Donkey Kong 32 Years Later

I just saw a little release that said that thirty-two years ago today Nintendo released Donkey Kong. This also marked the first appearance of Mario. The year would have been 1981 and I distinctly remember how exciting it was to play. Do you remember?

In the city that I work in there is a retro video game place downtown. It really is a trip back in time. The “old” video games may not have all the bells and whistles of today’s games but there’s just something about them that draws me in.

Can you remember how important it was to get on and stay on the leader board? I sure do. Our local bowling alley was the place to go to play video games. This was an important stop on any given weekend. If you were on the board you really had to keep tabs on it to make sure you maintained your position.

Several years later I was married with a family and we bought our first Nintendo gaming system. I can’t even begin to tell you how many hours of pure enjoyment we had on that system. I even remember the day my oldest son first beat me at a game. Little did I know then but it was the beginning of a new era.

Now I visit my kids and play video games with their kids. To say that things have changed is putting it mildly! But what does remain the same is the friendly competition and sense of accomplishment when you have achieved a new goal or level.

Happy Birthday Donkey Kong! Thanks for all the wonderful memories . . . looking forward to playing you many years into the future.