The holidays have come and gone, but before I stop listening to Christmas music and put away my decorations, I thought I’d write another “How the Wii and/or DS revolutionized gaming for my family and friends” blog. Seriously. I mean, I grew up with an Amiga 2000 computer. My dad would take me on occasional trips to the computer store (more like a boutique back in the day) and I would eagerly pick out anything that looked fun and would run on my Amiga. Half the time, the game would freeze up half-way through, but it didn’t matter. I’d play them over and over until another one came along.

Then came the NES, and with it, tons and tons of games! Having Asian parents who always put schooling first, there was no way I was going to be able to afford, let alone have permission to buy all these games. But that’s where mom and pop video stores came in handy. After promising that I’d finished all my homework for the weekend, my mom would drive me to the video store so that I could find that one game I had read and circled in EGM. And after spending the entire weekend playing and beating the game, I would rush over to my parents, drag them over to the TV, and show them my accomplishment. That was pretty much the extent to my parents’ involvement with me and my gaming life. Even when I became a Frag Doll, it was hard for them to grasp what I was really doing. It wasn’t a typical full-time desk job, I was playing GAMES for a living! Most people had never even heard of that. But they were great - they supported me, encouraged me, and trusted that I knew what I was doing.

And regardless of how much gaming has advanced in our society and has become a past time way of life, I can still say that I never thought I would actually be playing games with my parents!! With the release of the Wii last year, it has now become a central part of my family gatherings. I discovered that my mom is really good at Wii tennis and bowling, and that my dad actually makes a pretty good belching-plunger-throwing rabbit. He also doesn’t like to lose to my mom in bowling. My mom has learned to use the DS and is now playing My Spanish Coach in addition to the Spanish classes she was already taking. For some of us “older” people (hey, I am the second oldest Frag Doll!), we can really see how much gaming has changed since we were kids; we actually lived through it. Maybe it’s just the leftover warm fuzzies from the holiday season, but right now, I can really appreciate that.