Christmas is almost here. I am excited. I am still a kid at heart I guess.
Speaking of being a kid…. As a kid I was an incorrigible present hunter. I knew there were things with my name on them. I knew they were hidden in the house somewhere. I just HAD TO FIND THEM!.
I am still bad about waiting for presents, and boy can I be tormented with anticipation by a gift giver who wants to harass me. My wife has been known to get me all revved up more than once just for her own amusement. She drops hints - some real, some red herrings. All the while waiting for me to implode (I am pretty sure I would implode and not explode) in anticipation of receiving a really cool gift.
I think the apex, or nadir depending on how you want to look at it, of my gift hunting was in 1982. I was 10. The gift…. Berzerk!
At this point the Atari 2600 was a fixture in the house, and we had a few games. But I know that Berzerk was high on my Christmas list that year. Perhaps because of their NIFTY advertising…
Well, as my normal routine this time of year, I had been hunting for gifts. Usually I would just shake and wonder about what was inside. On rare occasions, when my impulse control was weak, I would carefully liberate the gift from its wrapping and have a nice look at what was inside and then re-wrap the gift.
When I found Berzerk in my parents’ closet I knew it had to be an Atari game based on size, weight and shake effect. I opened it. Then, I entered uncharted territory.
I opened the box!
My parents must have been out doing some more shopping and my older siblings either didn’t care or didn’t pay attention to me firing up the Atari. I think I played that thing for hours. I played on more than one occasion too. By the time Christmas came around I was a Berzerk pro!
Now, either there is no gift hunter gene, or it skips a generation, or there is hunting going on that I don’t know about. But, so far as I can tell, my kids are far more normal about waiting for Christmas gifts than I was/am.
But I have to tell you - if they won’t I just might go bust out Guitar Hero before Christmas actually comes!!!
–Don’t know if I will post over the next couple of days (I have plenty of 3D world stuff to take care of) so Merry Christmas!
5 responses so far ↓
1
Rick Astley
// Dec 23, 2007 at 10:21 am
Wow, flashback!
I still have “Bezerk” for the VECTREX system. That bouncing evil smiley face - the one that knows no walls and appears at the end of every screen to take you out just as you’re about to clear the screen - yeah, he’s creepy.
Would like to say Bezerk’s timeless charm continues to enthrall my kids today but I’m afraid… the… action… is… too… slow.
For the most part, that’s the case with all the old systems and hand-held games. There are a few keepers out there for our kids, though.
From the original Nintendo: Zelda, TecmoBowl and Mike Tyson Punchout still get significant play in our house.
From the original Sega, a slightly newer “RC ProAM” is still hotly contested, and there’s a 90s update version of “Pitfall” which every once in awhile sees the light of day.
And this vacation, one of my goals is to have the old Intellevision up and running again.
Viva, Tron Deadly Discs!
2
Darren
// Dec 23, 2007 at 6:42 pm
I’m a present hunter too, and so far my daughter isn’t. A very merry Christmas to you and your family.
3
Jeff
// Dec 24, 2007 at 7:10 pm
My nerdy son has a 2600 right now, and my daughter just bought him a few game cartridges as Christmas presents from the vintage game store. Needless to say he was thrilled. Merry Christmas Pat!
4
Whimspiration
// Dec 26, 2007 at 7:15 am
Oh wow. In my house growing up (and now for my kids too) we had a rule. “If you see it, it goes away, and you don’t get it.”
My family is really low income, and the kids know that a lot of thought goes into the gifts we get them, sometimes months ahead of time, so we can make the holiday great for them.
They know that if they find a gift, they may not get another to replace it.
The result: our kids ask, and are told, where the presents are hidden, so they can avoid the entirety of the general area as if their lives depended on it.
Now, giving gifts is another matter. I can’t keep them from giving what they’ve collected until the holiday itself for the life of me. *chuckle*
(just decided to drop by from Cre8BuzZ!)
5
Stephen
// Dec 27, 2007 at 12:44 pm
I liked the ad campaign for the re-release of the 2600 back in the 80’s… ‘it’s the 2600 from a-tah-ree!’ I think I can still remember all the lyrics, too.
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