My daughter, going on twenty years old, loves to shock her friends by bragging that her mother got her started playing video games. And it’s true. Back in the late seventies, we bought the precursor to today’s video game consoles, the game of Pong, which hooked up to our television. From that time onward, I was hooked.

Then I discovered arcades, and blew many a quarter on Pac Man, Ms. Pac Man and Galaga. Those were my favorites. I’d sometimes try my hand at Donkey Kong or Centipede, but never had the success with them that I had with the others.

When my daughter was fairly young I bought a game system and three games I thought she (and I) would like. Talk about being hooked.

Since that time my daughter has bought or been given just about every gaming system out there. Now that everything is pretty much 3-D, I can’t play them anymore because they make me dizzy. It’s like watching a roller coaster ride. My brain can’t process it correctly and I get sick.

I saw an ad the other day in the newspaper that said free PSP stuff. I guess the next big thing has already hit that household and they’ve moved on. But free? So of course I picked up the phone. Free is good.