Read this disclaimer first!!
Friday, Aug. 23, 2002 - 12:47 p.m.
Swing Batta!

Last night I stopped into MicroPlay in ville St. Laurent, just to check out some games they had for rent. I browsed through the PS2 games, the PS1 games, XBox, GameCube. They always have some game featured on one of the new systems that you can try out for a few minutes.

However, they also had one of their staff playing Arkanoid on a limited edition tiny Nintendo Entertainment System. Arkanoid is a game where you control a flat "bat". You job is to bounce a ball off the blocks above you, destroying them. There are obstacles in the way in most levels, and bonuses to your "bat" that temporarily enhance what you can do. I spoke with the old owner of the store.

"Great games on the NES. Great games. They were fun, not too complicated, challenging. It was all about fun, dexterity and strategy."

Then he went on to comment on Arkanoid:

"You see the high score there? I have another part-time guy who killed the high score. 72000, he got."

72000? That's a HIGH score? I had to think back, WAY BACK, to 1984. The default high score for most games was 50000. That was very difficult to attain. Back then, most things earned you 10 points, so doing the same thing 5000 times was quite a feat. These days, you can get 50000 in 30 seconds, no matter what you play.

"72000?", I said. "Wow." I meant it.

The employee playing was doing pretty well. There are two main ways to play, like in most games of the day: you can play for a high score or you can play for highest level. This guy was playing for score.

"Yep...yep, you're doing well," said the old man,"Yes you're doing well." He turned to me and said, "Yeah, that's a respectable score." He was at 12000. To the guy: "You keep this up and you'll beat Dave."

He really was doing well. Very consistent and calm play. But after about 5 minutes, he died for the first time.

"Swing batta!" I said. The old man chuckled.

The guy started up again with his next "man". Again, he did well, but the obstacles and the ball's speed were too great. I guess he's no Dave. He played his last man with determination, concentration and skill, but he was no match for me.

"Batta batta batta batta batta batta sa-WINGGGG batta!", I said, loudly. The old man joined in.

"Batta batta batta batta batta batta batta batta batta sa-WINGGGG batta!" The old man and I laughed. The guy died. He didn't seem to think we were funny.

As I left, I sincerely wished the old man a good night.

0 scrawls at the end of this hall

The look:
The feel:
The taste:
________________________