Video Games

Remember when video games were simple pixelated adventures where building digital burgers or catching frogs occupied us for hours? The Noras take us on a delightful journey through gaming history, from the early days of Intellivision (with a surprise call from Nora's dad!) to the psychologically engineered experiences of modern games like Fortnite.

Nostalgia flows as they reminisce about controllers with phone-like keypads, the satisfying "boing" of Pong, the excitement of Duck Hunt with its light gun, and how California Games let you skateboard and play hacky sack without leaving your living room. They share personal memories of playing at friends' houses, visits to arcades while waiting for tables at restaurants with questionable names like "Fat Fanny's," and how simple games created genuine social experiences.

The conversation takes a fascinating turn when they explore why modern games are so addictive. They break down the psychological hooks built into games like Fortnite—FOMO through limited events, social pressure, the "near miss" effect that keeps players saying "just one more round," and variable reward systems that trigger dopamine releases similar to gambling. This evolution from innocent entertainment to engineered engagement offers a thought-provoking look at how far gaming has come.

Between gaming discussions, they touch on alarming reading statistics (only 16% of people read for fun?!), proper sheet-washing schedules (are you doing it right?), and the challenges of teenage milestone celebrations. Their warm, relatable banter creates a conversation that feels like catching up with friends who just happen to be discussing the cultural forces that shaped our entertainment landscape.

Have you dusted off your old gaming systems lately? Maybe it's time to introduce a new generation to the simple joys of Burger Time or challenge them to a round of Mario Kart!

Mike Haggerty Buick GMC
Right on the corner, right on the price! Head down to 93rd & Cicero & tell them the Noras sent you!

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Transcript

Welcome and Weather Small Talk

Speaker 1 0:07

Hi, thanks for joining us today. It's Nora and Nora. Yeah, welcome to all our listeners.

Speaker 2 0:12

Yes, welcome, welcome, I hope wherever you're listening to us, you have as beautiful of weather as we have right now. Oh my gosh press pause.

Speaker 1 0:20

It's 72 and sunny, it's perfect.

Speaker 2 0:24

It really is perfect. I was somewhere recently making small talk with a stranger and I said, oh my gosh, how beautiful is this weather. This woman, without skipping a beat, goes not for me. What's not? I like it hotter. Okay, I didn't know where to go Nowhere. I'm so sorry. You go nowhere with people like that, like sunny, and 75 72 is not good enough for you. Yeah you should move like there are hotter places yeah, right and I kind of wouldn't mind if she went there.

Speaker 1 0:56

Um, this is funny because usually when we record our episodes we shoot the breeze for a while before we hit play. Not today, and we just got right down to business, right into it. But I do have. I think I had a full boss.

Speaker 2 1:10

You weren't willing to talk about it. Yes, because I'm curious what you think, oh God, I mean, there's nothing I can do to change it, but it's like haunting me. Yeah, because you've been talking about it for a couple of days, so this was Saturday, sunday, monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday. So it's been five days.

Speaker 1 1:23

You're still thinking about it.

Family Gathering for Aunt Jane's Birthday

Speaker 2 1:24

Yes, because I feel really bad. So my whole Connors family got together for my Aunt Jane's birthday. She turned 78. Two of her sons live in Austin my cousins. So they invited all of my aunt's side of the family, all of my uncle, you know, like the Connors side. So this is my mom's side of the family, and then even beyond, like me and my cousins, like my mom and her sisters and her brother, their cousins and their kids. Like it was a rager, like it was so many people, it was so fun.

Speaker 1 1:55

Aunt Jane only turned 75 once. I know yes or yes, 78. Oh, 78. 78 is the new 75. 78 is great.

Speaker 2 2:02

Yes, and you would have loved this party. They had little pins with my aunt's face on it, the cocktail stirrers. And then my cousin Steve made coloring pages for the kids with AI of my aunt, so he put pictures in of my aunt and made coloring sheets. That's great, so cute, so many great details. My mom's cousin's son, tim.

Speaker 1 2:24

Your mom's cousin's son, tim your mom's cousin's son, so he's barely related to you, timmy, but I love him.

Speaker 2 2:30

He's great because there were five of us, like Connor's offspring born in 1980. Timmy, jimmy, jimmy, megan and Nora. Okay, it's an Irish family. Anyways, timmy is fantastic and I was talking with him and I knew that was his wife and I knew that those were their two kids and I could not remember her name. Could not for the life of me. She's so sweet, so nice. You know, when I met their kids for the first time, oh, this is Jack. Now I've forgotten their daughter's name because I'm a jerk. And then two of my kids came up and I was like oh, this is little Jack, this is Tim, Tim's wife. So finally I was like I'm so sorry I cannot remember your name and I just admitted it because I was like I don't want to keep calling you Timmy's wife. And she was like oh, it's Lindsay. Then I had like a feeling of I should have just faked it and asked someone else.

Speaker 1 3:23

You know what that's refreshing when you just ask, when you're honest, yes, I would. If it were me and I was in a situation like that at Ryan's family and somebody said I cannot remember your name, guess what? I would say no worries, it's Nora, and the chances of me not remembering her name would probably have been pretty high too.

Speaker 2 3:44

I just didn't want to keep calling her Timmy's wife. That just didn't seem like the nice and that was kind of my whole motivation behind it, Like I would like to introduce her to my children with her first name.

