Kickin' it Old School on Xbox LIVE Arcade
Published September 28, 2007
[This Xbox Dad column is a special for Xbox.com by Xbox Dad Brian "Brize" Johnson.]
Sometimes, I wonder what it must be like to be a kid nowadays. In a world where electronics dominate, do kids know about games and technologies that preceded the high resolution games of today? I did some digging. Are my kids really that far removed from what we parents today call "Old School"?
Kids get a lot of exposure to classic technology through older movies and television shows. But I was a little surprised to find out they were all familiar with pinball. They told me they've even played actual pinball machines before. Where? Apparently they found them in the break rooms in different places I've worked at Microsoft.
Hmm, interesting. "So what would you think of playing pinball on Xbox 360™?"
"Great!"
Just like in the arcade, without the soda stains.
Pinball FX is an Xbox LIVE® Arcade game that offers a number of different tables and options for the pinball enthusiast. Pinball FX features three tables, each with a unique theme. Speed Machine has a fast car theme, the Extreme table sports a hip, urban theme, and Agents is all about accomplishing the mission. The graphics, sound, and speed on this title are all superb.
One of the things that can make this game even more interesting for kids is support for the Xbox LIVE Vision Camera. Using the camera, you can see the friends you're playing with on Xbox LIVE, you can see your own reflection in the table, and you can even control the flippers with arm motions. Seems like a great way to trick the kids into exercise!
OK, back to my quest, what about classic video games? I dug deeper.
"Are you at all familiar with the classic video games of the 70s and 80s? If so, which ones?"
"PAC-MAN, Gauntlet, Joust, Dig Dug, and others," they told me.
"Where have you played these games?" I asked.
"Cell phones!"
Man, these kids are pretty sharp. So I watched Buffy play her favorite, Dig Dug, on the console.
Dig, dig, dig, and drop those rocks.
Dig Dug is the classic arcade game released by Namco in the early 1980s. The objective is to rid the game of underground monsters and avoid getting eaten. It looks simple at first, but I have trouble watching out for enemies as I pump a foe into oblivion. On the other hand, Buffy is infinitely patient and will dig up every bit of ground in the game and eliminate the monsters by dropping rocks on their heads. It's really quite interesting to watch kids come up with their own strategies for these games.
OK, one last try. What about card games? A favorite game when I was a young was UNO.
Uh oh, someone has to draw two cards.
"UNO," I explained to the kids, "is a card game like Crazy Eights, where you try to get rid of all the cards in … "
"We love UNO," they told me. "We play it at school all the time."
"Well then, how about checking out UNO on Xbox 360?"
If you've never played the game UNO, it's a card game where the object is to get rid of all the cards in your hand. You have to yell "UNO!" when you have only one card left in your hand. You take turns discarding on a pile by color and number, but UNO throws in a few special cards that make the game more interesting. One card allows for an instant change of direction, another skips the next player, there are even cards that can force players to draw a number of cards, snatching defeat from what appears to be an imminent victory. This game is addictive and it also supports the Vision Camera. And playing on Xbox 360 gives one a little practice time, so you aren't destroyed in the family games around the dining room table.
So it appears that kids aren't too far removed from the "Old School" games. Kids do have an appreciation for the classic games, but maybe not for the same reasons I do. They told me they don't play games because they're old or classic.
"We play them because they're fun!"
Well now, thinking back, I guess that's why we played them too.
Article by Brian Johnson
