Xbox <b><i>RULEZ!!!</i></b>

i'm kind of a video game junky, although i don't play that much. when i was eleven, i lived a block off the asbury park boardwalk, right down near convention hall. it was a small apartment above a convenience store. across the street was a miniature golf course...and then the ocean! it was a beautiful view.

in my spare time (and there was lots of it), i hung out at the arcades on the boardwalk. there were only two in the little stretch between convention hall and the merry-go-round. of course, i had no money. but if you hit those coin-dropping machines just right, you can get it to spit out some coupons or 'chips'. i collected a few thousand points over the summer.

then there were the free games. it was like some video game fairy must have wandered through the arcade, depositing quarters in random slots. i can still remember the thrill of seeing the message on a machine: CREDIT: 1. WOW! a FREE GAME! ohh, and i knew how to make it last. whether it was galaxian or joust or defender, i was in my glory. the best was the free pinball games. why would someone get a knock in pinball and not use it? well, i could sometimes turn that free game into three or four more. and you better believe that I wouldn't have left a free game for someone else, no-siree.

at home, my parents finally splurged for an Atari 2600. now THIS was life! free games at home? i could hardly believe it. we would go to the local mall, and Atari 2600 games would be on sale for $15-$20. that's because by then, Atari had their new systems out (500, 600, etc.). so i got to play Pacman at home! sure, it wasn't the same board layout or sound effects as the arcade version. but it was close enough! then there was pinball. ok, you couldn't shake the side of the machine, but you could hold the button down on the joystick and knock the video layout over to the right or left. and you could get free games! on the free game.

a year later my grandfather died. and since my father had died a year before that, my brother and i inherited some money. nothing much, just a few thousand. well, i bought my first computer: Commodore 64. and i got the video games that i wanted: Zork I, Larry Byrd and Dr. J Basketball (by Electronic Arts), Summer Games (by Epyx), and Lode Runner (by Broderbund). later i bought a modem and started getting my hands on all kinds of video games. yeah, i was a junky.

well, i'm all grown up now, and the Commodore's been sitting in a box for many moons. i still have all the games for it, but the floppy disks have probably worn out by now. i never bought another video game system. i just couldn't get into it...until:

Xbox! as a junky, i can't say i haven't used since the Commodore. every time i turn around, another friend of mine has bought Xbox. now these are people who've had other video game consoles: Nintendo, Nintendo 64, Playstation, Playstation 2, etc. and now they need an Xbox? what on earth for? and this brings me to the title:

Xbox Rulez! and i don't mean that it's "the best" (although it sure seems to be). for some reason, the Xbox has taken over the thinking of so many as if it is the King of the Hill. i've got friends who have had Xbox parties where everyone brings their machines and a TV to a person's house, they wire them all together, and they have massive Halo tournaments! there was even a tournament at an Imax theatre for Xbox games! i never heard of anyone doing that with their 2600's. it's like some kind of new drug!

partly because of curiosity and partly because of peer pressure, i finally bought my own Xbox. it came with a car game and a basketball game. now i'm hooked! my veins are crying out for just one more game. i can't put it down. i've got homework; i've got to prepare a talk; i've got to do my Watchtower! well, after one more game. and then? after one more game. and then? after one more game. AGH! it's a vicious cycle. i can't get out. Xbox Rulez!