Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, January 25, 1993 TAG: 9301260299
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: NF-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: WENDI GIBSON RICHERT NEWSFUN WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
ZAP!
In a world very different from, but also very much like your own, exist Game Genies and a dinosaur named Yoshi.Here, in this video world, you'll also meet Sonic the Hedgehog, Street Fighter and Kirby, the little ghost who sucks in his enemies and spits them out as stars.
And don't forget Kid Chameleon, Super Mario, Battle Toads and Mega Man.
If you haven't met these folks, then it could mean you don't play Nintendo, Atari or other video game systems.
But if you're even a little familiar with them, chances are you do play these computerized skill-testers. And if you play video games at all, the chances seem greater that you play them a lot.
We recently visited Mary Scott Coffee's fourth-grade language-arts class at Eastern Elementary School in Pembroke and asked its members what they liked and disliked about playing video games.
Angela Perdue said she liked playing them because, "It's fun to play with your friends."
Michelle VanHoozier played because "It's one of the few things I'm good at."
Others simply agreed that playing games that require you to keep your eyes glued to a screen while you madly bang away at the controls is simply entertaining.
Video games have been around for years, from the arcade style you pump quarters into in restaurants to the latest Super Nintendo games many kids found under their Christmas trees last month. Some are easy, some are hard. Most all fit into somebody's skill level.
With these games have come a whole generation of kids bent on matching their wits against those of a bleeping computer.
Sure it's fun to play, but Coffee's class of video game junkies said the competition keeps them coming back. All agreed: It feels good to beat the machine.
Anthony Hayden had the class record for the most hours spent playing a game. He played "Adventure Island" for six hours, and though his hands grew tired, his eyes didn't. He only stopped playing because he was hungry.
Others in the class said they had played for two to three hours at once, with half the class agreeing that playing for that amount of time made them feel "fuzzy" afterward. Most also said they felt exhausted after a tough computer game, and frustrated if they lost.
When asked what other disadvantages came from playing video games, Heather Higgenbotham said her brother once got blisters on his hands from playing too much at one time.
Jessica Hilton said she sometimes gets so engrossed in the game she's playing that she doesn't hear her mother calling her. "I'm in my own little world," she said.
And Anthony, the six-hour player, admitted he once spent $15 playing video arcade games in the New River Valley Mall arcade store.
For these kids, though, the relatively few benefits they could name of playing video games far outweighed the consequences. The great feeling of beating the computer at its own game was the best advantage to playing.
Others said the more they played, the quicker their hands responded to what their eyes saw on the screen. That's called improved eye-hand coordination.
What do the parents of these kids think of their computer game addictions?
Jon Altizer said his folks get "mad sometimes because they want to play." In fact, he said his parents liked to play "Wheel of Fortune" so much they moved the video game from his bedroom to the kitchen.
Sometimes, according to Coffee's class, parents discipline their kids when they fight with their siblings over who gets to play the games first, and how long they get to play.
Lisa Kinzie said she gets mad at her sister when she hogs the game. And Heather Higgenbotham said she gets upset at her brother for interrupting her playing time, like the time he turned the machine off in the middle of her game. Both said their folks weren't happy to see their children fighting over a video game.
A few of the kids said their parents put limits on the time they were allowed to play video games.
Jason Green said he must do his homework before playing. And Amanda Williams told us her dad unplugs the Nintendo until her homework is completed. Others agreed that homework comes first in their families, too.
Many kids confessed, however, that sometimes they can get away with sneaking in a game. Most of those who have sneaked and played, though, said they later wished they had done their homework instead.
A popular way for these video champs - most said they had beaten the machine at one time or another - to determine if they like a particular game is to rent it at one of the video rental stores in town. If they like it, they buy it. Or they ask their parents to buy it for them.