Hey, I've Had Practice

This morning I had the pleasure to watch my nephews, Noah and Daniel. They are four-and-a-half and three, respectively. We saw them for a little bit in November, when grandma was dying, but I really haven't seen them since we moved to California over a year ago. We had a blast. I love those boys!

Well, Noah, at his tender young age, has become quite an avid "gamer." His term, not mine. He got pretty excited when I told him I'd play Super Mario Bros. with him.

So, he set us up a two-player game: he as Mario, I as Luigi. Well, he almost got to the end of level 1-2 when he lost his life down a shaft, then it was my turn. I kept hearing, "Wow!" and "You're really good!" until I passed the point where Mario had fallen. Then silence.

I thought nothing of it. I was having fun. I didn't think I'd make it very far at all since it had been many years since I played the game. Then I heard Noah whimpering about level 2-3. I turned to look at him and found a frown on his otherwise smiley face. I kept playing for a bit. More whimpering.

Finally, I asked him what was wrong. No response, just more whimpering, but it was sounding closer to crying. Finally, I got to level 3-1. Noah was not a happy gamer, so I turned to him and asked, "Are you upset that I keep playing?"

I received a glare in response.

"Would you like to play Luigi for me?"

"Okay!" And so I relinquished my controller to him.

After he had exhausted all the lives of both Mario and Luigi, he turned to me and said, "I think I just like playing one player when you're here." And then he commented on how surprisingly good my Super Mario skills were. 

I told him that I had played the game a lot when I was younger. It was then that I noticed the copyright date on the title screen: 1985.

"Hey Noah, guess what?" I stated, "This game was brand new when I was your age. This came out when I was four years old. It's given me a lot of time to practice." 

Noah's eyes went huge with awe as he said with reverence, "Wow. This game must be really old."

Thanks Noah!! For the record, I never have beaten the game. You'll have one up on me in no time.