Information
Subject Name: Thomas L.
Current Age: 27
Diagnosis: Extreme obsession with television Video Games, video game culture
and related paraphernalia. Suffers from a rare form of acute technomania,
multitaskmania, attention deficit disorder, optophobia, and defenestrateophobia.
Status of Subject: Active. Treatment history ineffective.
Page 01
Many people would often ask Thomas why he enjoyed video games so much or simply roll their eyes at the notion that there could be such a person that loved video games so much. Often Thomas would be laughed at, made fun of and even picked on because of his obsessive hobby.
To fully understand Thomas and how he came to grow such an appreciation and fondness for all things video games, we must dive back to a time between 1987. Thomas was approximately six years old, about to turn seven. Perhaps by child standards, he would have referred to himself as "six and a half". Thomas was now in the second grade and attending classes at his local community elementary school. It was there that he first met a friend by the name of Joseph C who enjoyed many of the activities that Thomas had been into at the time such as G.I.Joes, Transformers and Ghostbusters. After awhile Thomas was invited over to this friend's house for dinner and a sleep over, where Thomas and his friend enjoyed many a scenario of ghost busting using plastic replica toys made to resemble the popular proton backpacks and traps used in the film. This activity was considered healthy by most parental standards, as it was both imaginative and offered venues of exercise.
However, perhaps it was fate or destiny that Thomas would suddenly catch a glimpse of the first video game he ever laid eyes on from around a corner being displayed on a television located in the den of the house. Still equipped with his ghost busting backpack he was mezmorized by the very site of what he had just seen. Yes, it was that of the original eight-bit Super Mario Bros. featured on the Nintendo Entertainment System.
Thomas still to this day can recall the wonderful exhilaration he felt when he was first allowed an opportunity to play this game. For any normal child, it would have been simply an interesting or enjoyable time spent, however for Thomas it was something so entirely sublime that only a person who loves video games as much as Thomas did could more accurately describe his experience in tangible words. It was almost as if at that very moment in time Thomas realized that this was something he wanted to interact with forever. Unfortunately for Thomas, his friend's brother was actively playing the game and Thomas was only allotted a single turn in which to display his skill at playing Super Mario Bros. Thomas did not fair well unfortunately and his turn soon ended leaving him with an emptiness that could only be filled by gaining yet another chance at playing this "Nintendo game" as they were called. Thomas continued to play together with his friend that evening, but the burning desire to once again play Super Mario Bros. lingered heavily on Thomas' mind.
The next day Thomas ran to his father and told him all about the experience of his first sleep over at his friend's house and the magical gleaming wonder that was the Nintendo Entertainment System. He told his father that he wanted to get this system very badly and instantly threw a terrible tantrum when his father immediately declined the request stating,"I don't think so. I don't want you playing video games in the house." And this was true, for Thomas' father was an avid sports fan who wanted nothing more than his first born son to learn the fundamentals of sports such as baseball, football and basketball.
Thomas would eventually grow a fondness for practicing these sports as well, but nothing compared to the desire he had for one day having a Nintendo console of his own where he could play his Super Mario Bros. to his heart's content. Yes, Thomas dreamed of this for many days and many nights, but to no avail as his father never gave in to his demands to purchase a Nintendo. Thomas' father did however sometimes bring out something called the Mattel Intellivision and the Atari that he had purchased when he had been younger and would play together with Thomas in games such as Skiing, Basketball, Pong and Breakout.
The Intellivision and Atari were fun to play, but for Thomas, it simply wasn't the same as a Nintendo. Nintendo consoles at this time were very expensive and Thomas' father one day began to give his son an allowance in an effort to learn how to budget his own personal finances. However, Thomas enjoyed the idea of spending money to purchase items he wanted a little too much and each weekly allowance, which was just enough to purchase a six-pack of the chocolately beverage "Yoo-hoo", was indeed used up each week at the grocery store.
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If asked, Thomas would have said that in hindsight he would have preferred to exert more willpower over the chocolately goodness that was Yoo-hoo and save it up to purchase his very own Nintendo Entertainment System. But to the child's eyes, the expense of a Nintendo console was far too great for it to be an achievable dream at his age. Little did Thomas know that if he would have cut out the joy of drinking Yoo-hoo, he might have been one step closer to achieving his ultimate desire to play Super Mario Bros. for as long as he wanted.
To pass the time, Thomas began construction on his very own mechanical video game system using a cardboard box cut-out to look like a television housing with a screen. The video game scenarios were hand-drawn onto several rolls of paper and attached to either side of two wooden dowels which acted as a film canister that could be inserted into the box itself. The scene had to be changed manually and played using a puppet-like video game character that could be manually controlled from outside the box through a series of strings and buttons operated from a central controller.
During visits to Thomas' mother's house, (Note: Thomas' mother and father had been separated for many years, Thomas would often visit his mother's place every other month or so for a weekend trip.) Thomas had met a few of the neighbors' children that lived close by that just so happened to own a Nintendo console of their own. He could remember many great times of going his friend's house near his mother's residence and being given opportunities to play various Nintendo games such as Wizards and Warriors, Ice Climbers and finally, at long last, Super Mario Bros. Eventually, Thomas dramatically improved his video game playing skills and was able to finish many levels, or stages as they were referred to, in Super Mario Bros.
Thomas begged his mother over and over again about the possibility of
getting a Nintendo Entertainment System, with concluded answer always
being, "We'll see." Finally one fine December day Thomas happened
to be hunting for early Christmas presents which involved searching all
locations within his mother's home in hopes to discover what perhaps he
might be receiving for the holidays as a gift. Finally, as Thomas rounded
the corner of his mother's closet he saw a familiar logo displayed on
a cardboard box on the top shelf which read "Nintendo Entertainment
System". Overjoyed, Thomas could barely contain his anxiety for playing
his very own Nintendo. His own Nintendo. The thought seemed both impossible
and irrational to Thomas, like a dream come true. He kept the knowledge
of knowing that he knew that he would be getting what he was getting for
Christmas a secret. His mother never found out the truth behind his early
Christmas present hunting.