Speaker 1 3:55

And how do you know she didn't forget your name?

Speaker 2 3:58

Well, her husband probably told her. Oh well, my cousin Timmy probably told her. But I was like I don't have a resource nearby. I knew Al didn't know, and then there was nobody else around and I was excited to talk to them and get caught up.

Speaker 1 4:13

But oh, yes, I wouldn't give it another thought. You were honest and she's not thinking about it anymore.

Speaker 2 4:21

Well, she is a two-year-old and an eight-month-old, so yeah she's definitely not thinking about it.

Aiden's 16th Birthday Celebration

Speaker 1 4:27

She doesn't even remember it. She's like oh Wait, speaking of kids' ages, you had a birthday. I did have a big birthday Aiden turned 16.

Speaker 2 4:37

Did you feel this way when your oldest turned 16? As a boy, I didn't know how to celebrate it. Yeah, Mike didn't want to do anything. Yeah, Because I, even as a gift for him, I was like well, I know he doesn't want jewelry, Like you know. Like, for girls, I feel like they would love a nice necklace or earrings or something that was engraved, something special.

Speaker 2 5:00

Something special To commemorate, where Aiden didn't want it engraved no, he didn't, he didn't want to lock it, he didn't want to lock it. So and then we weren't getting him a car. He can't get his license until closer to October, so I was like I don't want this to. And also his birthday was the second day of school, so it's tricky in that and he's one of the oldest of his friends, so there was no kind of template.

Speaker 2 5:24

It was like what the other kids were doing kind of a thing. So I think we did okay. We ended up getting him. He loves stovetop popcorn, so we became the like Rolls Royce of like stovetop popcorn maker. So an upgrade from what he normally cooks and I was like this is such a dud. He's going to be so disappointed, Thrilled, no kidding. He was like, oh my God, I really wanted one of these.

Speaker 1 5:49

No way, yes. What does it have that the other one doesn't?

Speaker 2 5:52

Well, it's a really it's pretty, it's like a pretty color, it's dishwasher safe and it's a little more technology, like mechanical technology, not like it's an app. So he was very excited about that. And then I said, well, why don't you invite some friends and you can go to dinner? And he was kind of like I don't know, I don't know. I was like you could pick. I was like you really like GP? Oh, I do like GP. So, but typical boys. He invited people and it was on a Friday night. We were going and on Thursday I'm like how many are coming? He's like I don't know, maybe three or four, and then Friday it was I think five, and then two hours before dinner it was ten.

Speaker 1 6:35

So how did that work with the reservation they couldn't?

Speaker 2 6:37

have been nicer. Oh good, jp was fabulous. They always are and the boys were very sweet and it was cute. They all all had like golf shirts. You know, none of them were like the typical teenage boy, like sweatpants and t-shirt.

Speaker 1 6:49

Nobody came in slippers, they were all very cute no slippers.

Speaker 2 6:53

And it was great, because then when dinner was done, they just roamed around LaGrange. That was perfect. So it turned out to be very nice and we had my family over for cake. He wanted a portillo's cake.

Speaker 1 7:05

oh, even better so I was like okay, gosh, you make a nice cake, though remember your cake you made for rose, I do make good cake.

Speaker 2 7:11

Yeah, I mean, it's not like it's my recipe, I just follow the recipe, but anyway, so you're sweet to ask, so I think it went very well. He's got, I think, one or two more drivers ed in cars and then we're just letting them drive around as much as possible. Yeah, so he's doing pretty good.

Speaker 2 7:27

Good, yeah so, but yeah yeah, l doesn't turn 16 till April okay, so I got a long way then then I've got Rory will be 15 in January, so I gotta I'll be back on yeah, you're out like I'm a year behind you with the double stuff, but and then how are your kids doing back at school? Everybody's?

Speaker 1 7:45

good. Everybody's kind of locked in and doing the things and everybody's happy.

Speaker 2 7:51

Great. My kids too, my younger ones, I feel like kind of all the kids kind of went back pretty smoothly. I think they felt ready.

Reading Habits and Sheet-Washing Facts

Speaker 1 8:00

It was a nice like yeah, I felt ready too. I was ready too. But speaking of kids going back to school, I was reading an article that said only 16% of people read for fun, really and that number decreases on average 3% per year. For kids, no, everyone.

Speaker 2 8:17

Everyone, yeah, does reading for fun include, like newspapers or magazines.

Speaker 1 8:24

Yeah, anything, any sort of print. Yeah, I was so sad to read that because I love to read. Yeah, and my kids are not big readers.

Speaker 2 8:33

Some of mine are. I would say Aiden is probably the biggest reader.

Speaker 1 8:39

And they say just give them stuff that they're interested in, like stuff they like Don't force them to read certain things. Oh, I've been forcing kids I, they like don't force them to read certain things oh, I've been forcing kevin.

Speaker 2 8:46

I won't be trying to force him to read harry potter.

Speaker 1 8:48

Okay, yeah, they say just like gotta stop, like find their interest. And then just a bunch of books fiction and non-fiction on their interest and they should kind of take the bait. It doesn't matter if the reading level is lower, it doesn't matter if it's like a sports illustrated it doesn't matter if it's baseball cards. It should just be something I was saying that to kevin and then once they read stuff they're interested in, then sometimes you can like there it will progress.

