You control an early-thirty-something television writer whose goals in life seem to be collecting things that remind him of the good old days. Decent points can be scored for snatching up vintage Star Wars toys and rare music from the maze-like playing field, but major bonus points are accrued for rescuing pieces of classic video game history, whether they're old Odyssey² cartridges, vintage arcade game marquees, or assorted merchandise related to old games. You can only advance to the next screen by achieving total happiness: move your listless older-than-Generation-X-er through a relentless onslaught of dull television writing assignments, bill payments, tornado warnings and premature mid-life crises to reach the safety of home and friendly bonus kitties at the end of the level. (Mr. & Mrs. Green [under license from Bally/Midway], sometime in the early 70s)

I don't know if you've been able to tell or not, but I love old video games. With the revelation that my eyesight would keep me from ever becoming an astronaut or, for that matter, a Jedi Knight, my youthful dreams were dashed into dust. Enter Pac-Man. Enter the Odyssey². Suddenly, I had a new obsession. Not that I cared any less for space travel, fictional and otherwise, but here was something that would bring me about as close to that dream as I was likely to get.

It's impossible to underestimate the effect that video games had on my life. I suddenly wanted to learn how to program my own games...and the Odyssey²'s Computer Intro! cartridge was hardly up to the task, so the begging for a computer began. I had originally beseeched my parents to get me a Commodore 64, since this was what everyone else had, but they wisely got a one-ton, Apple-compatible Franklin Ace 1000. I loved that thing. (I still have it, and it still works!) And while I did make quite a bit of headway into game design, I was distracted by other things: a growing fascincation with writing and computer graphics, and an obsession with the possibilities offered by a newfangled gadget called a modem. By this point, we had also gotten a Franklin Ace 2200. I was screamin' along at 300 baud back then, running my own BBS on the old Ace 1000 (with one floppy drive, no less) and having a blast.

In an only slightly indirect way, you have Pac-Man to thank for this web site. And I have Pac-Man to thank for my career track. Pretty weird, huh?

Rating:  Two quarters - worth playing, but could use some more work.