Players Will Be Players

Players Will Be Players

A digital love story…

Continued…

“Hmm. It’s got to be Tetris, hasn’t it? I mean, back in the day, I used to have dreams about that shit. And the battle mode was awesome.”

No one at the table tries to argue, and I know instantly it’s the obvious but inspired choice that really should have come to me earlier. I nod, inform him that he’s a genius, and head towards the bar to buy the beer he’s just earned.

The big day

I wake a little after ten the next morning suffering acute dehydration and mild alcohol poisoning. Still, I can’t afford to lie around in bed and wait for the pain to subside – she’s due any time after midday. As quickly as I can tolerate, I grab myself a pint of water, a large strong coffee and a shower, and begin the hunt for my Gameboy.

It’s not under my bed. Or in any of my cupboards. I yell at my flatmate, but he insists he hasn’t borrowed it.

I rack my brains, thinking of when I had it last. It’s certainly been a while. I mean, my DS made it virtually redundant almost a decade ago…

Of course. Now that I’ve finished tearing apart the room I’d meticulously tidied the day before, it dawns on me: it’s in the attic at my parents’ house.

I sigh, and, ignoring the burning in my lungs from the night before, start to roll myself a cigarette. My watch says it’s a couple of minutes to 11.

The Virtual Console is my last resort. It wouldn’t be ideal to settle for the NES version, but as I’ve got some spare points to spend anyway I fire up the Wii, wait for the latest system update to finish downloading and head to the store.

There is nothing in the UK store. That can’t be right. Surely the most ubiquitous game of all time has to be available on Nintendo’s most successful console of all time?

I look it up online just to be sure. It’s true. There is no form of Tetris available on the Virtual Console. The Japanese have Tetris Attack, but what even is that?

Whatever it is, I can’t let it be this girl’s first proper experience of videogames.

Screw it. I’ll head to the high street and get a copy of the DS version. I’d been meaning to pick it up when I saw it at the right price anyway. Hell, I wouldn’t mind buying two original Gameboys and two original Tetris cartridges if it’s not too much more expensive.

I text the girl to buy myself some time and hurry down to the bus stop. It’s raining, of course, so I’m relieved when the bus shows up in less than a couple of minutes.

I get on, beep my Oyster Card against the reader, and slump onto the back seat. The pounding in my head seems to be getting worse, not better, and I wonder if it was a mistake to have such a large coffee for breakfast. Maybe I should get something to eat in town?

My phone vibrates. Text message.

Hey,really sorry,
cant make it today.
Some other time
yeah? x

Ha. “Yeah?” That’s what they always say.

I press the bell, get off at the next stop, and grimace at the driver when he tries to look at me funny for taking such a short journey. This is what Shenmue’s Ryo Hazuki must feel like: a lonely, clueless schmuck, walking home alone in the rain.

“What is it that the geeks have inherited?” I ask myself.

Nothing but a lot of hard work.

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