Speaker 2 9:12

Yeah, not always, because I was telling him. I was like these are below your reading level and it's great they get there, they can read just let them do it yeah, yeah, all right, because that encourages reading.

Speaker 1 9:22

okay, that's essentially what we want. Right, like them to sit down with a book Because we read stuff below our like. Yeah, that's true. So children's books that like read a lot are so good for the older kids.

Speaker 2 9:32

Yeah, Like identifying this stuff. Even when they babysit for Rose, I'm like you have to read her a book, yeah. And sometimes they're like then that's double bad. Now she's up later and you didn't reach her. Yeah, that's a double whammy. This is like double strikes, like don't do that to her.

Speaker 1 9:52

Yeah, I was also reading. I did a lot of reading this week. Yes, you did About cleaning your sheets, washing your sheets.

Speaker 2 9:59

Yes, I was reading something about this too. You were yes. I was reading something about this too. You were yes. Just briefly, I saw the headline. Okay, I wonder if we read the same thing.

Speaker 1 10:06

Maybe we did. It said experts suggest once a week which I do or, at the longest, twice per week once every two weeks True.

Speaker 2 10:16

That's what I do. I have dirty kids. I do two weeks.

Speaker 1 10:18

I just haven't like. My kids are always coming from sports.

Speaker 2 10:27

And even though they shower yeah, I don't know, I just Mine shower like after sports before they go to bed. We're every two weeks, but then in this article it said if you do every two weeks, you should wash your pillow.

Speaker 1 10:35

That's what I read, yes, more often, several times a week, which I have never done.

Speaker 2 10:41

I absolutely don't do that. But I'm when I read that I thought oh, this makes sense Same.

Speaker 1 10:47

Especially for my high school kids. Yeah, yeah, so yeah, we definitely read the same article. We definitely read the same thing.

Speaker 2 10:55

I was feeling a little bit because it said if you don't use a top sheet, you should wash, and I was like, oh well, everybody has a top sheet. But I don't always wash my comforter, probably as much as I should. But yeah, I guess I don't mind changing the sheets. I love folding fitted sheets. I just never change. Do you have a trick? It's just with use the little pockets, the little edges. I do what was that you got to put the corner in the corner. I don't know.

Speaker 2 11:23

I don't think it's a. I don't know why people struggle with fitted sheets, because they've never learned to fold them. Like you, I was watching something or I was listening to something. People are like, yeah, I just roll them into a ball. No, I was like what?

Speaker 1 11:35

No, it's terrible, that's not good. Nobody wants to get into a crinkly bed. I mean, I do, iron your sheets. No, my pillowcases my mom do. Yeah, I mean, if Ryan's ironing oh you'll throw them in there, I will iron them.

Speaker 2 11:51

Okay.

Speaker 1 11:51

But otherwise no.

Speaker 2 11:53

No.

Speaker 1 11:54

If I can grab them right out of the dryer, hot, yeah, if they're hot, you can fold them and squeeze them, and fold them and squeeze them down.

Speaker 2 11:59

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I kind of the same way. In london the water was very hard and we our washing machine was a combination washer dryer and it was very small and the sheets would come out.

Speaker 1 12:11

Wait, it washed it and dried it in the same washer dryer in one.

Speaker 2 12:14

It took ages because the washing component had it really this thing had drained so well before the heater came on.

Speaker 1 12:25

I didn't know that they make those, but you don't recommend them.

Speaker 2 12:28

No, I do not Because I see them advertised every once in a while in the US and I'm like, don't, don't fall for it, because think about how much you get done having, like, when you've got stuff in the dryer, then you can put stuff in the washer. That's what I did all day yesterday.

Speaker 1 12:42

Yeah, I've been doing a lot. I stayed home and I did laundry all day long. Yeah, it was painful. Oof, I watched a couple of date lines, but I don't like laundry like you do.

Speaker 2 12:54

I don't mind it, and then I just put the and then my poor kids.

Speaker 1 13:00

When they got home and saw it in their they were like what did you do to me? We don't have any dirty laundry in our house right now. Put your stuff away, you know it's not satisfying. It is satisfying. The problem is, the girls practice every day, so and they have to wear certain things. So I have a couple kits, but I have to run several.

Speaker 2 13:18

This is the problem I've been having with Kevin in football, where I'm like oh, you need Some of that football stuff is expensive. Where I'm like, oh, you need Some of that football stuff is expensive. Where I'm like you have two, and so that's it, and it smells so it has to.

Speaker 1 13:31

Yeah, and their soccer bags I have to leave in their garage. Don't bring those in my house. Yeah, hey, wait, did you see about the Skittles launch of their new flavor?

Speaker 2 13:40

Oh no.

Speaker 1 13:41

You're not going to like this.

Speaker 2 13:42

Pickles no, oh, okay, because you're like, you're not going to like it.

Speaker 1 13:47

They're calling them a spicy snack. What Sweet and spicy Skittles, fuego.

Speaker 2 13:54

Fuego, that's kind of a great name.

Speaker 1 13:56

Coming to a retailer near you in early 2026.

Speaker 2 14:01

So, alexander, my husband and my son Eden are both type 1 diabetics.

Speaker 1 14:06

That's why I thought you might have heard about it.

