To get the full value of joy, you must have someone to divide it with
A re-post of "Things are so much funner with others"
This post was well-received by paid subscribers, and since it has some tips on building your own DIY gaming console, I thought I’d share it with everyone. I hope your weekend is filled with great fun with others! ~JRC
"Things are so much funner with others"
Making of a DIY gaming console and the insights of a child
First published on September 19th, 2022 as a paid-subscribers story.
Over the last weekend, my son and I built a video game console. It took little more than a Raspberry Pi mini-computer board, some readily downloadable open-source software, and a few cheap controllers we purchased on Amazon. Our DIY gaming machine is far from today's graphics-intensive systems. It's more akin to consoles of old like the Atari 2600 and the original Nintendo. But it’s still great fun.
Low-tech experiences what they are, our gaming console build turned out to be more rewarding than I had imagined. Making the system together and having two-player game options once completed ended up being a rather healthy bonding time, one that he recognized in the moment even more than I.
I believe it was better to make a gaming console instead of simply forking over the dough for a new-fangled machine. For one, I have reservations about my nine-year-old son getting too involved in gaming this early in childhood. There will be enough time for that in the coming years. For now, I feel this is a fun, less intensive, and more educational option.
My son is not entirely new to video games. He's played some coin-operated arcade-style systems. And he recently started playing Minecraft with a few friends online. The former is easy to moderate; with a limited supply of coins, we have a ready way of ending a gaming session (no more cash). But it's much more difficult to intervene with Minecraft, as he's playing at home on a small tablet, usually just out of view. I’m not fully against it. His buddies are great and mostly kind and helpful to each other, even in this virtual world. But some child-sized hazing has ensued, and I am in no rush to see what comes next.
Playing our DIY system at home was entirely different. For one, I was with him playing, not simply supervising or moderating as a parent. Together, we were engaged with a relatively wholesome set of low-bit arcade games. I found the graphics endearing, and the music was a dance down memory lane. As for him - he was laughing and entertained the whole time. None of that tuned-out zombie-like obsession we hear of and see in addicted gamers. Instead, we played together in real time, creating an opportunity to cooperate, take turns, and enjoy each other’s company.
We were engaged and present.
Since we built this gaming console only this weekend, we spent a while learning the games and working out the expected system quirks (it’s an almost-free thing, so there were many hiccups getting it all going). But after about an hour of fiddling and another hour of playing, we had it mostly figured out.
And I was mostly done at that point.
It was time to take a break and do something else. My son happily agreed, having had a good time gaming and knowing that more good things were in store. It was Saturday, after all, and we were having an all-in father-son day together.
We put everything away and went out in our backyard for a while. There, playing with our chickens (that's another story), he unloaded this insightful comment:
"Things are so much funner with others."
He then asked, "Why?"
I couldn't help but smile. There was a genuine intrigue in his voice. He had been thinking about what we had just done in contrast to his experience online playing Minecraft while his friends were miles away. The latter was fun, but he acknowledged that being in the same room with someone was more pleasing. Even though the games we played were far less sophisticated, playing together - in person - was better than any virtual experience he was having online.
Serendipitously, I had recently read a quote that fits this moment, so I shared it with him:
To get the full value of joy, you must have someone to divide it with.
— Mark Twain
"Yeah," he agreed.
With the right company and the right experience, things are better together. What a wonderful notion to be forever cognizant of. Especially as our outside lives continue slipping into the confines of a virtual world.
Until next time.
JRC
Interested in building your own gaming console? We used RetroPie. It’s an open-source operating system designed for Raspberry Pi. Everything you need to know with step-by-step instructions is available on their website.
Small warning: With the global chip shortage, Raspberry Pi’s have been selling out, with many gobbled up by unscrupulous resellers who mark them up double or more on Amazon. Don’t waste your money; Raspberry Pi boards range from $25 to $75 new, depending on the model and features. More will be available soon, so it’s better to wait and get a fair deal on one. Reputable resellers like Adafruit will even notify you when new stock is available.
Happy making, happy gaming, and happy times with family and friends. ~JRC