SydLexia.com - The Forums :: View topic - Vido Gams Are Fun: Diary of a game-obsessed first grader

Posted: Jun 09 2006 10:48 am

My brother and I are close in age and have always gotten along nicely, but as kids, all the sibling comraderie was tossed out the window when video games were introduced into our lives. Getting home from school became a race to the SNES, with punching, kicking, and frivolous use of the word "stupidhead".

I'm sure you guys have similar memories.

A while ago my brother discovered his old school journal from the first grade, and not only is it a great reminder of what it was like to have your little kid world revolve around gaming, it is fucking hilarious. I think that you all might get at least a little fun out of reading a few of them.
(in no particular order)

April 19, 1995

Vido Games are so fun
Wow the hookshot is the neetest powr
of all
and the magck cape is cool too.
Zelda is my favrit game
and I can get the frst
crstl (crystal)
the crstl has a madin in it
and shes byudeyl (beautiful).

(I had to correct a lot of this one b/c it was nearly incoherrent)
February 27, 1995

We like vido games, we like vido games a lot! We like them.
Zelda is a game. So who would want to break a game? Nobody! OK?!
Zelda is my favretest game. No, I mean it, OK?! Wait.
Who wants to read a book? NOBODY!!!
Zelda is my favet game. Zelda is a fun game, ok you?!

Mario, 1995
(yes, he has indeed replaced the month of March with Mario, and it's the only place in the whole journal that Mario is spelled correctly)

Mars is a planet that everybody is a zombe cus thyr always playing the games and Neptun is a planet that is the smallest planet in the wrld.
(now begins one of his many ratings. His rating system really makes no sense, and even though he rates the same games every time, they always recieve a different score. The Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past is actually rated 3 times in this entry)
Zelda E+ E+ E- E- E+ E+
Doke Kong Cuchy (country) Ee+ Ee+ A+
Mareyo F F F F F F F+---- Good! Good! Good!

Notes:
The spelling, grammar, punctuation, and handwriting are so bad you practically need a Rosetta Stone to decipher this journal.
My bro's teacher required them to write half a page or more, so a lot of this crazy stuff he wrote was just to take up space.
Many of the entries consist of one sentence: "I LOVE VIDO GAMES!"
The word "Zelda" appears on nearly every page in the notebook (always with a backwards Z, and sometimes the Z is pierced by a sword, ala Link to the Past).
Other spellings of game titles include:
Meyoe/ Mureo/ Moyo/ Mreo/ Moare/ Mareyo = Mario.
Crbees Demeland = Kirby's Dreamland
Metrod/ Metryod/ Metroed = Metroid
Dogcee/ Doce/ Doky/ Doke Kong = Donkey Kong

Posted: Jun 09 2006 11:49 am

My grade 3 journal revolved around video games too. I'd share some of the gems from it, if it weren't in a different province.

Posted: Jun 09 2006 10:56 pm

So who would want to break a game? Nobody! OK?! Who wants to read a book? NOBODY!!!

My 3rd grade journals were about the X-men game, and Streets of Rage on Genesis.

Posted: Jun 09 2006 11:11 pm

I think mine were about Sonic, the pink ranger, and Goosebumps... well, one out of three being game related ain't bad.

Posted: Jun 09 2006 11:16 pm

Ha ha, that's awesome.

Posted: Jun 10 2006 03:47 am

Tebor wrote:

I think mine were about Sonic, the pink ranger, and Goosebumps... well, one out of three being game related ain't bad.

That reminds me, I was fucking obsessed with Sonic in 2nd grade.

Posted: Jun 10 2006 04:31 am

...good times.

Damn Good Times!
all of the people applaud

G.

Posted: Jun 10 2006 12:02 pm

I've got a journal from my 1st grade class sitting around somewhere that reads similarly. When I get unlazy maybe I'll type it up for hilarity.

Posted: Jun 10 2006 06:50 pm

I had no idea that so many people wrote entirely game-themed journals in their school days. Nothing I wrote in any of mine were nearly as good.

You guys who have journals like this should post them!

Posted: Jun 10 2006 08:16 pm

I remember in like 2nd or 3rd grade we were forced to write sentences using our vocabulary words for the week, but my paper derailed halfway into it just writing sentences involving tv Link riding his horse (not Epona) and forgetting to use the vocabulary words heh.

Posted: Jun 19 2006 04:05 pm

Here is something I found while going through some old papers I needed for my next article. I used to design my own video games when I younger. Most of them were pretty terrible. The only I really remember well was one starring my cat. The premise was that Jared Donaldson, this total cockhead who lived in my neighborhood, built an evil mind control device and used it to turn me and three of my friends evil. The game had 5 levels, I was the boss of the 4th level and Jared was the end boss, with his evil air rifle. The game took place such in exciting locales as my street, outside a video rental store, and a nearby playground. If I had any sort of programming skill, I'd probably make the game just for fun.

Sadly, I don't have any of my design sheets from that game. However, I did find a page from a Mario sequel that I designed circa 1987-1988. My handwriting was atrocious and my spelling wasn't much better. Behold:

I forget if I designed this before Mario 2 came out or if these were my ideas for Mario 3. As you can see, I predicted the creation of both Bowser Jr. and Wario. Well, sort of.

