Your mom -
May 13, 2001 - Alex Annis
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed
within this column are those of the participants and the
moderator, and do not necessarily reflect those of the
GIA. There is coarse language and potentially offensive
material afoot.
Please take your army boots off at the door.
Don't say we didn't warn you.
Memories are a very good thing, but they can be hard to respond to without similar memories of your own. This brings us to
the odd structuring of today's column. I received a lot of good letters from you all, but there's no real way I could post them all
without making the column really, really, really long, so I cheated a bit. The letters with responses are, as you would expect,
below the introduction. Letters without replies have been posted here. I strongly encourage all of you to check out what
everyone else had to say, as there are some really interesting letters. Hopefully this isn't too strange for you all, but I figured
since it has already been a strange few days another odd column wouldn't hurt. Besides, if you don't like it, I'm sure I'll hear
about it tomorrow. Onward.
| I shall destroy you! |
| Hey Alex,
The best video game memory I have involving my mother is trying to teach her to play NHL '96 for my Genesis when I was
sick. I spent the better part of the afternoon teaching her the controls, thoroughly beating her, teaching her the controls again
because she forgot, beating her again, reminded her that B was shoot and A was pass, etc. Anyhoo, it was the final minute of
the third period of the last game we were to play. I was beating her, like, 12-0 or something, and she still hadn't scored a
single goal. I skated over her blue line, but lost the puck. So, mother dearest picks up the puck, and, still not knowing the
difference between pass and shoot, shoots the puck. And scores. On her own net. Now, my mom isn't a very big hockey fan,
so, chaos insued, and she started running and jumping around the room in a state of euphoria, until I informed her that she had
just contributed to another of my crushing victories. We've never played a video game together again.
Adam W., taking sick pleasure in crushing his mother in virtual sports simulations. Mwa ha ha ha ha ha ha!
(Btw, great job on the column, Alex. Keep it up.)
|
| Puzzle games unite us all |
| Alex,
Actually, this is my first time sending in an email, i've read a freakload of DA without sending in anything, but when you
brought my mama into this, i knew i had to do something. My mom loves tetris attack...she and i (along with my siblings) have
played many a hour playing this freakishly addictive game. anyone who's played tetris attack (or its pokemonish cousin) knows
what i'm talking about...it's the only game that she knows how to play, actually. haha...you think your moms don't like you
spending the whole night playing fft or xenogears? how bout spending the night playing this game with jo mama!.....well at least
she doesn't "nag" me to turn off the psx when i play all night nowadays!
LeviatanX, whose mama could kick your mama's ass at tetris attack anyday
|
These letters set me up to tell my own favorite gaming moments with my mother. The year or so before I left for college, I used
to play Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo with my her. We'd usually squeeze in the time to play a few matches before dinner was
ready when she would get home from work. Stupidly, I started to limit the amount of playtime we had, which is a move I
regret since my roommates refuse to play me these days. That was always what I enjoyed about playing it with my mom; when
we first got it, we were on even levels so the matches were always close. After lots of playtime, I became considerably better
than her, but despite her crushing defeats she kept playing, with the hopes of winning a single round against me. I miss those
days. Perhaps I'll have to set up my PSX when she gets back in town so we can play a few games.
| NES: The Ultimate Family Console |
| Ahhh Mother's Day
Believe it or not, this actually brings out quite a bit of nostalgia, gaming nostalgia at that. When I was but a wee lad, and when
five dollars was a lot of money, not just my next meal, i lived in a tiny little apartment. But I digress...In the apartment I lived
with my family of one mother, one father, two borthers, and one sister. We owned one NES. With this NES came three
games that will sit in my memory forever because they were the only three games where my mom could and would whip the shit
out of me in.
First, Tetris. Need I say more? One of the longest lasting games ever, and my mom was great. She could CREAM me and any
of my friends. Although they were never sent in, some of her scores were comprable to ones sent in to Nintendo Power, back
when Nintendo Power was THE magazine to own.
Next, Paperboy. Paperboy was funny. And fun. That game created more family moments than even Monopoly or Uno, which
are both held sacred to us. And my mom could pass a few months and have everyone subscribing.
Finally, the ultimate two player game of fun. With the ULTIMATE music that makes you wanna dance....Bubble Bobble. I still
OWN an NES and Bubble Bobble. Between the addictive music and the fact that though we tried, dear mother and I could
never quite nail the grommit. We had him down to 13 hits to go..and he whupped us. You could say he whupped me and my
mother....
