Opinion : A friendly visit from the Ghost of Christmas past

For Ebenezer Scrooge, the Ghost of Christmas Past was sort of creepy and scary. And sad.

But for us, this year, it was kind of cool.

In this age of Wii and Kinectics and 3D movies, I received, as a gift, something that is not available at any of the stores that sell all of those things – a 1970s video game. The more famous name for the gift I received is “Pong,” but the actual gift is the product of a company called AFP.

For those of you who have never seen it – in other words, anyone born after 1983 – let me explain: Pong and similar games were among the first popular video games to connect to a TV. They are simple – primitive compared to Wii. Basically, imagine a black and white ping pong table on your TV. Only it’s more like air hockey than ping-pong. A square – I tried to explain to 10-year-old Abigail why the ball is swuare – ball moves back and forth. A controller moves a “paddle” that keeps the ball from going into your “net” and also moves the ball toward the opponent’s net. The only sounds you hear while playing are a series of beeps as the ball hits the paddle, goes through the net, or bounces of the white border.

Pretty simple. Or as a kid may say now, “Lame!”

But in the 1970s games like Pong were a big deal. I have a cousin who remembers being jealous of me for getting a Pong before she did, in 1976.

Soon, there was Pac-Man and Space Invaders. Then Nintendo games with progressively more life-like characters.

But it all began with Pong.

We had lots of retro gifts this year. Our daughters wanted “Bewitched” and “I Dream of Jeannie” DVDs.

I’ve tried to show my kids examples of the games we loved as kids. I am still looking for one of those lever-action hockey games.

The new stuff is cool. We do have a Wii and at times I like to try to challenge the kids. But I miss the old games, the things that made kids learn to use their hands. Erector sets. Woodburning kids. Foosball. Pinball, even. The Evel Knievel wind-up motorcycle. Hot Wheels tracks you tried to set up with so those little cars could perform jumps and loops.

And we’d play these games while our parents listened to Paul Harvey share some of his favorite Christmas legends and poems.

You know, if the Ghost of Christmas Past ever took us on a journey like gave to Scrooge, I think he would want to stay for a while, remembering the Christmases of long – and not-so-long – ago.