Speaker 2 14:08

If they have a low blood sugar, they'll eat Skittles, because what's nice is those little packs that people give out at Halloween are exactly 15 grams of carbs, which is what you're supposed to have if you have a low blood sugar, and so I buy a lot of Skittles. Do you have a Skittle jar? We have a Skittle jar, but I have not heard of the Swayze Fuego.

Speaker 1 14:27

So that was my next question. Could you swap the Skittles for the Nutella? No, no, no, no, no, no. Do you think that that would meet the requirements as?

Speaker 2 14:39

long as they're 15 grams of carbs, I don't see why not. Okay, I'll have to ask.

Sweet and Spicy Skittles Announcement

Speaker 1 14:44

We'll have them, try them, all right, when they come out, we'll have to look. We'll have to get some and try. We'll have to look at the nutrition.

Speaker 2 15:00

I just don't know how that would be. Having something that's spicy be chewy, chewy, yeah, also, I think it would be such a shock.

Speaker 1 15:06

Remember fireballs, not the shot.

Speaker 2 15:09

But those like God stoppers? Yeah, I was not a fan.

Speaker 1 15:13

So it was like I was wondering if it was like kind of like that. But it was like when fireballs and not airheads. Oh yeah, what were those called? I can see them.

Speaker 2 15:22

Same same was called. I can see the same same guy's face missiles, no. Missiles, no, they were called and uh not they were individually packet.

Speaker 1 15:31

Uh, warheads, warheads. I was so close missiles like you were in the same wheelhouse. Do you imagine so close? Did you imagine kids telling their parents they're just gonna go to walgreens to buy some miscellaneous?

Speaker 2 15:44

Buy some miscellaneous who knows those? I wanted nothing to do with those. Okay, I liked that. I don't like candy, making me feel miserable.

Speaker 1 15:54

Did you enjoy eating that? Oh yeah, we used to buy them all the time. Yeah, they can't get you sour right there. Yeah, you know what I do want to try, though. What? Ina Garten? What's her name?

Speaker 2 16:06

Ina Garden, garden Garden, isn't it, ina Garden? I'm a garden, you're a garden, I don't know, I think it's a tea, but it's like a soft tea. Oh, I don't know, I just Ina Garden.

Speaker 1 16:19

Ina, yeah, there we go. She has a great party hack. Oh, what is it? So she has a quick, two-ingredient, crowd-pleaser cocktail. Let's go. All you need is one teaspoon of raspberry liqueur. Okay, you put it at the bottom of a champagne flute and then, when your guests arrive, you pop the champs or the bubbles and you pour the rest of the glass and then you garnish it with a couple raspberries.

Speaker 2 16:46

Yes, that's cute.

Speaker 1 16:47

I know I feel like it's super summery.

Speaker 2 16:49

I feel like my sister was doing that. She was. She's done that before. When people say things like raspberry liqueur, what is wrong with me today? Raspberry liqueur, where does one get or decide which one to buy?

Speaker 1 17:05

I think you ask the guy at Benny's At Benny's, yeah Say, I'm looking for a raspberry liqueur.

Speaker 2 17:11

Yeah, all right, cool, sorry, I just saw a strip of random facts today, but that sounds like something you read and you were like I want that. Yeah, I did want that.

Speaker 1 17:22

That may not happen to me. No, I'm just kidding.

Speaker 2 17:25

I bet that's refreshing and I bet you, when people see that it's one of those like ooh and it would be cute at like a baby shower or like a ladies' lunch or a Valentine's Day.

Speaker 1 17:36

We had a friend host us for Valentine's Day and it was delightful and you brought champagne. Yes, it was a crafty party.

Speaker 2 17:43

Oh yeah, we crafted, we did. We made body scrubs which were super nice and every time I used it thought wow, I made this myself. I was very proud, it was slippery it was very slippery.

Speaker 1 17:55

She did.

Speaker 2 17:55

She said just you know, tread lightly no dance routines in the shower. I know I gotta you gotta knock that off. Rose dances in the shower and it makes me really nervous. I do not irish dance. She's hopping around because she sings and she's like hopping around and like please don't dance in the shower. No dancing in the shower.

Speaker 1 18:14

Dance when you get out. Singing is fun. Did you hear about the St Leo dance choir team? No, that's on America's Got Talent. What? Yeah, they advanced to the next round. St Leo from Chicago. Yeah, get out of town.

Speaker 2 18:26

I know I didn't actually see it IRL.

Speaker 1 18:29

I saw it on the news, but yeah, oh my gosh Way to go.

Speaker 2 18:33

Chicago, first the Pope, now this. Wow, it's a good time in Chicago. Chicago's great. Should we check in with our sponsor? Hey, nora, hi.

Video Games Past and Present

Speaker 1 18:44

Nora, how are you? I'm great. I was just wondering do you like firecrackers? Is the Pope from Chicago? I sure do Listen. Guess what else is from Chicago? What? Mike Haggerty, Buick, GMC. Bless my soul. God bless America. New Canyons, Sierra, HDs Terrains, Acadias, Yukons, you name it, they've got it. Oh my goodness. But the real firecracker of a sale is the 2025 Buick Envision. You can lease it now for $339 a month for 24 months.

Speaker 2 19:15

God bless America.

Speaker 1 19:17

So head on down to Mike Haggerty Buick GMC on the corner of 93rd and Cicero, or check them out online at HaggertyCarscom and tell them the Norris sent you. And now back to the show.

