You Are Not the Monkey
Out at the pub the other night with friends, we overheard a couple of waitresses talking about the new video game cabinet that was installed recently. It has about 40 old classic games loaded on it, including PacMan, 1941, Jungle King, Frogger, Defender and the original Donkey Kong.
One young waitress said to the other, “Those old games are hard to understand! I was playing Donkey Kong for about ten minutes before I figured out that I wasn’t the one throwing the barrels!”
The other waitress responded, “Really? You mean its called Donkey Kong and you don’t get to be the monkey?”
I did a face palm and muttered to myself “yeah, and get off my lawn!”
Then my beautiful wife asked me, “You don’t play the monkey? Then who are you in the game?” A quick history lesson on Mario the plumber ensued.
…Oh my gosh… hahahahaha!! That’s just too funny!
Nothing against your wife, BUT OMG ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!>?!!??!? ALL games are about working your way UP. (ok, most games.)
And you aren’t the Centipede, either… 🙂
(Or the Space Invaders, the Asteroids, or the Dragon(‘s Lair) either.)
Poppy, this is a classic daily example for me when Gen X mates wth Gen Y. I was pumping quarters into Donkey Kong in 1981. My lovely wife was born late in ’82. By the time she was able to use her own quarters, the games had moved from the arcades and convenience stores to console games like SNES.
She looks at me the same way when she speaks fondly of “Bubble Bobble” and playing the “Legend of Zelda,” and I have no idea what she’s talking about.
And while most video games deal with their primary characters “Mise en scène” the natural eye always looks to the top left of a page, just like a book. Which is where the stomping ape is in Donkey Kong. To someone who hasn’t seen it, I could understand the confusion initially. But the waitress persisted in trying to make Donkey Kong toss barrels which is what to me, was so funny.