At any rate.. I hope every gamer can look back to times spent wiht their moms. Because mothers really are the greatest people
in the world, and video games can be more than the mindlessness people make them out to be, but tru, intelligent, interactive
FUN.
Peace,
Ray
|
When I wasn't playing SPFT2 with my mom, we were playing Bubble Bobble. Thinking back now, it could have been the
Mother's Day gift I got for her a few years back when I was a poor high school student, instead of a poor college student.
There was a great new/used game store near my old house, and I rode down there one day with a few PSX games I no longer
needed and traded them in to get the new PSX Bubble Bobble collection for her as a gift, since she had loved the NES version
and our copy was long gone. The only problem with it was that she wanted to play it a lot, so she was always trying to kick me
off my PlayStation. I remember many days when I'd return from school to find it still on with whatever game I had been
previously playing lying somewhere on my desk.
| Hiding games is just evil |
| hey,
one thing i will never forget that mom my did for me (gaming related) is how she gave me my Sega Genesis, continuing my cycle
of video game obsession from my previous atari 2600 and NES. I was just a dumb kid then and i think i was actually playing
game boy at the kitchen table when she came up to me and had a garbage bag that didn't really look full at all and she asked
me to take out the trash, and i (being the lazy bastard i am) made up some excuse so i wouldn't have to take it out. I put it off
for about half and hour until i realized it wasn't going anywhere so i decided "what the hell, i'll just get it out of the way and get
back to playing me beastial game boy (those were the days my friends)" so i picked up the bag and realized how light it really
was, i looked inside and there sat my sega genesis and a game (sonic i think). I know people will probably make a lot of jokes
about receiving a Genesis in the trash or something, but i don't really care, that machine ki! cked serious ass.
My mom also saw when Aeris died if FFVII (if that spoiled anything for anyone thats pretty damn pitiful) and she left the room
in tears, so she believes me when i say games are more like literature then just "some damn waste of time"
...my father however still thinks i play atari...but thats another story altogether
D'Ro- wondering if he'll get fired from the site he works at for writing in to this one (which rocks by the way)....i got an idea!
Visit www.gaming-media.com (that wasn't so tough)
P.S. Gunstar Heros kicked serious ass! Anyone who hasn't played can't consider themself a true gamer!
|
The day Mortal Kombat 2 was released for the SNES, I handed my mom the $50 or whatever it cost as she walked out the
door with my dad to play cards at a friends house. When she returned home later that night, she told me that Service
Merchandise was out of copies and that she would pick it up for me sometime later in the week. Then she asked me to go out
to the car to get a book she had left in it, which wasn't an uncommon practice. As I opened the door and tried to focus on the
floor where she said it was (the dome light never worked on that car, for some strange reason), a big thunder bolt flashed in the
sky and revealed my copy of MK2, which coincidently enough had the lightning bolt on the cover. Needless to say, I ran back
in, gave her a hug, and then played until she had to turn it off.
| Not everything can be positive |
| Every single time my mother has somehow been involved in my gaming can be paraphrased in the following dialogue:
MOM: "Dinner in five."
ME: "All right."
MOM: "Dinnertime!"
ME: "Coming."
TESTY MOM: "I said dinnertime!"
ME: "Lemme find a save point!"
FRUSTRATED MOM: "Will you turn that thing off and come to the table?"
ME: "I still have to find a save point!"
ENRAGED MOM: "THAT'S IT!"
Which either ended with her slapping off the system or me finally submitting and saving at the save point I found ten minutes
ago.
Such fond, fond memories.
-Eightball, late to dinner again
|
I doubt that anyone here hasn't ever gone through this. The worst instance of this I can recall was when I was finishing up Final
Fantasy VII for the first time. I'd been playing it all week and my dying PlayStation was suffering for it. After beating Savior
Sephiroth, the tunnel cinema started and my PlayStation froze. Frustrated, I started playing again. Then the calls to dinner
started. After about 10 minutes of exchanges with my mom, Sephiroth caught me off guard and killed me. I got to the table,
blamed my death on my mom, devoured my meal, and went back and finally got to see the ending when I took all my anger out
on Sephiroth.
| You think you're so special |
| My mother thought Sephiroth was a woman. Top that.
Negative Creep
|
My mom thought the same thing. Booya.
Closing Comments:
Now that you've read the main column, be sure to head over here for the rest of today's letters. I have a lot of other messages
in my mailbox from today pertaining to things we've discussed over the past few columns, so I'll probably pull some out for
tomorrow. For those of you wanting to write in, just consider tomorrow a free topic Monday.
Alex Annis, wishing his mom a Happy Mother's Day for the last time this year
|