Speaker 2 19:27

Our topic today, which might surprise some people, is video games. Are you a gamer? I am not a gamer. My kids love to have me play because I stink so bad.

Speaker 1 19:37

Were you a gamer back in the day.

Speaker 2 19:39

So we had Intellivision. I'm sorry and I almost feel like I need to get a voice note or something from my dad to talk about it, because I watched no joke, a 24-minute.

Speaker 1 19:54

Oh my God, my dad's calling right now. Stop it, let's get him on the pod.

Speaker 2 19:57

Should we get him on live? Yeah, yeah, yeah, dad, we're talking about video games and I, 30 seconds ago, just brought up Intellivision. How did you decide that we were going to get in television over atari?

Speaker 3 20:15

I liked it better for some reason, okay, and I thought that I thought the um and this could be totally wrong, but I thought maybe the graphics were better okay, they were better actually, according to the 25 minute history of video games youtube video I watched wait, mr ryan, did you buy it so you could also play, or was it strictly for the children?

Speaker 1 20:36

Or maybe it was for Noreen, I don't know.

Speaker 3 20:39

Like any adult male. I'm going to tell you I bought it for the children, but I did like a couple of those games.

Speaker 2 20:46

We were little. You must have bought it for you, because we had it in California. I mean not in a bad way, but like Sean was still in diapers.

Speaker 3 20:57

He. Well, we had it long enough for him to play. He played it.

Speaker 2 21:00

Because in the video I watched way to go, dad, Because it said it was it ran about, in today's dollars, $600 or $900 to buy Intellivision, but back then it was like $165 or $200. You were a baller.

Speaker 3 21:19

The ones I were too good for you guys.

Speaker 2 21:23

But it had really weird controllers. It was a rectangle and it had a keypad on it like a phone, and then it had a circular disc that you could move like around, kind of like an old ipod. When did it come out? 1972?

Speaker 1 21:39

gosh, you guys were really ahead of the game.

Speaker 2 21:41

No pun intended we didn't get it till the 80s. So yeah, because uh what was it?

Speaker 3 21:48

Yeah, because what was that? Burger Time, burger Time.

Speaker 1 21:58

And that was that bomber day, Wait. So you had Burger Time on your Intellivision. I had Burger Time on my original Nintendo in 1986.

Speaker 2 22:06

Ah, but we and Frogger was good Bump and Jump. I think we did have Donkey Kong on television.

Speaker 1 22:16

It was yeah, it was barrels Did your friends think it was so cool that you had that.

Speaker 2 22:22

Probably my parents had Pong. Oh yes, I read about Pong.

Speaker 1 22:28

Did your parents have Pong? No, my parents probably were playing beer pong. Sorry, I'll about Pong. Did your parents have Pong? No, my parents probably were playing beer pong. Sorry, I'll edit that out. I read in 1972 that came out.

Speaker 3 22:37

Is that right? We didn't buy that until we lived in Evergreen Park, because Aaron discovered it and saw it In like 1988. Or later and said what did you do with this? I said people actually came to our house and you played it.

Speaker 2 22:57

Oh, it was like ping pong.

Speaker 3 23:00

It was a little square that bounced back and forth on the screen and you had a little Like a dial Straight line and it was extremely boring today, but back then it was like it made a very pleasant noise though, didn't it?

Speaker 2 23:17

It was like boing, boing, Mm-hmm.

Speaker 3 23:20

I remember, yeah, but I remember you know people coming over and saying, oh, let's play this in the TV room in the back of the house in Evergreen Park, the Lion Paw in the back of the house in Evergreen Park, the land paw.

Speaker 2 23:32

But the other question I had for you was I feel like we were all in on the early days of video games, but then it was a real drought, like we did not have the NES like what you guys had.

Speaker 1 23:46

Well, you had an older sister and I was the oldest, so maybe that had something to do with that.

Speaker 3 23:52

Aaron wasn't into it at all.

Speaker 1 23:54

Oh no.

Speaker 3 23:56

And I don't think you were.

Speaker 2 23:58

No, I like to play it at other people's houses.

Speaker 1 24:01

I remember my dad bringing it home and me being excited and then not wanting to play, and they kind of had to encourage me and then, yeah, then a couple years later, nintendo 64 came out. That was exciting.

Speaker 2 24:19

And Super Nintendo, like all those other game consoles, because we basically we had Pong and then Intellivision and then Sean got Sega Genesis in like 1996.

Speaker 1 24:29

Oh yeah, we never had a Sega, there was like a real video game.

Speaker 2 24:31

drought, you guys were busy.

Speaker 3 24:34

Yeah, I guess you guys didn't hang around just playing video games. I mean, aaron was in sports, you were in soul.

Speaker 2 24:42

I played sports too, dad. No, I really didn't. I was on the team, I didn't really play.

Speaker 3 24:50

Well, I tell everybody, you always consider the uniform a costume.

Speaker 1 24:54

And rightly so, and I look good in it All right.

Speaker 2 24:59

Well, your timing was perfect on calling Dad. I appreciate it. Well, here we'll just have like a nice ending. Thanks for calling Dad. I'll talk to you later, all right, bye guys. Well, here we'll just have like a nice ending. Thanks for calling Dad.

Speaker 3 25:11

I'll talk to you later. All right, Bye guys.

Speaker 1 25:14

Well, that was a surprise.

