Las Vegas... but they did a little flip-flop and that has diligent players traveling to the other side of the Atlantic... at least for a while.
Mafia Manpower
“The Feds are watching..,” so your Paris mission may require a few “fresh faces” to avoid “the heat.” That was one of the messages you got right after accepting the Paris Challenge. It mean they wanted you to go out and find more people for your Mafia.
Mafia Wars recommends the foot soldiers you need to get the job done; but don't worry, if your Mafia doesn't meet this first crucial manpower test, you have a few days to recruit new members into your family. The clock is ticking, so to help in your quest, the Mafia Wars team has provided a special recruiting invitation that reads “You Have a Steal The Mona Lisa Request.” (They make it all seem so real.)
Mission Paris
The countdown begins the moment you accept the Paris Mission. As with previous Challenge Missions, you work a tight schedule with a digital timer ticking away the minutes.
Your mission begins before you travel to the City of Lights. First you must collect a series of Paris Maps to do job. To accomplish this, you can return to the Challenge Mission: Paris page for a daily Map allotment. You will also be able to collect Paris Maps as loot drops when you fight, rob and do Mafia jobs in New York, Cuba, Moscow and Bangkok. Collect all the necessary maps on schedule and you may begin Chapter 1 of your Paris Challenge.
The Heat is On!
There's a bit of an unusual twist to the challenge. When they say "The heat is on," they're talking about a heat meter that begins to rise once you start working the jobs. As you get closer to finishing each job, a pop up message will warn that the authorities are getting closer. They suggest you lay low for a bit. If you choose to continue, the meter glows from green to yellow to red; and the energy cost and number of maps needed to do the job rises.
The Rewards
The Paris Challenge has 3 chapters, each with 3 tasks to accomplish. For each completed chapter, you will receive a unique, limited edition item as a reward. The bonus for Chapter 1 is 'The Paris Fixer' to help you with future jobs. For completing Chapter 2 you will receive the “French Kiss,” a shiny, new weapon. Complete chapter 3 and you will add the “DaVinciQ415” to your car collection.
I've already completed chapter 1 and I'm pleased with my "Paris Fixer." He came with a 61Defense rating and is now my most powerful defense weapon.... Cool!
Now It's your turn. Can you handle the Paris Challenge? The clock is ticking.
If you were diligent enough to wait out a week of Mafia Wars quirks, glitches and disabled feeds, late last Friday night you received a pop-up message: "Challenge: Mission Paris, Up for the challenge?"
Mafia Wars families have been offered the Mission Paris challenge. A wealthy art collector wants to acquire the Mona Lisa; but he needs a Mafia family with world class influence and enough manpower to do the job right. Mafia Wars Paris has opened up. It's a “limited time only” opportunity available to those who have what it takes to step up to the challenge.
When you sign on, you never know what new element to the game might have opened up. With Mafia Wars virtual criminal empires in New York, Cuba, Moscow and recently, Bangkok, the next stop was supposed to be Las Vegas... but they did a little flip-flop and that has diligent players traveling to the other side of the Atlantic... at least for a while.
Mafia Manpower
“The Feds are watching..,” so your Paris mission may require a few “fresh faces” to avoid “the heat.” That was one of the messages you got right after accepting the Paris Challenge. It mean they wanted you to go out and find more people for your Mafia.
Mafia Wars recommends the foot soldiers you need to get the job done; but don't worry, if your Mafia doesn't meet this first crucial manpower test, you have a few days to recruit new members into your family. The clock is ticking, so to help in your quest, the Mafia Wars team has provided a special recruiting invitation that reads “You Have a Steal The Mona Lisa Request.” (They make it all seem so real.)
Mission Paris
The countdown begins the moment you accept the Paris Mission. As with previous Challenge Missions, you work a tight schedule with a digital timer ticking away the minutes.
Your mission begins before you travel to the City of Lights. First you must collect a series of Paris Maps to do job. To accomplish this, you can return to the Challenge Mission: Paris page for a daily Map allotment. You will also be able to collect Paris Maps as loot drops when you fight, rob and do Mafia jobs in New York, Cuba, Moscow and Bangkok. Collect all the necessary maps on schedule and you may begin Chapter 1 of your Paris Challenge.
The Heat is On!
There's a bit of an unusual twist to the challenge. When they say "The heat is on," they're talking about a heat meter that begins to rise once you start working the jobs. As you get closer to finishing each job, a pop up message will warn that the authorities are getting closer. They suggest you lay low for a bit. If you choose to continue, the meter glows from green to yellow to red; and the energy cost and number of maps needed to do the job rises.
The Rewards
The Paris Challenge has 3 chapters, each with 3 tasks to accomplish. For each completed chapter, you will receive a unique, limited edition item as a reward. The bonus for Chapter 1 is 'The Paris Fixer' to help you with future jobs. For completing Chapter 2 you will receive the “French Kiss,” a shiny, new weapon. Complete chapter 3 and you will add the “DaVinciQ415” to your car collection.
