My
mission was to get Battlefield 3 for him.
So
there I stood, on a weekday night, far past my bedtime, waiting in line and
swapping stories with everyone from wannabe soldiers in fake camouflage and
Army helmets to real-life soldiers getting ready to be deployed to Afghanistan.
“Have
you gotten Batman Arkham City yet?” my amped-up neighbor asks me, pointing to a
box featuring a modern-day Batman with blood on his hands. Before I can answer,
he adds, “It’s bad ass.” And that was the least of his expletives.
For
me, Adam West was batman. He certainly didn’t have blood on his hands. However,
hoping not to be discovered as a poser, I reply, “Not yet.”
It
must have worked because my neighbor keeps talking … and talking. “You gonna
play tonight?” he asks. Once again, he doesn’t wait for an answer.
“I’m not
even going to play the story mode,” he says, “I’m going to collect some dog tags.”
Afraid
to disclose that the last videogame I played was on an Atari, I listen intently
and nod. He goes on to discuss the merits of other blood and guts video games, breezing
easily across genres, from soldiers to superheroes and from cowboys to aliens.
My
cover is safe.
I
can hear two other guys – since there are only two girls in the whole store –
arguing the merits of PlayStation 3 vs. Xbox.
Finally,
it’s time to pick up my game. I show my ID as required, second-guessing whether
this is appropriate for a 14-year-old. Before I decide, the clerk hands me my
game and says cheerfully, “See you for Skyrim.”
That’s
The Elder Scrolls V: Skryim for the uninitiated. It will be released later this
year.
I
nod in agreement to maintain my new found street cred, while secretly hoping
I’m nowhere near GameStop when that one drops. Nevertheless, for a minute, I
think I might want to try one of these new fangled videogames. Then the moment
passes and I yearn for Space Invaders.
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