Conference rusure::nintendo

    I have had the Atari 2600 and 5200.  From the games I have seen
    Nintendo is far better.  Atari seems to have more Arcade type games
    where as Nintendo has more 'brain' games that require a person to
    think.  My 8 year old loves it.
    
    Paul  

    Re .0:
    
    Read this conference.  You don't have to worry about a child growing
    out of the Nintendo; there are plenty of adults who play, let alone
    teenagers. 
    
    
    				-- edp 

    Re .0:
    
    We've had an Atari 2600 for a decade and a Commodore home computer
    (C=64 -> C=128) for half that.  Many is the time that both were in use
    playing games of various sorts.  Adding the Nintendo to the mix
    displaced the Atari.  My younger son (age 12) and his buddies trade
    Nintendo games back and forth and the Atari is collecting dust.
    The C=64/128 arcade games don't get used as much anymore either. 
    
    My older son (age 15) still uses the C=128 for his text/graphic
    adventure games, so the Nintendo doesn't have a monopoly.  Nintendo
    cartridges still seem to be overpriced as compared to disk-based
    C=64/128 games.

    
    	I've had an ATARI 2600 since I was 16.   I played that thing
    until it died and had to  get  another.  Then  the Nintendo came
    out and I decided that  I  needed  an  upgrade.  I play the game
    every night almost religeously(sp)  and haven't tired much of it
    yet.  I'm not afraid to admit that I am 25 years old and plan on
    playing video games until I go blind.   Believe  me  Jane, it is 
    well worth the money !  
    
    Matt :^)

    p.s. In fact,  I  have the Nintendo right beside the Atari and I
         have the  ability  to  turn  one  off and turn the other on 
         without changing a single wire.  The best  of  both  worlds
         I guess.

    Thanks folks for the replies, I will buy my son a nintendo game.
    
    Maybe I will have fun playing with it also.  
    Thanks....Jane
    

    Good lord, folks, if she buys Zelda, we may never hear from her
    again....
    
    
    
    
    
    Don (go get 'em, link...)

    Martha isn't much interested in video or computer games until we
    bought the NES for the kids.  But after being challenged & beaten
    at Chubby Cherub by David (4), she stayed up until 2:AM practicing.
    She beat him, but not before her knuckes swelled up painfully from
    using the paddle - control for hours.  The kids know we can beat
    them if we have the time to play.  Martha bought the NES Advantage
    for me so I could beat Top Gun, that took awhile.  Most of the
    houses with kids have a Nintendo, some teenagers are rationed
    on school nights.  All the kids swap games, tips, triumphs are
    broadcast by phone.  It's a part of Old Oak Avenues' social fabric.
    
    						MWR
    

    When you buy the game you may not want to get the Robot or the Light
    Gun.  I think they are a waste of money, I know, I bought them.  Just
    get the basic system.                 
    
    Paul

    RE: .8
    
    I think the basic system is the real waste of money.  Nintendo does
    not supply a game cartridge with the basic system anymore ($80).
    For $100, you can get the action set which icludes the gun, and
    two games, Duck Hunt and Super Mario Brothers.  Even if you thow
    the gun away, you could not buy SMB for $20.
    
    /Jim Pappas

    RE: .9
    
    Good point, I forgot about SMB.  However I paid $139 for the full
    system 2 years ago.  
    
    Paul

    The answer in my family is yes. I have 3 daughters ages 11,14,and
    17 , all have some level of interested in the game. Our 14 year
    old is the most avid of the three having already conquered two of
    the cartridges and still going strong. I recommend Super Mario Bros.,
    which often comes with the introduction package. By the way my wife
    and I also get hooked and we are well passed our teenage years.
    
    regards
    rcw

    I went yesterday and bought the full nintendo package.  It came
    with the gun and 2 cartridges.  My son set it up and has been
    playing ever since.  I also bought 1 other game, not sure of the
    name but it is a western.  You have to shoot the bad guys.  This
    morning he set his alarm for 6:00 and started playing.
    
    I want to thank everyone again for the help.  Tonight he is going
    to show me how to play.  
    
    Oh! who ever said try ZELDA, is this game really good?  What is
    it like?
    
    thanks...jane
    

    
    	A description of `Zelda' can be found somewhere in note 5  and
    its replies.  There's alot there to read, but the first few should
    be able to cover what is consists of.  It's a very  good  game and
    worth the money, although is can be addicting and make  you  think
    of nothing else but getting home to play it. :^)  
    
    Enjoy !
    
    Matt :^)

    We got the NES system 2 years ago (robot,gun etc).  We got it so
    the kids would have something to do in the winter or other days
    when the weather is bad.  Needless to say, we are all video junkies
    now.  The most used statement in this house is:
    
    	JUST ONE MORE GAME  PLLLLEEEAAAASSEEEE!!!!
    
