Young at Heart

Yesterday I was at the institute building for Friday Forum and afterwards a few of us ended up playing Skip-Bo, a game I hadn't played in years but enjoyed thoroughly as a child. One of the girls playing with us said that Skip-Bo reminded her of her childhood - of hours spent on her sister's waterbed playing cards and watching Saturday morning cartoons. "I wish I could be a kid again," she sighed.

I think all of us feel that from time to time. All of us have things that are important to us as adults because they remind us of the carefree days of childhood. For me, that is best represented by my collection of obsolete video games and consoles. The collection in our apartment (partially owned by Seth) currently stands at a TI-99/4A, two Ataris (a 2600 and a 7800), four original Nintendos (henceforth referred to as 'NES'), a Sega Genesis, and two Nintendo 64s. (When our new roommate arrives he will bring his Playstation 2 - then we'll only be one generation behind the times!) But the crown jewels of my collection are Conrad and my NES cartridges.

For years I have made frequent stops at stores that sell used old-school games, such as the incomparable Graywhale Music independent chain along the Wasatch Front, national chains such as Play N Trade and Game Crazy, or local places like Ann Arbor's very own Get Your Game On. Most of the time they have four or five dozen of the exact same games you saw last time you came in, but there's always that thrilling moment when your eyes zoom in on something new: a well-loved title that brings back great memories, provides you anew with many hours of enjoyment, and fills a gaping hole in your collection.

I've amassed a well-balanced and thoughtful collection of NES games encompassing the Nintendo cornerstone franchises (Mario 1-3, Zelda 1 & 2, Metroid, Mike Tyson's Punch-Out), the great third-party franchises (Castlevania 1-3, Megaman 2 & 3, Ninja Gaiden 1-2, Double Dragon 1-3), the great puzzle games (Dr. Mario, Tetris, Yoshi), the super-old school classics (Excitebike, Ice Hockey, R.C. Pro-Am), the overlooked classics (Blaster Master, Battletoads, Little Nemo the Dream Master), the ultra-obscurities (A Boy and His Blob, Maniac Mansion) and the truly awful, waste of space titles (Home Alone, Jaws, Magician) just for good measure. And I didn't even mention Ducktales, Adventure Island 1 & 2, and Final Fantasy. (Admit it - you're jealous.)

Yet I felt for years that my collection wasn't complete because it was lacking three crucial titles: Contra, Bionic Commando, and Bubble Bobble. I had jokingly told friends that finding these three titles was my "life's goal." The first two were easy enough to rectify, but Bubble Bobble was a much bigger challenge. I used to ask the folks at Graywhale to look on their computers to see if Bubble Bobble was in stock, and they would just laugh at me. A title as rare and desired as Bubble Bobble doesn't make its way into used game shops very often, and when it does it doesn't stay on the self very long before being snapped up by rival NES enthusiasts.

I could have secured my own copy of Bubble Bobble fairly easily on eBay, but I didn't want it to go down that way. I wanted it to play out more of less like this: I walk into a game store, I search unsuccessfully through the cartridge stacks, I sullenly prepare to leave after yet another unsuccessful mission, but just before leaving I happen to wander over to the special glass cases by the register where, against all odds, the elusive title is waiting for me to come and rightfully claim it as my own, like Excalibur waiting for King Arthur.

And that's pretty much exactly what happened a few weeks ago during a routine visit to Get Your Game On. I think the guy behind the register was a little surprised by my overexcited reaction to finding Bubble Bobble, but he gave me a sizable discount because he recognized me as a regular customer. (Plus I told him that I would name-check Get Your Game On on my blog - it really is a fine store where you can find not only classic video games but also those elaborate, German-style board games.) Bubble Bobble is just as good as I remembered it, and it brings back great memories of the whole neighborhood going over to Justin McKinnon's house to play it. But most of all, it fills that final hole in my NES collection.

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So now that I'd found the final title that was missing from my NES trilogy and I've accomplished my "life's goal," what am I going to do now? I was of course joking about it being my life's goal, but now that I've done it I feel like there is some truth to it: I am finished with that part of my life (collecting NES games). I feel like I've completed my collection and there is nothing more to be done in this area of my life. Does this mean I've grown up a little?

I've been doing a lot of thinking on the subject of "growing up" for the last few weeks, and there are two quotes that have come into my mind quite quite frequently. The first is from 1st Corinthians 13:11:

When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

This verse is extremely clear - there is a point at which it is necessary to put away childish things in order to progress and grow. I'm 28-years old for goodness sake - I can't just sit around playing Bubble Bobble all day. There are more important things I should do with my time and there is so much more that I can do and become. But this second quotation, by Wordsworth, makes a good point too:

My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky.
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I grow old,
Or let me die!

While I know it is important to "grow up," I sincerely hope that I growing up doesn't come at the expense of losing my ability to find joy in the little things that have always made me happy since childhood, be it Skip-Bo, NES games, origami, or Sesame Street. I really think that there is a balance in between these two quotes - that I can be a responsible adult but I can also stay young at heart. I joke around a lot of the time and do some pretty silly things and that may give the impression that I'm not serious about anything, but that isn't true. I'm dead serious when it comes to my family, my friends, and my religious beliefs - I love them all deeply. I want to be a great husband, father, and useful member of society, but I also want to be an enthusiastic and fun person that enjoys the simple things in life and makes those around me happy.

*****

After acquiring Bubble Bobble, I was ruminating on the fact that I may be finished with my NES collection with John McElderry. He asked if I had Marble Madness. Marble Madness?!? Why no, I forgot about Marble Madness. Wait... what about Kid Icarus? And Kirby's Adventure? Ice Climber?

So maybe the Nintendo collector in me still isn't dead. But instead of compulsory monthly visits to Get Your Game On (that's the third time I've name-checked them in this post), I'll just pop in every six months or so just to see what's new. That sounds like a good balance, right?

*****

Here's a bonus for those of you who have endured through this very, very long post (this actually is the short version - I cut out about have of the body of the post before publishing!):