Back in the seventies, everything was simpler and more complex. Then, one day, in 1977, I was born. I’m not that special, but the Gods were merciful: shortly before I was born, they saw fit to bless the world with the Atari 2600.

I don’t remember the first time I laid hands on this plastic beast, perhaps I put one of the controllers in my mouth when I was but two…. But I do remember watching my older siblingz play it on the third story of our house in Pittsburgh. I think I remember Pac-man or Ms. Pacman first. But what I truly remember most of all was Defender.

I remember watching that dark, frightening world, with my young innocent eyes: the flashes of the laser; the dribbling movement of the aliens; the digital noises that were cries for help.

I was astounded something like this existed. I wasn’t worried about polygon counts, or shaders, or anything like that, no – that world was as real as day to my eyes, and I watched, steadfast, as my older brother and sister did battle against the aliens.

It would be a while before I could brave digital worlds myself. It’s funny because, nowadays I take interaction with digital worlds for granted, but when I watch my young nephews, who are about five, try to play xbox, they just barely get it.

But I didn’t really get into games until later, when I was a couple years older, around 1982 or 1983 or something. My family bought a TI-99 personal computer (you hooked it up to your TV) and I started to play the educational games on that. I started with a difficult game: “Tombstone City”, where you shoot aliens disguised as tumbleweeds so you can repopulate the planet in the 21^st century. It was hard and stupid.

There were some educational and maze games too, like a game where you were a mouse and you wandered through a maze eluding a cat. There was also “Munch Man” which was a Pac-Man clone I played and played.

Also, as a young boy, I sampled programming on the TI-99. There was no disk drive, but there was instead a tape drive. I never figured out how that damn thing worked. I guess I was too young.

But for most of the time, I played the TI-99, and then the Atari as new games came out. I remember loving Joust and Pitfall, but being totally perplexed by Raiders of the Lost Ark and E.T.

Little did I know, the NES as coming……….