Thanksgiving with Nintendo

Nov. 21 12:53 PM by Lynxara

As I type this I'm puttering about the house, getting some things ready before I trek back out to my parents' house and start the Herculean process of cooking Thanksgiving dinner. Cooking is my main hobby besides gaming, you see, which means on a holiday like this I'm obligated to step up and provide the menu. I don't mind, since you don't get many chances during the year to see what you can do to make a giant dead bird carcass delicious.

So I'm going over the menu with my mom last night, and the conversation takes the strangest detour: "Alicia, are you going to bring your games?"

Now, I've been writing about games for about three years now. Even with periodic culling to keep clutter down, I still own every system except the PS3 and at least a dozen games for each.

"Mom, which games do you mean?" I ask.

"Oh, you know, that game your daddy likes. And the one I like."

"You mean... the Wii and the DS?"

"Is that it? The one with the sports games?"

"That's the Wii, mom."

"And the one with Tetris?"

"That's the DS, mom."

"Right, that's it. Do you have anything new for them?"

It's been at least a year since she's played the Wii (basically since I got it for Christmas). I'm surprised she wants it. The DS I was going to pack up anyway, since my dad always wants it first thing he comes over to my house for a visit. Tetris and Brain Age are always the games he wants to play. That's easy.

So I go over a list of my new games with her, a mix of stuff I've bought and stuff that showed up at the door for jobs. For the Wii she wants me to bring Kororinpa Marble Mania, WarioWare, Big Brain Academy, and of course, Wii Sports. (I'll bring along Super Mario Galaxy so I can work on my game a little more.)

I come from a big traditional Southern family, so our Thanksgivings tend to be eight-course monstrosities with five desserts, all the trimmings, and relatives showing up from far and wide to eat. The family doesn't do anything like, say, go out to a movie, and won't start Christmas shopping until Black Friday. Thanksgiving is a day reserved for drinking coffee and lazing about the house, perhaps with a TV on but probably not, while the massive failings of the modern world are discussed by men with wrinkled brows and furious beards.

Now, it also seems to be the day when everyone gets together in the finished basement to take turns eating dessert courses and playing party games on the Wii, too. I can't say I mind, especially as an alternative to everyone sitting around talking politics over their pie.

Wii and DS owners in the audience, does this ever happen to you? More interestingly, do you ever get asked to cart other systems around for the amusement of family or friends? I'm curious.