Writers: Game Over
Oct. 1st, 2009 04:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
spongetastic"Da~d!" A young boy's upset whine cut through the upbeat music filtering through the stereos.
"Oops," Peter said sheepishly.
"You're not supposed to hit me," his son scolded him. "Now look what you did! Bowser's passing me!" Sure enough, the Koopa king zoomed up to take the lead. Peter was still hovering around fifth place but his recent attack was helping him catch up.
"What do you want me to do?" Peter asked his son helplessly. "Not use any of my weapons?"
"No," Rueben answered as he steered his kart back onto the track. "Just don't use it on me!"
"I'm sorry, I forgot what the blue shell did." It was a very believable excuse, seeing as how there weren't any blue shells last time he played this game.
Peter remembered with fond nostalgia playing the first MarioKart game with his friends in high school. Then again with his nephews when it became MarioKart 64. A lot changed since then. But the fun was still there, and he and Rueben were having plenty of that as they plowed through the courses together. It was great for father-son bonding; naturally that was the main reason Peter bought the game.
Except now Peter was no longer purposefully lagging behind so Rueben could take control of the course. Peter suspected it was his increasing expertise of the game that really frustrated his son.
"Three red shells," Peter announced. He figured it would be best to announce his arsenal before unleashing it this time.
"How come you get all the good stuff?" Rueben complained. He released the green shell he picked up, not even bothering to aim it anywhere. The green shell bounced off into oblivion, likely never to bother any of the CPUs.
"It's all random, bud," Peter told him patiently. "But the odds are higher of picking up something good if you're in the back. There's not much need for red shells if you have no one to aim at, right?" And with that he knocked Wario out of his way to secure his place in third. He pressed hard on the accelerator to zip past Luigi.
"Dad!" Rueben cried out.
"Just wait, bud. Watch this." Peter promptly unleashed his next shell on Bowser, then slowed his kart down letting Rueben pass him in safety. Peter waited until he was third again and used his last shell to knock the offending CPU out of his way.
"Cool!" Rueben awed. He grinned at his father, Peter's previous transgression with the blue shell forgotten. "You're really good at this game, Dad. Can you teach me?"
That was the last thing Peter expected to hear from his son. These days it was more likely for the children to have a better grasp at video games than their parents. To admit he wanted help from his father was a big thing and Rueben probably wasn't even aware of it.
"Sure, bud. I'd be happy to." He explained a few basic strategy techniques to the attentive boy, demonstrating when he got the chance. "And if you ever get hit with that ink stuff, don't worry about it. See how there's a map of the course on the screen?" Peter pointed to the little square showing their position. "Keep your eyes on that until the ink clears up."
"Cool!" Rueben chirped again. "After we beat this cup, we should get Papa and Rebecca in here. We can all play together!"
"Yeah, that sounds like fun," Peter agreed. "I knew you'd love this game." He fell silent as they came into the final lap. Peter kept his son's status as lead secure when he could, knocking all offending CPUs out of the way the moment they dared crawl forward. Finally they both passed over the finish line.
First and second place, respectively. Rueben threw his hands up in victory and in the next second was hugging his father in gratitude.
"Luigi and Diddy Kong! Best team ever!" Peter couldn't help laughing at his son's enthusiasm, kissing the top of the boy's head.
"You know, if you like this game there are a lot of other Mario games out there. I've heard good things about Mario Galaxy, or maybe Mario Baseball..."
"There's a Mario Baseball?" Rueben gasped out in excitement. "Can we get it, Dad? Please?"
"We'll see, bud," was all Peter promised him. "You'll have to wait for Christmas." Rueben accepted this verdict with a nod.
"I'm going to be someone else," he announced. "Waluigi. That's like bad Luigi, isn't it?"
"Yep," Peter confirmed. "I'll choose a bad guy too. We're a team, after all."
"Oops," Peter said sheepishly.
"You're not supposed to hit me," his son scolded him. "Now look what you did! Bowser's passing me!" Sure enough, the Koopa king zoomed up to take the lead. Peter was still hovering around fifth place but his recent attack was helping him catch up.
"What do you want me to do?" Peter asked his son helplessly. "Not use any of my weapons?"
"No," Rueben answered as he steered his kart back onto the track. "Just don't use it on me!"
"I'm sorry, I forgot what the blue shell did." It was a very believable excuse, seeing as how there weren't any blue shells last time he played this game.
Peter remembered with fond nostalgia playing the first MarioKart game with his friends in high school. Then again with his nephews when it became MarioKart 64. A lot changed since then. But the fun was still there, and he and Rueben were having plenty of that as they plowed through the courses together. It was great for father-son bonding; naturally that was the main reason Peter bought the game.
Except now Peter was no longer purposefully lagging behind so Rueben could take control of the course. Peter suspected it was his increasing expertise of the game that really frustrated his son.
"Three red shells," Peter announced. He figured it would be best to announce his arsenal before unleashing it this time.
"How come you get all the good stuff?" Rueben complained. He released the green shell he picked up, not even bothering to aim it anywhere. The green shell bounced off into oblivion, likely never to bother any of the CPUs.
"It's all random, bud," Peter told him patiently. "But the odds are higher of picking up something good if you're in the back. There's not much need for red shells if you have no one to aim at, right?" And with that he knocked Wario out of his way to secure his place in third. He pressed hard on the accelerator to zip past Luigi.
"Dad!" Rueben cried out.
"Just wait, bud. Watch this." Peter promptly unleashed his next shell on Bowser, then slowed his kart down letting Rueben pass him in safety. Peter waited until he was third again and used his last shell to knock the offending CPU out of his way.
"Cool!" Rueben awed. He grinned at his father, Peter's previous transgression with the blue shell forgotten. "You're really good at this game, Dad. Can you teach me?"
That was the last thing Peter expected to hear from his son. These days it was more likely for the children to have a better grasp at video games than their parents. To admit he wanted help from his father was a big thing and Rueben probably wasn't even aware of it.
"Sure, bud. I'd be happy to." He explained a few basic strategy techniques to the attentive boy, demonstrating when he got the chance. "And if you ever get hit with that ink stuff, don't worry about it. See how there's a map of the course on the screen?" Peter pointed to the little square showing their position. "Keep your eyes on that until the ink clears up."
"Cool!" Rueben chirped again. "After we beat this cup, we should get Papa and Rebecca in here. We can all play together!"
"Yeah, that sounds like fun," Peter agreed. "I knew you'd love this game." He fell silent as they came into the final lap. Peter kept his son's status as lead secure when he could, knocking all offending CPUs out of the way the moment they dared crawl forward. Finally they both passed over the finish line.
First and second place, respectively. Rueben threw his hands up in victory and in the next second was hugging his father in gratitude.
"Luigi and Diddy Kong! Best team ever!" Peter couldn't help laughing at his son's enthusiasm, kissing the top of the boy's head.
"You know, if you like this game there are a lot of other Mario games out there. I've heard good things about Mario Galaxy, or maybe Mario Baseball..."
"There's a Mario Baseball?" Rueben gasped out in excitement. "Can we get it, Dad? Please?"
"We'll see, bud," was all Peter promised him. "You'll have to wait for Christmas." Rueben accepted this verdict with a nod.
"I'm going to be someone else," he announced. "Waluigi. That's like bad Luigi, isn't it?"
"Yep," Peter confirmed. "I'll choose a bad guy too. We're a team, after all."