    This system has redefined the use of the television set in our house.
    I don't think I could tell you what shows are on anymore!!  I believe
    it was a good investment.  It has developed new fights such as IT'S
    MY TURN NOW!!!..I am the worst.  My daughter could probably take
    anyone on and beat them hands down.  I doubt any child, whether
    2 or 62, would tire of it.  In fact I agree with one of the previous
    notes stating the games were more of the 'thinking' type which is
    great especially for kids.  I believe that their logic skills have
    improved a lot.  So much so that I do not mind them playing for
    hours...after all they could becoming brain-dead watching normal
    television.  They do more chores around the house to earn money
    to buy more games.  
        
    By now you are probably an junkie!  
    
    Elin.
    BTW.  We just purchased the advantage control and cannot image how
    we survived without it.  It's a MUST.

    As for .14...may I add...ZELDA - there is no experience (video's!)
    like it.  When we first got that game, I believe we averaged 3 hours
    sleep a night and had the worn out hands to go with it.
    

    We have found the Nintendo system to be a great form of entertainment
    and it does challenge you both with fine motor skills and depending
    upon the games played with logic and reasoning. My son and I are
    the ones who use the game. The main problem is that the games can
    get very addictive, especially "The Legend Of Zelda" and the latest
    (and greatest) one, The Adventure Of Link. We have televisions in
    our family room, my sons room and our bedroom. The system often
    gets switched from room to room depending on who's using it and
    time of day (or I should say night). My son Chris knows he has to
    do good in school and get his chores and homework done before he
    can use it. If he doesn't have a good day, no Nintendo. There's
    a friendly competition between him and I and I have to admit, he
    is better at manipulating the controllers and remembering the subtle
    nuances of the games.
    
    What I'm basically saying is that the purchase is a good investment
    (as I'm sure you've found out). There are many games on the market
    that are a lot of fun. Read through the notes file and you'll get
    all the information you could ever want on Nintendo.
    
    Happy playing.
    
    Aloha
    
    Hawaii_Harry
    

       
        Is Nintendo worth it?  Sure it is but with a small qualification. 
        It's so addictive that all other aspects of "life" go down the 
        drain!

        Work on the house?  It can wait while I investigate Norfair in 
        _Metroid_.

        Read the newspaper and see what's happening in the world?  Nah! I'll
        try to get that triforce in Labrynth 8 in _Zelda_.

        Take the wife and kids out to the Museum?  You kidding...and miss
        the big USSR USA game in _Ice Hockey_ ?

        Get some sleep?   What! But it's only 3am and I'm just about to get
        into the floating fortress in _Rygar_ .  Who cares if I've got work
        tomorrow!

        I wish they never invented the _______ game!  8^)  But I love it!

-rick_hopelessly_hooked

    The following is a Dave Barry article.  He talks about Nintendo,
    among other topics.
    
    Extracted, from the Dave Barry notes file.
    
       <<< HYDRA::DISK$NOTES$LIBRARY:[NOTES$LIBRARY]DAVE_BARRY.NOTE;1 >>>
                       -<  Dave Barry - Noted humorist  >-
================================================================================
Note 450.0                         Spider Man                         No replies
PARITY::LANGR "Russ Lang, Tewksbury A18"            132 lines  15-AUG-1988 14:08
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


       ==================================================================
 
              SPIDER MAN DOESN'T SHIRK DUTY, EVEN ON HIS BIRTHDAY

 
                                 by Dave Barry


                     [The San Diego Union, August 13, 1988]

 
          On  my 41st birthday, a Sunday in July, I went out to face  the 
       spider. It had to happen. There comes a time in a man's life, when 
       a  man reaches a certain age (41), and he hears a voice  --  often 
       this happens when he is lying on the couch reading about Norway in 
       the Travel section -- and this voice says: "Happy Birthday. Do you 
       think you could do something about the spider?"
 
          And  a man knows, just as surely as he knows the importance  of 
       batting  left-handed against a right-handed pitcher, that he  must 
       heed  this  voice,  because it belongs to  his  wife,  Beth,  who, 
       although she is a liberated and independent and tough Woman of the 
       '80s,   is   deeply  respectful  of  the   natural   division   of 
       responsibilities  that  has  guided the human race  for  nearly  4 
       million years, under which it is always the woman who notices when 
       you are running low on toilet paper, and it is always the man  who 
       faces the spider.
 
          And so I called softly for my son, Robert. "Robert," I  called, 
       and  within  a  matter of seconds he did not appear  at  my  side, 
       because  he  was in the family room watching  TV  commercials  for 
       breakfast cereals that are the same color and texture as Pez,  but 
       have less nutritional content. So I called louder.
 
