N'Gai Croal
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Jun 13, 2008 12:38 PM
180 Degrees columnist Bill Harris and his son Eli playing Super Mario Galaxy on the Wii
Last month, in his debut guest column for Level Up, Dubious Quality
blogger Bill Harris combined an interview with Armageddon Empires
creator Viv Davis with an analysis of sales its patterns to help
understand how indie developers must market their games differently
from their deep-pocketed rivals. In today's essay, The Austin, Texas-based analyst (who does not cover videogames in a professional capacity)
looks back on six years of fatherhood and gaming with his son, Eli.
Level Up would like to wish all of the fathers among our readership a
happy Father's Day, and we hope you enjoy this column.
"Hey,
Dad, do you want to play a little Super Mario Galaxy before you go to
work?" Eli's already turned on the Wii, because he already knows my
answer.
I woke up tired this morning, just as I have every day since my son was born.
In 2001.
For
Eli 6.10, "sleeping in" means 7 a.m., and when he wakes up, he's all
go. My mom says he reminds her of me. It's hard to remember a time when
I had trampolines in my shoes, but I like the thought. And him.
Here's the thing about being a father: it's impossible to understand how much you'll care.
I
don't know much about my own father, who was never around, and the few
times I was with him always seemed to turn into gut-wrenching
disappointments. So when Eli was born, I keenly wanted him to have a
good father, even though I had no idea how to be one.
Almost
seven years later, I'm still trying to figure that out. What I do know,
though, is that forty years is a long, long time. We grew up in
different worlds, and while I live in his world, he's never lived in
mine.
To read the rest of Harris' column, click on the link below.
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