ABRIDGED TOO FAR?

» RETROREVIVAL

» ATARI 2600 » 1982 » COLECO This may be hard to believe given the way I make my living, but although I know that I own the first videogame I ever played, I can’t actually remember which one it was. I know for sure that I played it in my family home on what was then my dad’s Atari 2600 and I’m certain it was either Donkey Kong or Centipede. This all happened so long ago that the Soviet Union still existed though, so neither my dad nor I can say for sure. I was yet to start nursery school at the time, so at least I don’t have to worry that my memory is failing. Better yet, I don’t have to worry that my memory is failing. [Erm… – Ed] Of the two candidates, I find myself drawn to Donkey Kong more. Centipede is a fantastic game converted well, but Donkey Kong really represents the journey I’ve come on when it comes to understanding videogames. At first, it was just a game I really liked. In the mid-Nineties, Donkey Kong’s resurgence on the SNES and Game Boy clued me in to the fact that it was a Nintendo series, and Mario’s point of origin no less. As a teenager venturing online, I learned about how the game I loved was cut back from its arcade incarnation, and derided in some circles.