The P.S. note at the bottom seems to indicate I planned to send this into Nintendo. Good thing I didn't, because this is way more entertaining than the form letter I would have received from them.

Joined: Feb 24 2006 Posts: 2578

Syd Lexia wrote:

The P.S. note at the bottom seems to indicate I planned to send this into Nintendo. Good thing I didn't, because this is way more entertaining than the form letter I would have received from them.

That's awesome.

Actually, had you sent it to Nintendo, you would have gotten it all back along with a nice note explaining that for legal reasons they couldn't keep it. I know because I did exactly that with a Mario game "design" I did back when I was much younger. I still have all the stuff. I'll try to scan it and upload it soon, since we're all sharing. Wink

Posted: Jun 19 2006 06:57 pm

DarkMaze wrote:

Syd Lexia wrote:

The P.S. note at the bottom seems to indicate I planned to send this into Nintendo. Good thing I didn't, because this is way more entertaining than the form letter I would have received from them.

That's awesome.

Actually, had you sent it to Nintendo, you would have gotten it all back along with a nice note explaining that for legal reasons they couldn't keep it. I know because I did exactly that with a Mario game "design" I did back when I was much younger. I still have all the stuff. I'll try to scan it and upload it soon, since we're all sharing. Wink

I'm guilty too... of a Sonic game.

Joined: Feb 24 2006 Posts: 2578

Tebor wrote:

I'm guilty too... of a Sonic game.

I'll bet you didn't get a nice note from Nintendo for that one, then...

Posted: Jun 19 2006 07:16 pm

DarkMaze wrote:

Tebor wrote:

I'm guilty too... of a Sonic game.

I'll bet you didn't get a nice note from Nintendo for that one, then...

No, the Yakuza came to my house and killed my family... Thanks for bringing it up Evil

Joined: Feb 24 2006 Posts: 2578

Tebor wrote:

No, the Yakuza came to my house and killed my family... Thanks for bringing it up Evil

I'll bet Dolph Lundgren got 'em back, though.

Anyhoo, here's that form letter, for those who are curious. I'll probably upload my game design, such as it is, sometime later. Meanwhile, the part of Scanned Images will be played by Digital Photos. Since I don't own a scanner.

Posted: Jun 19 2006 09:13 pm

Oh man, that's great. Now I wish I had one.

I wonder if they still have reps available at 4 A.M. Pacific time. If so, I am totally drunk dialing them sometime.

"Duuuuuude! Is Mario there!? I need to talk to Mario!"

Posted: Jun 19 2006 10:26 pm

That's the best let down letter I've ever read!

Joined: Feb 24 2006 Posts: 2578

Tebor wrote:

That's the best let down letter I've ever read!

It was actually pretty fast, too. I seem to recall spending a chunk of that New Years Eve working on it, so I probably got their letter just a few weeks after I sent it to them.

Posted: Jun 20 2006 12:51 am

Six year old mode:
Let's call those numbers to see if they still work and harass them!

Paranoid Mode:
I love how we ALL have identity issues ^_^ Very Happy

Joined: Feb 24 2006 Posts: 2578

Tebor wrote:

Paranoid Mode:
I love how we ALL have identity issues ^_^ Very Happy

You mean the name-censoring stuff? Y'know, I don't even know why I did that. It's not like a number of folks here don't already know what my name is, just by visiting the "Press Start" site. Rolling Eyes

Posted: Jun 20 2006 04:17 pm

DarkMaze wrote:

Tebor wrote:

Paranoid Mode:
I love how we ALL have identity issues ^_^ Very Happy

You mean the name-censoring stuff? Y'know, I don't even know why I did that. It's not like a number of folks here don't already know what my name is, just by visiting the "Press Start" site. Rolling Eyes

I was refering that everyone on these boards seem to use their handle more often than their real names (example: In the "Grapes of Wrath" article, Syd signs a school paper as "Syd"). It seems these identities are more identifiable than our real identities. Heck, I'm starting to sign my email as 'Tebor' or 'T'. That's just weird, especially when 'Rob' is in the sender line. Oh well...

Joined: Feb 24 2006 Posts: 2578

Tebor wrote:

It seems these identities are more identifiable than our real identities.

You may be right about that.

Incidentally, rather than posting my less-than-interesting Mario "design", how about this instead -- an invitation for my birthday party from later that same year, which was at a local arcade. It was created by my father, who spent far more time on it than he really ought to have. But he's always been cool like that.

The front graphic was scanned straight out of the first "Mortal Kombat: Blood and Thunder" comic book with a black-and-white hand scanner, and was then cleaned up using --- geez, I have no idea what ancient graphics program he used...

I also had a round birthday cake with the MK dragon design on it. Being a kid was great.

Posted: Jun 20 2006 09:04 pm

That is AWESOME!

Ah, Aladdin's Castle. Memories!!! I hung out at the Glen Ellyn branch. BTW, the Aurora branch is pretty ghetto.

Posted: Jun 20 2006 09:13 pm

Will there be MK cake at the Press Start premiere?