Yesterday evening Sharaun was gone to bunco, so the kids and I went out for Mexican. When we got home, Keaton suggested we play the multiplayer Mario Bros. that came out for the Wii in 2009. I’d never played it before, but I’ve watched the kids play.
I so love all Mario games. I’ve certainly not played all the games that have been released since I stopped keeping up back in the late 80s, but every time I see one I get excited. Same with Zelda, those classic NES anchor brands remind me of 5th grade and all the excitement of playing them for the first time.
Anyway we all played for over an hour and not only was the game fantastic but we had the best time. I haven’t played a video game in forever, but doing it with the kids instead of watching TV or all being separately scrolling devices was really great.
We laughed, made fun of each other, coordinated as a team, celebrated joint victory… it was awesome. And, unlike a lot of the newest games, like the amazing open world ones on the Switch, I didn’t think it was too complicated to control or play. Old-person approved.
So I guess this is all about Mario. Maybe I should throw something random in to make it not all about Mario…
Social media is actually a cancer, rotting away our humanity and intelligence and curiosity. I used to think we could never go back, never unopen that box. But now I think that the one thing that might slow or reverse the addiction is the industry’s own greed. With Facebook and Instagram and X all now looking to charge users monthly, they might actually help fight the very cancer they created. Let’s hope.
Mario.