I've already completed chapter 1 and I'm pleased with my "Paris Fixer." He came with a 61Defense rating and is now my most powerful defense weapon.... Cool!
Now It's your turn. Can you handle the Paris Challenge? The clock is ticking.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Farmville Won't Let Me Farm, And My Puppy is Going To Run Away!!
I Can't Get to My Farm
I've read the messages over and over, "Farmville is experiencing page loading issues....blah, blah, blah." I didn't pay much attention until last night when Farmville wouldn't let me farm.
It's my sister's fault. She's another one of us video game players of a certain age; and she's the one who got me started playing the role of an online farmer. I wasn't really into it at first. I found it annoying: planting carrots or beans or tulips even, then remembering to go back in time to harvest my crops before they withered away.... milking cows, gathering eggs....
I'm a Real Live Virtual Farmer
I started feeling.... just like a real farmer, actually... too much work and no profit!! I kept at it, even though I had only four neighbors back then. Then I started playing Mafia Wars a few months ago. And who would have thought it, a lot of those online Mafia Dons and Donnas who trade guns, start wars with one another and "ice" an adversary at the drop of a hat... a lot of them have a little bit of the farmer in them.They invited me to be their Farmville neighbors and I invited them to be mine.
I have about 30 farm neighbors; and now that it's truly a "Social Gaming" experience for me, Farmville farming makes me want to say Yee-haw!! I have neighbors sending me virtual cows and trees, and all kinds farm gifts. I'm a regular virtual farm girl these days... that is when I'm not a Mafia gangster on Mafia Wars, or slinging hash at Cafe World or digging for buried artifacts on Treasure Island... I play Bejeweled Blitz and Family Feud sometimes as well. Like I said before, I love online video games.
So when co-op farming started, where you join with your neighbors to help bring in crops for town projects... I told you I was into it... I expanded my farm, twice even to accommodate more farm plots. I bought a virtual plow and seeder and harvester so I could do the job faster.... In short... I'm a virtual farmer.
My Pet Puppy
Last week I bought a puppy, a virtual puppy you absolutely must feed once every 24 hours for at least 14 days when it will transform magically into a grown dog. If you miss a feeding, it will run away.
Now I bought that little puppy with farm coins... pretend money you get from bringing in pretend crops.... but if that little puppy runs away, I will have to pay Farm Cash... (virtual money you pay real cash for) to get my puppy back.
So here I am back where I started. Farmville won't let me farm.. After all of these months of reading about page loading issues, my farm has finally decided to join in on that malfunction.
I just planted pumpkins for the co-op last night. They've withered away by now; and I'll get over that. But I've been feeding my little puppy for 11 days...and If I don't feed him this evening, he will run away. And if my little doggie runs away because he was hungry and I wouldn't feed him, it will be Farmville's fault.
Well, Farmville and my sister... She's the one who got me started with this online farming thing in the first place.
I've read the messages over and over, "Farmville is experiencing page loading issues....blah, blah, blah." I didn't pay much attention until last night when Farmville wouldn't let me farm.
It's my sister's fault. She's another one of us video game players of a certain age; and she's the one who got me started playing the role of an online farmer. I wasn't really into it at first. I found it annoying: planting carrots or beans or tulips even, then remembering to go back in time to harvest my crops before they withered away.... milking cows, gathering eggs....
I'm a Real Live Virtual Farmer
I started feeling.... just like a real farmer, actually... too much work and no profit!! I kept at it, even though I had only four neighbors back then. Then I started playing Mafia Wars a few months ago. And who would have thought it, a lot of those online Mafia Dons and Donnas who trade guns, start wars with one another and "ice" an adversary at the drop of a hat... a lot of them have a little bit of the farmer in them.They invited me to be their Farmville neighbors and I invited them to be mine.
I have about 30 farm neighbors; and now that it's truly a "Social Gaming" experience for me, Farmville farming makes me want to say Yee-haw!! I have neighbors sending me virtual cows and trees, and all kinds farm gifts. I'm a regular virtual farm girl these days... that is when I'm not a Mafia gangster on Mafia Wars, or slinging hash at Cafe World or digging for buried artifacts on Treasure Island... I play Bejeweled Blitz and Family Feud sometimes as well. Like I said before, I love online video games.
So when co-op farming started, where you join with your neighbors to help bring in crops for town projects... I told you I was into it... I expanded my farm, twice even to accommodate more farm plots. I bought a virtual plow and seeder and harvester so I could do the job faster.... In short... I'm a virtual farmer.
My Pet Puppy
Last week I bought a puppy, a virtual puppy you absolutely must feed once every 24 hours for at least 14 days when it will transform magically into a grown dog. If you miss a feeding, it will run away.
Now I bought that little puppy with farm coins... pretend money you get from bringing in pretend crops.... but if that little puppy runs away, I will have to pay Farm Cash... (virtual money you pay real cash for) to get my puppy back.
