Atari 2600

 A Christmas Story.

It was nearly Christmas and 1993. I was 13 years old back then. 

There was a small coffee shop in the village where I lived with my family. The owner's son used to use a small corner of the shop to display and sell video games. He had some small displays full of games and a stand with a CRT where a console would be hooked up. So, on one particular occasion near the holidays that year, my mother went for a coffee there. I was with her and it was the first time I saw sonic on that display TV. I was hypnotized by the colors and sounds. My only reaction was, I want one for Christmas. After seeing the price of a Sega Mega Drive, my mother only said that dreaded word: "NO". To rub salt in the wound, my annoying neighbor kid was there with his mother testing a Famiclone, with 20 inbuilt games. Wasn't a Mega Drive, but still, he would have a video game console for Christmas…and my prospects were null. For the next couple of days, I begged and begged for a console but my mother wasn't moved. She said there were priorities and that wasn't one. At some point, my father was moved by my pleading and asked my mother to go to the shop and see if there was something affordable. So the next day we went over there and she went straight to the point asking for the cheapest system they had. The shop owner's son, the one in charge of the videogame business said the following: "I have some in the back room. It has been here for ages and it's outdated." He said the price. My mother replied:" that's the one". He came with a sun-faded Atari 2600 box and a couple of cartridges. My mother paid for it, took it home, and gave it to me and my sister on Christmas. Ok, for most people in 1993, the idea of having one console released in the 70s, would make them cringe, but for me, it was a console, a gateway to fun, my very own first game system. It became the best Christmas ever, because, only at that particular time, my father played video games for the first and last time with his children, Space Invaders, until 4 AM.