This Day in History

...or happy 22nd birthday Super Mario Brothers. It was "one of the first side-scrolling platform games" and is the best-selling video game of all time according to The Guiness Book of World Records.

Now, I am not what a person might call a video game afficianado-- I don't know what the alternatives were are or to side-scrolling video games. But I did take a few turns at SMB at my cousins' house every now and then. I much preferred Duck Hunt, I was way better at shooting fake ducks and discs than rescuing princesses. And now I have a thing about not liking guns, but for some reason that game didn't seem to count.

I've lately been very interested in the "This Day in History" stuff. I'm of the mind that you have to know where you've been to know where you're going. Not a great mantra for driving, but I think it works most other times. While I believe that very strongly, I didn't enjoy history in school until a class I took in college. No offense, but maybe it was the teachers and the way it was taught. I didn't even retain much from my music history class. I think I just like knowing the stories and the way things connect rather than having to remember when specifically something happened. So if you ask me at some point in the future what day Super Mario Brothers was released I won't know. But I can remember it and appreciate how far video gaming has come since then.