Curmudgeon Gamer
15 April 2006
All five
As a reward for achieving a long-sought milestone, I've moved the GameCube up into the living room for my son to play before bedtime. The only game we play is Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat which he truly loves, despite not really doing much of the playing except when we need lots of clapping and fast drumming.
There are four basic bosses at the end of a level: elephant, ape, roc, and hog. The boy knows these as elephant, monkey, bird, and pig, respectively. Today while we were sitting in the driveway having a yard sale, he told me his plans for the evening.
"After dinner, after bath, we're going to do Donkey Konga," he says. He's never quite grasped that the name is just Donkey Kong, and I always let it slide.
"Fine with me. Which animal will we battle tonight?" His long-term planning for playing videogames each day had impressed me before.
"No. No no no no no no. Daddy!" (His enthusiasm keeps him from being able to say "no" just one time. It makes me smile every time.) "Daddy, we're going to play all five."
"All five? Which five are these?"
"All five in Donkey Konga. Pig. Um, monkey. And bird. And...um...pig. I mean elephant!"
"That's just four," I say gently.
His brow furrowed, and he turned deadly serious. "No. No no no no no no. Daddy. We're going to play all five."
"But you only named four. Monkey, pig, bird, and elephant."
"No no no no no. We're going to play all five, Daddy. All five of them"
"Ok, son. We're going to play all five."
A car pulled up and I sold a slow cooker for $3. When I turned around the boy was elsewhere playing, Donkey Konga forgotten for now.
But tonight...well, tonight we played all five!
There are four basic bosses at the end of a level: elephant, ape, roc, and hog. The boy knows these as elephant, monkey, bird, and pig, respectively. Today while we were sitting in the driveway having a yard sale, he told me his plans for the evening.
"After dinner, after bath, we're going to do Donkey Konga," he says. He's never quite grasped that the name is just Donkey Kong, and I always let it slide.
"Fine with me. Which animal will we battle tonight?" His long-term planning for playing videogames each day had impressed me before.
"No. No no no no no no. Daddy!" (His enthusiasm keeps him from being able to say "no" just one time. It makes me smile every time.) "Daddy, we're going to play all five."
"All five? Which five are these?"
"All five in Donkey Konga. Pig. Um, monkey. And bird. And...um...pig. I mean elephant!"
"That's just four," I say gently.
His brow furrowed, and he turned deadly serious. "No. No no no no no no. Daddy. We're going to play all five."
"But you only named four. Monkey, pig, bird, and elephant."
"No no no no no. We're going to play all five, Daddy. All five of them"
"Ok, son. We're going to play all five."
A car pulled up and I sold a slow cooker for $3. When I turned around the boy was elsewhere playing, Donkey Konga forgotten for now.
But tonight...well, tonight we played all five!
--jvm at 22:36
Comment
[ 3 ]
Comments on this post:
The kid could have been thinking of the last boss, perhaps? It's not one of the other types, I think.
By JohnH, at 16 April, 2006 01:42
I kept trying to figure out which one he forgot, and kept re-reading the line. And then I re-read the beginning of the entry, and figured out there really WAS only four.
My math is beyond awful.
By Faroush, at 16 April, 2006 09:02
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