"...before they made real video games."

So I was in said Local Coffeeshop, when I heard this:

"So my dad is like an expert at Pac Man...from college...you know, before they made real video games..."

The senior high school girls sitting behind me were trying to figure out how to play the tabletop Ms. Pac Man machine. It was one of those new-fangled tabletops, where you can choose among several "classic" games. After their first round, I heard them going through the list, "Donkey Kong...what's that? Centipede...I don't know any of these!"

I couldn't stop myself from turning around and saying, "Centipede is one of the best games ever - you should try it." They asked how to play and I offered to coach them through a session ("If you see a little spider coming at you, you need to get it fast") but $1 was a bit steep for a game and they turned their attention elsewhere.

Net result: I felt at once "old", and yet superior in my taste in video games.

I resisted telling them to run out and see "The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters", a fabulous David and Goliath style documentary, featuring a mild-mannered Bellevue, WA resident against a Floridian hot sauce magnate... you just have to see it.

I think their dad would like it.