Blog Master G

Yesterday while being the house husband and running errands at Costco and Bed Bath & Beyond, I stumbled across what’s got to be the coolest new toy of the year: Namco TV Games. See Jen holding that little box in the photo? That’s Pac-Man, Dig Dug, Bosconian, Galaxian, and Rally-X all in one. That’s the whole unit. You throw in some batteries, plug the A/V connector into your TV, and you’re off. Arcade-style entertainment right in your living room.

The part about the toy that’s a little scary is that it’s marketed toward the kids of our generation. Here’s my favorite line from the back of the box: “A blast from Mom & Dad’s past!” Wow. Crazy to think that ’80s games are now considered to be from the parental generation. I have friends who are my age who have kids, sure, but all the kids are on the young side, and probably couldn’t hold a joystick.

Anyhow, I thought this toy would make a great gift for Jen since during the past year that we’ve lived here in the Sunset, we’ve spent a lot of time hanging out with friends and playing Ms. Pac-Man at Yancy’s. When we move east, we’ll be able to take a little piece of our San Francisco memories with us. And the unit is so small and portable, we can even bring it on our cross-country trip and hook it up in hotel rooms along the way.

I presented the gift to Jen outside her office in front of several of her coworkers. But before handing her the toy itself, I handed her batteries, explaining that they were the first part of her gift. “Uh oh,” she proclaimed.

Then we had some happy hour drinks at the Fly Trap with Jen’s coworkers. That was fun. Walking into Jen’s office and seeing all her friends there was a cool feeling — it was more like seeing a bunch of friends than a bunch of coworkers.