Speaker 2 25:15

Wasn't the timing on that spectacular yes it really was, because I had a lot of questions and I meant to call him and then I ran out of time.

Speaker 1 25:24

Oh, that's okay. I love that we both played Burger Time. Can we talk about a game where you built a cheeseburger? Yes, and it occupied us. It was great.

Speaker 3 25:35

Can we?

Speaker 1 25:35

also talk about the game Duck Hunt, oh, where the council came with a gun and they shot ducks and you were kind of like a bandit. It wasn't like you were a hunter.

Speaker 2 25:46

Yeah, it was never like you have worked and honed your craft. You're not like an orn Right, it's just. Yeah, it's like go out and kill these ducks Kill ducks yeah. And then the dog would catch them right. Wouldn't the dog go out? And isn't there a dog? And you would see the duck in his mouth.

Speaker 1 26:02

I was a big fan of video games when I was little. Yeah, california games when you would play like hacky sack and that was a video game. Yeah, it was hacky sack, skateboarding, rollerblading and tidal wave.

Speaker 2 26:17

Interesting Were the four we had and I didn't ask my dad about this, but we had a really nice computer in the 80s, you did. We had an Apple IIe.

Speaker 1 26:26

And so that had games on.

Speaker 2 26:28

it Did you play?

Speaker 1 26:29

the Oregon Trail. Yes.

Speaker 2 26:30

Oregon Trail. We played Double Dare, we had a Jeopardy on there, we had a Wheel of Fortune on there, so we had games on that. But I remember going to friends' houses and being like can we play Nintendo? And they're like ugh, I'm sick of it.

Speaker 1 26:43

I'm like you need to play all the time. Oh, but would they come to your house and be like what is this computer? Yeah, we never, had a computer until like the 90s.

Speaker 2 26:51

Right, and then I used to babysit when I was a fifth grade for this family who had four little boys and they had Nintendo 64. And I would always be like you guys want to play Nintendo.

Speaker 1 27:03

I brought one to school. Oh, fun To college, yeah. And then Dreamcast came out and I had a friend wait in line for my brother to get the new Dreamcast for Christmas. What's Dreamcast? It was after Nintendo.

Speaker 2 27:18

Okay, my brother recently I don't know if I talked about it on the podcast, I can't remember his birthday was in June and on the morning of his birthday he went out his friend toured and there was a box from Amazon. Inside the box was a PlayStation 5. That's right, and we had lunch that afternoon kind of the five of us we call ourselves the Chaucer Ryans and he asked my parents nope, not for them, not for me, not for my sister. He still, two months later, has no idea. Who sent him this PlayStation. Who sent it? Do you have any idea? We had a few guesses, but he asked those people and they were like no, and they contacted Amazon and Amazon said no, we can't tell you who it is. It was Jeff Bezos who do you think it?

Speaker 2 28:05

was I thought it was his friend Brooks because he's a super nice guy and would know that Sean would like that and would be generous enough to send it. My older two think that Sean's future self sent it to his past self because he and at this point we're like that's the most likely option.

Speaker 1 28:27

Maybe Joanna did.

Speaker 2 28:29

It wasn't her Okay. So it's a big family video game mystery. So wait, so your favorite game Burger Time, the California games.

Speaker 1 28:37

My friend Whitney Weigel a dear friend, my very first friend that I ever made in Arizona and is still a dear friend and Elle's godmother was also into video games and she loved Mario Kart and I despised Mario Kart and it was terrible. She loved it. I love Mario Kart, so that is one of my most unf, one of the games I like the very least Really.

Speaker 2 29:07

Yeah, okay, I love Mario. Kart Did you have a Game Boy. My brother had a Game Boy, but when I was living in London in my 20s I had a Nintendo DS, the like new Game Boy. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, because my commute to school was an hour, but you're going to laugh. I had a Brain Games game that was like all I played on it. It was like crossword puzzles and number games.

Speaker 1 29:33

Oh, that's incredible.

Speaker 2 29:34

It was like puzzles. Yes, what a nerd I was. It's okay, I still have it and it works, but then one of my kids broke it, so like the screen doesn't stay up all the way, but every once in a while they'll take it out.

Speaker 3 29:45

That's a perfect game and laugh.

Speaker 2 29:47

They're like what games do you have? I was like brain games, brain games and then a cooking like an actual like cookbook on there, which I never used.

Speaker 1 30:00

Our neighbors gave John and Catherine Grace a DS that they play still. It's great A ton of games and a little carrying case and yeah yeah.

Speaker 3 30:04

Did you?

Speaker 1 30:04

have a. Game Boy. Yeah, I loved my Game Boy. I played NBA Jams on it. Oh and Tetris, okay, tetris was fun on there, tetris and NBA.

Speaker 2 30:12

Jams. Sean had a DuckTales game that we would play on there. It was fun, it was great in the car and he was nice.

Speaker 1 30:20

He would share it and games were weird in the 80s and 90s.

Speaker 2 30:24

Well, my friend, aaron, had a Super Nintendo and we used to play Aladdin there. And we used to play Aladdin there was. This group like loved this game. You were Aladdin getting through Agrabah On a carpet. Sometimes you were on the carpet, but it was mostly jumping. It was like Mario oh yeah, he was a jumper. He was a jumper and then you had to collect apples along the way and different talents Was the prize to get to Jasmine, I believe so.

Speaker 1 30:55

Or to get. You had to get the I don't.

