Gaming with My Dad

My dad is in his 60's. He is a good father and a fantastic grandfather to my sons, whom he doesn't get to see much because of where I live. This guy taught me how to fish, cut grass, hunt, color and many other things. For being his age he isn't to bad with technology either. I have many good memories of throwing balls, going to flag football games, playing board games and doing other things with my father, but the some of my fondest memories of time spent with my father playing video games.

Kids today are surrounded by technology. It has made its way into everything we do in our daily lives. I grew up in what I would like to think was the golden age of gaming. I never owned a NES or Super NES but my friends did and I played Ninja Turtles and Mario with them. We lived in the country and I remember having a satellite dish NASA would be jealous of. Of course we only got maybe 50 channels. My first system was a Sega Genesis. My first game was Sonic the Hedgehog: 2. I had a rather large collection of games among which was Quarterback Club '96.

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If you've never played this gem, the graphics looked something like this:

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It was the first game my father ever played with me. I'd like to think we were pretty evenly matched. I was a nerdy 3rd grader pitted against a man in his early 40's who had never played video games before. I remember my father dealing me some harsh defeats since my knowledge of how the game of football worked wasn't completely there by this age, but we had fun never the less and it was time I got to spend with my dad outside of fishing and hunting season. 

Times changed and we ended up getting the original Playstation. Along with it, we got NFL Game Day '99, NCAA Gamebreaker '99 and Tiger Woods PGA Tour '99.  

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We played them all together. With addition of four controller ports, my younger brother also joined us. We would often play at night we it was too dark to play outside or on rainy days. My brother and I got dominant at the football games, but our dad got very good at the golf game. We would often play tournaments against each other and dad won his fair share. If I my brother or I had a friend over, we'd play NCAA Gamebreaker '99 2v2. I remember distinctly being beaten by my brother and father only for my friend and me to make a comeback. We held them to a field goal on their last drive. We had 5 sec. left with them kicking off to us. If we ran it back we would win the game and cap an amazing win against my brother and father who had used the same two post route passes to destroy our defense all night. My character caught the ball on kick off. My friend frantically switched between defenders tying up or blasting any of my brother's and father's players who would come close to me. Several blocks, a stiff arm, and a juke and my toon was at mid field with no one around him. We were going to win. My father was laughing, my brother was screaming "NO WAY! NO WAY!" My character was home free. That was... until he pulled a hamstring on the 20 yard line and went from a lighting pace to old man with a walker. Before my brother's toon could tackle mine, I pitched the ball to the left hoping that one of our characters would be able to pick up the ball and make it the last 20 yards. My friend scooped up the ball only to be slammed by four opponents. I remember being so disappointed but laughing at what had just transpired. It's memories with my father like those that I cherish.

Times changed again and we bought a PS2. My brother and I moved on to fighting games and first person shooters.  Medal of Honor: Frontline is the game that sealed my fate in becoming a music composer for media. While my brother and I moved on our dad still played Tiger '99 frequently. At this point in our life, my brother and I were in high school and jr. high. Friends were getting cellphones and playing games like SOCOM: US Navy Seals online. I wouldn't get my first phone till college and internet in our house until my junior year of high school. I didn't have a hard time with making friends but I never felt like I could be myself or make really close friends for some odd reason. I also wasn't the most smooth with the girls and being a skinny nerd interested in pursuing music didn't help my self confidence either. I ended up keeping depression from my family and friends for a very long time. 

My dad had his low point as well during my years in high school. He lost his job of 20+ years as a mold tech. He was let go just before he was to receive his pension. He stayed on unemployment for a few years while looking for that one job that would help him pick up where he was left off. He had one good job after he was laid off. However, it was in upstate New York. He spent all week up there working and would come home Friday night late and leave late Sunday. We still got to do a few things on the weekend but it wasn't the same. Every now and then we'd fire up one of the old football or golf games and play for old time sake. 

Times changed one last time. I went to college and my brother went to train for the Army Reserve. 

I don't know if dad still played those old games on the PS2 while we were gone or not. In college I stopped playing games with the exception of Battlefield: 1942 and later World of Warcraft. However, my main focus was graduating with a degree in music and with everything I had going on, gaming took a back seat. Things changed for me drastically in college. I started exercising and putting on weight in muscle. I began to be more daring in my approach of other people, especially girls. I became a more out going person and started to come out of my shell. I would end up joining the Army Reserve and moving to Florida to pursue a master's degree. 

It wasn't until I got married and received an Xbox One as a gift that I started gaming again. Previously, one Christmas my dad bought a Nintendo Wii for my mother. She had tried Wii bowling at my uncles house in Arkansas and loved it. My dad started playing again too. I eventually landed a job teaching while working on music for clients and reps in LA, New York, Chicago, and other places in my free time. At nights I would fire up my Xbox and frustrate other players on Battlefield 4 and Call of Duty. At this time my parents and brother were in Pennsylvania and I was living in Florida permanently.

The last time I spent any lengthy amount of time at my parent's house was this past Thanksgiving. My family flew back home to be with my parents and my brother's family for the week. While there I discovered my dad had gotten pretty good at Wii Resort Golf. So after the kids were in bed, he and I would play a round or two. He seemed to enjoy it and was using it as an excuse to keep his joints loose. When my brother showed up we all played together. I also found out it was a regular thing for my brother and father to play a round on the Wii when he visited (my brother only lives an hour a way from my parents). During that visit, it felt like old times. We laughed and smack talked like we used to when we were kids and my dad was much younger. 

At my own home, my son has started to play Minecraft with me. He gets to play a little each weekend as a reward for getting good reports at school during the week. He enjoys it and it along with fishing and other sports, has become a bonding point for him and me. I want to create the same memories on rainy days with my son that my dad did with me. 

I love my dad and as long as he's able, I'll always make time to play a round of golf on the Wii whenever I visit.