PixlBit

I was thinking today of how I played my first games. I think I played in a normal way back in the 80s. On Atari 2600, I played a lot of different stuff, but what I most played were simulations of the sports I was playing, tennis and baseball. Also, I didn't have all the consoles like I have today. I only had an Atari. My friends in the neighborhood had the other consoles, and I'd go there to play them. That's how I experienced the Intellivision and Colecovision. I would go to the arcades on the weekends to play the best that was available in gaming. Games were short and it was rare to spend more than an hour or two on any one game.

Eventually, probably '84 or '85, my parents got a PC, an Apple IIc, and there I was introduced to word processors and the game Wizardry. I spent every Sunday after church in that game and writting plans for Dungeons & Dragons adventures. I had become a PC gamer and consoles were left behind. I still went to arcades occationally but not as much as before. I would be on the computer between 12 and 5 or so on Sunday and that was it for the week. Even that period seemed normal compared to today.

So, in playing just a few games primarily, not owning very many of them, playing for short periods of time, and playing sims of sports I was playing in real life, it seems to me now a very normal gaming experience.

Gaming today, during my work life (90s to present), is just strange by comparison. I mainly play the co-op games Mark and I can play together, but outside of that, I'm into just about everything but sports. I struggle with lists, game history and deciding what to play next. I'm inundated with info and access to games. I change my plans for gaming regularly. Like today, I'm thinking of just renting the most important games by year instead of the most recent ones I'm interested in. I even write about games on a blog. How nerdy can one get? Ha ha.

Anyway, to get less negative, I'm thinking about archivism today because I like that field and think I might be good at it. I'm thinking of a format for presenting objects, like games, that contains text and pictures. Sort of a wikipedia but with more style (better pictures) and more concision (like a blog post).

Anyway, that's what I'm going to research and work on in the hour or so I have until work. Maybe it'll extend into tomorrow. I'm going to write some notes to myself while at work and see where it goes.

Be BaD.