          "Robert,"  I said. "Fetch me the wooden stick that your  pirate 
       flag  used  to be attached to, and the Peter  Pan  'creamy'  style 
       peanut  butter  jar with the holes punched in the lid,  for  I  am 
       going to face the spider."
 
          Upon  hearing those words Robert came instantly, and he  looked 
       at  me  with a respect that I have not seen in his eyes  for  some 
       time  now,  not  since we got the Nintendo.  The  Nintendo  is  an 
       electronic video game that is mindless and non-creative and stupid 
       and  hateful, and Robert is much better at it than I am. He is  7, 
       and he can consistently rescue the princess, whereas I, a 41-year-
       old college graduate, cannot even get past the turtles. The  worst 
       part  is  the  way  Robert says, "Good try,  Dad!"  in  a  perfect 
       imitation  of the cheerfully condescending voice I used to use  on 
       him  back when I could beat him at everything. I don't know  where 
       kids pick up this kind of behavior.
 
          But there was respect in Robert's eyes as I strode out to  face 
       the  spider. As well there should have been. Bernice  (that's  the 
       spider's  technical Latin name) had erected a humongous web  right 
       outside  our  front door, an ideal location because  in  July  the 
       south Florida atmosphere consists of one part oxygen and 247 parts 
       mosquito,  which meant Bernice had plenty to eat. Also on hand  in 
       the  web was her husband, Bill, who, despite the fact that he  was 
       one-sixteenth   her   size,  nevertheless  played   an   important 
       ecological  role  in the relationship, namely trying not  to  look 
       like prey.
 
          "I  may  be  small," Bill would say, all day  long,  in  spider 
       language,  "but  I am certainly not prey! No sir! I am  a  spider! 
       Yes! Just a regular, NON-prey..."
 
          "Shut up," Bernice would say.
 
          "Yes!" Bill would point out. They were a fun couple.
 
          Nevertheless, I approached them cautiously, hoping any noise  I 
       made would be drowned out by the roar of the lawn growing. July is 
       in  what we South Floridians call the "Rainy Season,"  because  it 
       would depress us too much to come right out and call it the "Giant 
       Armpit  Season." When we read the stories  about  drought-stricken 
       Midwestern  farmers who can't grow crops in their fields,  we  are 
       forced  to  laugh  with bitter irony, because down  here  we  can, 
       without trying, grow crops in our LAUNDRY.
 
          And now I was up to the web. And now, with my son's eyes  glued 
       on me, I drew back the pirate-flag stick, and I struck.
 
          "Hey!" said Bernice, in spider. "HEY!!"
 
          "Don't hit me!" said Bill. "I'm prey!"
 
          But  it was Bernice I had my eye on. If I could poke  her  into 
       the Peter Pan jar, all would be well. But if she turned and lunged 
       for me, I would have no choice, as a man defending his family, but 
       to  drop everything and sprint off down the road, brushing  wildly 
       at myself and whimpering.
 
          Fortunately,  she went into the jar, and I got the lid on  real 
       quick,  and  for a while we watched her pace around in  there  and 
       indicate via sweeping arm gestures what she was going to do to  us 
       when she got out.
 
          "I'm  gonna sting all of your eyeballs," she was  saying.  "I'm 
       gonna lay 175 billion eggs in your EARS. I'm gonna..."
 
          This was fun, but eventually we decided it was time to get  rid 
       of  Bernice,  following  the  standard  procedure  recommended  by 
       leading  ecologists  for the disposal of  revenge-crazed  spiders, 
       namely:  Release  them on a drug dealer's lawn.  Like  many  South 
       Floridians, we have a house in our neighborhood that we are pretty 
       sure  is  occupied by drug dealers, as indicated by  subtle  clues 
       such  as cars coming and going at all hours, bed sheets  over  the 
       windows, a big sign stating, "DRUGS FOR SALE HERE," etc.
 
          We  decided this would make a fine new home for Bernice, so  we 
       drove  casually  by,  and I real quick opened the  jar  and  shook 
       Bernice  onto the lawn. She scuttled off angrily  straight  toward 
       the house. "I'm gonna FILL YOUR NASAL PASSAGES WITH WEB," she  was 
       saying. "I'm gonna..."
 
          But she was no longer our problem. We were already driving off, 
       Robert  and I, going shopping for a present for my 41st  birthday. 
       We went to Toys R Us.
 

 
                      Copyright Knight-Ridder News Service
                              - without permission

 
 
       ===================================================================
       From:	DECWRL::"grabhorn@marlin.nosc.mil" 
                "Steven W. Grabhorn  14-Aug-88 1117 PDT" 15-AUG-1988 11:28
       To:	langr%parity.DEC@decwrl.dec.com 
       Subj:	dave (alias spiderman)