Wow! I've recently bought an Atari, based on a nagging whim. I know it's silly and stupid, but I've been thinking about buying one... and I finally did. I've been thinking about the history of videogames and, of course, Atari figures highly. Pac Man, Donkey Kong and Space Invaders are touchstones for video games and the generation of gamers who enjoyed them.

Well, Monkus is thrilled! After playing on his GameCube, playing Space Invaders must seem like a primitive oddity - but he likes it, nonetheless.
While playing Donkey Kong, I pointed to the pixelated brown blob of Donkey Kong and asked him, "Do you know who this is?"
"No."
"That's Donkey Kong!"
"No way!!"
"And do you know who that is," I asked, pointing to the hopping little plumber.
"No."
"That's Mario!"
"Wow!" he squeaked.
"And that?" pointing to the pink thing next to Donkey Kong.
"Nuh uh - who?"
"The Princess!"

He was amazed. He knows Mario, Luigi, the Princess, Toad, Donkey Kong, Bowser, Yoshi and the whole cadre of Nintendo characters. With Nintendo increasing their character list by cross-promoting and re-introducing old characters like Link, Zelda, Samus Aran and Captain Falcon, they're poised to create a Disney-esque empire to stand the test of time.

And that pinpoints my desire to get the Atari. We're seeing the evolution of a new entertainment empire. It's not a done-deal, or anything, but that's the way it's looking. I mean, Donkey Kong will be the next Steamboat Willie, and I'll be the granddad who owns his own museum-quality Atari, where they can play their history, like popping Sleeping Beauty into the VCR.

So, with all that still unformed in my head - and causing me much grief (I can't stand unformed thoughts or unexplained emotions) - I stuble upon this article, Playing Mario, which helped solidify my ideas.

The author, 12 years younger than me, references Game Over: How Nintendo Conquered the World and cites from it, Starting in 1990, the Q-Ratings, "which indicate the popularity of politicians, movie stars, and other public figures based on controlled surveys, showed that…the Nintendo mascot, Super Mario, was more recognized by American children than Mickey Mouse"

Well, there you go. I was feeling the history.