Bits and pieces of a childhood gone by

It's 3pm in the afernoon. Way past the mid day food break where everyone would have gone home, changed, and ate grub. We gather up in the air-cooled hall, staring blank at a black box, complete with ice-chilled drinks and crunchies on sides. Fingers move rapidly. 'blip - blop - blip - blop' Stares become more intense. Taunts are thrown. 'kaching' Laughter persists. These are the days hulled up in front of the TV, playing video games with school mates.

If you were born in the late 70's or the 80's, you would most probably remember the emergence of digitized 8-bit pixels and sounds growing in homes all over the world. The age of console gaming just started. The Atari, Super Famicom, and its clone, the Micro genius; all had homes in almost every kid's heart during that time.

The Micro genius - my first console

This little bastard made it's way into many homes of the 80's, filling them with laughter, hours of frustration getting the cartridges to work, amazing family times, and the lies of 1001 games-in-one-cartridge where only 4 games actually work. This mofo lasted till one fine day when my cousin decided to pass the mother of all consoles at that moment of time - The SEGA MegaDrive.

This black lump was the most sought after console that filled magazines, posters, shops, and hearts during that time. It introduced a whole new genre of games which were fast paced, a little bit more exciting, and definitely nicer to stare at. Remember the good days controlling a blue hedgehog running around green and brown pixels, and fighting evil robot eggs by rolling into them.

Soon, the world saw a new revolution in console gaming with the birth of the all mighty Sony Playstation.

Since finding a home at my place, the Playstation offered gaming experience on a whole new level. The graphics blew everything else out of the water, and many hours were wasted playing Gran Turismo driving around in circles and building skylines to race on dirt; flying on rocket powered hover bikes in Jet Moto; blowing and beating up friends in Wipeout, Mortal Kombat, and the ever-fun Twisted Metal; as well as losing sleep by reading up on walkthroughs for the Final Fantasy series. The fun continued with the purchase of the Playstation II.

It seems that the days of hanging out with good mates, all with controllers in hand are almost over. Miss the days holed up in the hall playing games with friends and family. Miss the moments trying to get cartridges to work by shaking, cleaning, and blowing air into them. Miss the times hammering the controller with blistered palms and thumbs. Miss the nights staying up trying to beat 'just-that-one-level' before retiring for the day.

Good are those days. Good are those times.