So here I am back where I started. Farmville won't let me farm.. After all of these months of reading about page loading issues, my farm has finally decided to join in on that malfunction.
I just planted pumpkins for the co-op last night. They've withered away by now; and I'll get over that. But I've been feeding my little puppy for 11 days...and If I don't feed him this evening, he will run away. And if my little doggie runs away because he was hungry and I wouldn't feed him, it will be Farmville's fault.
Well, Farmville and my sister... She's the one who got me started with this online farming thing in the first place.
A Seasoned Video Game Player
My Worldwide Online Gaming Crew
I play online video games: Mafia Wars mostly, but also Cafe World... and I love playing the farmer on FARMVILLE. For those of you of my generation who know only video solitaire or other computer based games you play by yourself, the games I play are called "Social Games." You work them with teams, people of all ages from all over the world.
Instant messaging is an integral part of online Social gaming game, mostly with Mafia Wars when someone needs your help to take out a rival family; but sometimes people just want to say hi. I get of IMs from young people who assume I'm young too, perhaps because no older women in their family plays games like I do. Or perhaps because young people are just self-centered that way. The conversations start out simply enough, "Hello:" "Will you send me an AK-47?" "Can you help me with my war?" But it almost always winds down when they ask, "How old are you?"
A Gamer of a Certain Age
I once told a young man in some Middle Eastern country that women in America don't discuss age. I think he believed he'd insulted me after that. He apologized, made a little sad face ... you know a colon and a bracket, and signed off. A young man in Croatia wanted to know my age; so I told him I was old-er. He let it go only because he had to go to bed to get up for school the next day. All he had to do was check my profile page on Facebook to see my kids and grandson; but I can see how easy it is for some old pervert to get away with pretending to be a teenager when they start asking questions.
I have no problem with my age, it's other people who judge a woman based on her number of years on the earth. Deep inside I am a little child. I suppose that's why I play online games. I am .... we'll say, a woman of a certain age... Isn't that the catch phrase these days? I have grown, married children and a two year old grandson... thus the name, Video Game Grandma.
I have a passion for video games neither of my husbands (my ex-husbands) could have ever understood; and I love the new Social element of sharing the play with a worldwide crew. It's better than going out on Saturday night.
PONG
My video game love is nothing new. It started with PONG in the 70s and 80s, then Breakout, Zelda and Galaga. I remember playing ZELDA until my fingers hurt because I had to solve it. Yes, I played PONG in the 70s, but don't start counting backwards trying to figure out my age. I am a seasoned video game player. Let's just keep it at that.
My point is, the video game craze started with women like me who bought those new-fangled games for our kids a few decades ago, played them ourselves and maintained the habit until this very day. I love my online games and I will not hide my habit!
I play online video games: Mafia Wars mostly, but also Cafe World... and I love playing the farmer on FARMVILLE. For those of you of my generation who know only video solitaire or other computer based games you play by yourself, the games I play are called "Social Games." You work them with teams, people of all ages from all over the world.
Instant messaging is an integral part of online Social gaming game, mostly with Mafia Wars when someone needs your help to take out a rival family; but sometimes people just want to say hi. I get of IMs from young people who assume I'm young too, perhaps because no older women in their family plays games like I do. Or perhaps because young people are just self-centered that way. The conversations start out simply enough, "Hello:" "Will you send me an AK-47?" "Can you help me with my war?" But it almost always winds down when they ask, "How old are you?"
A Gamer of a Certain Age
I once told a young man in some Middle Eastern country that women in America don't discuss age. I think he believed he'd insulted me after that. He apologized, made a little sad face ... you know a colon and a bracket, and signed off. A young man in Croatia wanted to know my age; so I told him I was old-er. He let it go only because he had to go to bed to get up for school the next day. All he had to do was check my profile page on Facebook to see my kids and grandson; but I can see how easy it is for some old pervert to get away with pretending to be a teenager when they start asking questions.
I have no problem with my age, it's other people who judge a woman based on her number of years on the earth. Deep inside I am a little child. I suppose that's why I play online games. I am .... we'll say, a woman of a certain age... Isn't that the catch phrase these days? I have grown, married children and a two year old grandson... thus the name, Video Game Grandma.
I have a passion for video games neither of my husbands (my ex-husbands) could have ever understood; and I love the new Social element of sharing the play with a worldwide crew. It's better than going out on Saturday night.
PONG
My video game love is nothing new. It started with PONG in the 70s and 80s, then Breakout, Zelda and Galaga. I remember playing ZELDA until my fingers hurt because I had to solve it. Yes, I played PONG in the 70s, but don't start counting backwards trying to figure out my age. I am a seasoned video game player. Let's just keep it at that.
My point is, the video game craze started with women like me who bought those new-fangled games for our kids a few decades ago, played them ourselves and maintained the habit until this very day. I love my online games and I will not hide my habit!
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