The best Christmas gift I ever gave was a video game called Godzilla : Destroy All Monsters - Melee. I gave it to my nephews Ryer and Landon for their Nintendo GameCube. It seems like a lifetime ago but I'd have to guess it was when they were eight and five years old.
Ohmygod they loved that game.
And how could they not? Even as a guy in his thirties I could see the throaty charm of controlling a vintage, out-sized monster in an utterly destructible cityscape. This is a old-school rampage. This is a some kind of Japanese-nerd version of Götterdämmerung. This is better than ultra-violence Alex imagining his part in the good book (in the novel, I seem to remember the sequence escalating to the point of him slicing open the entire world with a knife).
I mean, there's a monster who's actually named Destoroyah. He is King Kong's ultimate foe!
Of course, Ryer and Landon -- being mentalists of the first order even at that age -- became hopelessly enmeshed and fascinated and obsessed with this game, to the point where their parents routinely had to take it out of circulation, and then use it as a regular part of the carrot-and-stick routine.
And what did I get in return for my most awesome of gifts? Some slanderous artwork ...
... if you look in the top right corner of the bulletin board, you'll see a drawing with the inscription (partly cropped -- sorry), Der Darryl, you probably suck at King Kong.
Another Christmas miracle!
In other news, C has decided to take on a new publishing venture, this one for our long-running (and very accomplished) writing group. Who has two thumbs and does graphic design work for free? This guy! Just kidding, it'll actually be a fun project for a change.
And lastly, today's word is surprise.
Ohmygod they loved that game.
And how could they not? Even as a guy in his thirties I could see the throaty charm of controlling a vintage, out-sized monster in an utterly destructible cityscape. This is a old-school rampage. This is a some kind of Japanese-nerd version of Götterdämmerung. This is better than ultra-violence Alex imagining his part in the good book (in the novel, I seem to remember the sequence escalating to the point of him slicing open the entire world with a knife).
I mean, there's a monster who's actually named Destoroyah. He is King Kong's ultimate foe!
Of course, Ryer and Landon -- being mentalists of the first order even at that age -- became hopelessly enmeshed and fascinated and obsessed with this game, to the point where their parents routinely had to take it out of circulation, and then use it as a regular part of the carrot-and-stick routine.
And what did I get in return for my most awesome of gifts? Some slanderous artwork ...
... if you look in the top right corner of the bulletin board, you'll see a drawing with the inscription (partly cropped -- sorry), Der Darryl, you probably suck at King Kong.
Another Christmas miracle!
* * * * *
In other news, C has decided to take on a new publishing venture, this one for our long-running (and very accomplished) writing group. Who has two thumbs and does graphic design work for free? This guy! Just kidding, it'll actually be a fun project for a change.
* * * * *
And lastly, today's word is surprise.
Yeah my daily D-tainment is back!
ReplyDeleteum..i want to play that game.
ReplyDeletewonderful. my boys-now 15 and 20 had the same mad love affair with a game called "abe's world" or something to that effect.... thanks for your most entertaining post.
ReplyDelete