games – sethlewis.ie

The museum had radios from the 1920’s and an original Edison record player. They had rotary phones with a working switchboard, and an early TV camera hooked up to an old TV. After that came the room full of old computers—and that’s where the experience changed, for me. I recognised them. I remember one of them sitting on the desk when I was growing up. I know how to put the floppy disks in those slots, and flip down the lock. The ATARI game system in the corner—the one my kids thought was so ancient—was the one I used to play on. I can show you how to blow on the cartridges to keep them working, if you want me to. But why would you?

Across from the ATARI, there were mobile phone models that I used to own displayed in a glass case. The stuff I used to carry in my pocket—in a museum display! I still remember how to type out texts with the number pad, pushing the 3 twice for an “e” and the 7 four times for an “s”. I guess that skill isn’t all that useful anymore.

At our house, I’ve always been the bad guy. To be more precise, I’ve been a lot of bad guys. Sometimes it is just part of me, like when my hands became the Flying Tickle Spiders. Other times I’ve needed extra props, like the brown blanket for the times when the Muddy Hole Troll tried to trap my children in his muddy pit in a terrible plot to keep them filthy. In lightsaber fights, Sith Seth has always been the one threatening destruction and calling good little Jedis to join the dark side. Then there have been attacks from the electric Volt-ure who zapped children (disclaimer: no real electricity was involved) and the Alien Chef who has tried to make them into sandwiches between the beanbags. Our house has been a dangerous place.

The thing is, all my terrible plots have ended in failure. I guess I’m not really that great at being an evil mastermind. Somehow, the children have always found a way to defeat me. Which is fine. Actually, I’m happy. I want the bad guys to lose, too. Yes, our house can be a dangerous place, but it is only silly danger, and my children can fight my evil plots with complete confidence of eventual victory. We just have fun together, and I hope they remember that. But I hope they remember more—I hope they hold on to that feeling of confidence, of knowing they will win eventually. They are growing up now, growing beyond the games and closer to the reality of the world, and here’s the thing: the world is a dangerous place.

Tag: games

My Old, Obsolete Knowledge

Being The Bad Guy