Speaker 2 30:56

I mean, I never beat the game because I wasn't that good at it, but remember bowser, when you would try to get to bowser for nintendo really play. I'm, oh, I mean, I know bowser because rory loves video games so much, but you should go to nintendo world I should studios you would love it? I would, because you have played these games and lived it. Yes, uh, rory, like poor memories. When you go through the tunnel, it makes that work noise.

Speaker 1 31:14

Oh, it's not a museum, no, it's a theme park. Oh no.

Speaker 2 31:19

Oh, and you can ride the rides Like you do Mario Kart you get in the car. I know you don't like Mario Kart, but then Bowser's there, that's cute card. But then Bowser's there and it's a cute little land. But did you ever go to an arcade? Video game, arcade.

Speaker 1 31:36

No, we didn't really go to the arcade very often, Did you no?

Speaker 2 31:40

we didn't either, but we used to go to. I remember this restaurant in California. It was called Fat Fanny's.

Speaker 1 31:46

Fat Fanny's is the worst name of a restaurant. I know Like you want to gain 100 pounds, go to Fat.

Speaker 2 31:53

Fanny's Go to Fat Fanny's. And in the middle of the restaurant was like a mannequin, like a fake fanny Rump, a little booty. She was sitting on a swing, fat Fanny yeah.

Speaker 1 32:16

Anyways, I think that's where the video game. Like, while you were waiting for a table, you could play video games and you'd get a milkshake and a burger, probably, and a heart attack.

Speaker 2 32:20

Yeah, no, salad bar, no, no, no, no, not at Fat Fanny's. You had a salad somewhere else. The 80s were weird.

Speaker 1 32:27

So weird but so great, Like oh, I made a reservation at Fat Fanny's. Fat Fanny's, Bring your quarters for the kids so they can play video games. Fox's Pizza had a sit-down Pac-Man.

Speaker 2 32:38

We have a sit-down, pac-man, you do, we got it for our kids Do you now play it. No, no, I thought this would be like the best gift. The popcorn machine has been. Popcorn maker has been a better gift than the Pac-Man machine. No, what can you do? I don't know and what about your kids, my kids.

Speaker 1 32:58

Mike was never a big video gamer. He wrote me a letter once to try to convince me to buy him or sign up for fortnite. Okay, in the third grade, and I said no, and then I realized everyone was playing but him so then I said yes, he played on a leapster with l when they were little like those last a long time.

Why Fortnite Is So Addictive

Speaker 2 33:20

Those work for your older kids, but I feel like for younger kids they're like what Right no?

Speaker 1 33:26

Yeah, yeah. And then Elle never played video games. Catherine Grace never played video games. And then John loves Fortnite and I gave in way earlier than with Mike, because I was like it's a social thing, I'll be highly addictive. It's just, I just gave the green light on it and I actually read an article about it. Do you want to play it?

Speaker 2 33:50

Yeah. So I told Aiden he had to because I just found it so violent and I was. I made him wait till after fourth grade. Okay, I was like when you're done with fourth grade you can play Fortnite. And then he was funny because Kevin in fourth grade was like oh, what can I play Fortnite? Aiden said it's fine. I was like I can't make Aiden wait and then let you play it early and Kevin's like Aiden's fine with it, aiden's like I'm fine with it.

Speaker 1 34:20

I'm like no, I'm so bad.

Speaker 2 34:20

Oh, you held to it, so I held out, and so now he plays it. So not a ton, but he does. Kevin would rather play sports games.

Speaker 1 34:29

John likes to play only when other people are on. So I was reading about why it's so highly addictive and that's one of them. The FOMO, like the frequent updates, the limited events. The players feel pressure to log in to avoid missing out on others who are playing, as well as new content. Then social pressure, the near miss effect, where it's like players lose by a really narrow margin and then they say just one more round. Yes, john will say that a lot, just one more round.

Speaker 1 34:58

And the rounds are long Because it convinces them that the victory and I don't know this, I just see the article is just around the corner, and so if they could just play one more round, they could get it, they could get it.

Speaker 1 35:09

Yeah, and the other thing that causes it to be so addictive is its variable reward system, and they likened it to gambling because it's so randomized. Like, the rewards release some kind of dopamine in the brain and they're encouraged to keep playing as they anticipate the next reward, even if it's not huge, yeah, like big or small, there's always something.

Speaker 2 35:28

They're like earning it.

Speaker 1 35:29

Yeah, so it's fascinating, that is interesting.

Speaker 2 35:33

We've come a long way from Mario.

Speaker 1 35:34

Yeah, I don't think anybody. There was anything like that in. Burger Time Ding ding, ding, ding ding ding.

Speaker 2 35:39

All the little coins going up from that brick. You know what? Another one of my favorites was Family Feud.

Speaker 1 35:44

Yes, Actually, I watched that last night, mike, and I like to watch it. Oh, that's fun.

Speaker 2 35:49

Oh, this is my little historical fun fact for everybody. The first video game system 1948,. The patent was 1948. The military was using them. It was a missile simulator game based on radar displays from World War II and it was called. It wasn't called a video game, it was called a cathode ray tube amusement device.

Speaker 1 36:15

Really. Yes, I'm surprised their marketing team didn't use that up at all.

Speaker 2 36:20

I'm like, oh, video game just rolls out the tongue a lot better. But that in the 40s it's 1948, yeah. So they kind of knew like what did they play on tvs? But yeah, it's. I mean, I I don't think it's going anywhere. There was a bit of a dip. They said in 1983 that video games. They thought like, oh, oh, it was a blip, they're not going anywhere. But then Nintendo really kind of saved the video game world. Oh, look at that. But it's interesting to see like which consoles are the cool one, or if you, whatever. But in 8-in-1 at a raffle, the Meta.

Speaker 1 36:57

Oh yeah, what is that the?

Speaker 2 36:58

MetaQuest or the. We have a VR, but that's not what it's called the VR. Yeah, what is it called? We have the same one. I think they like it. They'll play it. Aiden used to play this one game and come up I'm like were you exercising? Yeah, john plays like Gorilla Tag.

Speaker 1 37:14

Yes, you were like a gorilla.

Speaker 2 37:15

Yeah, and he let me try it once. And I just was stuck in a barrel it's the and I couldn't get out and you have to like smash yeah, what's the name of that thing? It's through Facebook, it's in it through Facebook. I forget. I have an app for it on my phone, but anyways.

Speaker 1 37:31

Should we high and low?

Speaker 2 37:32

Let's high and low. My low, Nora. I'm sorry I'm barging right in. Go, Go low.

Speaker 2 37:37

They're replacing the pipes the sewer and the water pipes around my house, and it will be great when it's finished, but it is such a mess, my bad. I can't park in my garage and then the workers who are working very hard are parking in front of my house on the other side, so I can't park by my house. My car is really dirty on the outside because it's very dusty, and then yesterday a gas line broke so it smelled like gas all day and then they were NICOR. Gas was outside my house till 11 o'clock, holy cow, yeah. So and I'm you know, I know it's hard work and I know it's complicated, but I just want it to be over, and it's not.

Speaker 1 38:21

it's not like something going on in your house.

Speaker 2 38:23

It's not like you have construction and at the end you get a brand new garage or like you get an updated whatever and I feel like they used to be really neat and tidy, but now I feel like the wheels have come off. The wheels have come off. There's like pipes everywhere. There's like equipment here and there. There's a porta potty on my poor. There's like pipes everywhere. There's like equipment here and there. There's a porta potty on my poor neighbor's like parkway. It's just so unsightly and yucky. And when I was driving down your street I was like I'm so jealous. Your street looks so pretty.

Speaker 1 38:57

Well, I have something unsightly and yucky as my love.

Speaker 1 39:00

My nine-year-old took on a job as a dog walker. Okay, have I told this story on the podcast? I don't think. I know that. He's a dog walker and two big dogs. So neighbors approached him that were not very close with that live around the corner to walk their two long-haired labs while they were gone on vacation. And he accepted this invitation. And then, when I got home from the lake one day, there was a card in the mailbox and so I called the woman and she said your son accepted this job. Is that okay? And I said yes, that's fine, but there was no instruction. So we went to the house and it turns out these dogs are big and unruly and they deposit more than you could ever imagine in a walk. And John prays every time we go for courage to be brave enough to quit the job, and I pray every time for courage to power through.

Speaker 1 39:52

So he has taken on this job. They're gone for three weeks and we kind of got bamboozled because I feel like this job is not for a child, this job is for an adult and I don't have an extra half hour after school because I have four children.

Speaker 2 40:06

Oh, Nora, yes, so yesterday I walked the dogs by myself or for like a 15-year-old.

Speaker 1 40:10

Yesterday I walked the dogs by myself during the day through the neighborhood and then another neighbor saw me and just shook her head. She knows the back story on it. I was letting the dogs out to go to the bathroom, so her mother is staying there, but her mother is older and can't handle the dogs.

Speaker 1 40:24

But neither can my nine-year-old so, he's going to go when they return and ask for this guy to my high, is going to ask for a bonus. He appointed another neighbor his agent and this other neighbor said yes, he would go as his agent. And he's going to ask for a bonus because he had to split the profits with his mom and his sister, because this is not a job for a nine-year-old.

Speaker 2 40:47

good for john, so stay tuned and learning to see how that goes for himself what was your high? Well, my aunt's party was so fun. It was really nice to see all my family, but then, as a bonus, I ended up going to the benson boom oh, that's so funny because I was coming over until I wasn't, but I still came.

Speaker 1 41:04

I really saw it.

Speaker 2 41:05

No, that was yeah, my sister and her daughters and some of their friends were going and I was surprised at how sad I was that I was like not going. And then my sister's like would you want to come? I was like I kind of do but I don't know, and then my husband was like go get a ticket, Just go.

Speaker 3 41:24

It was so last minute and so random and it was a blast.

Speaker 2 41:27

Very talented young man. Highly recommend Ben Sabula. So talented, great singer. He put on an awesome show and it's like him and five band members. There's no backup singers, there's no dancers, it's him and the man's flipping around.

Speaker 1 41:43

He's very talented. I'm glad you had an opportunity to go.

Speaker 2 41:46

Yeah, it was really really fun Well thanks for joining us today. Yes, we're always happy to have you listen in.

Speaker 1 41:52

Thank you to my dad for calling in, first time caller, long time listener, and hey, tell a friend to listen in too. We're always looking for new listeners. We are, yeah, and hey, tell a friend to listen in too.

Speaker 2 42:03

We're always looking for new listeners. We are yeah, bye.