Let there be no mistake, my parents have never been very receptive of video games in general. They fall into that category of people who feel that it can be a waste of time. However, I must stress that they are not completely against the games.

Long ago - well not that long ago - games were used as a mediating tool for me and my brother. He being the elder of 11 years, and me the younger, we didn't always get along, especially in the early years. Our first thing we could actually get along with was the SNES. I can still remember my first win in SSF2, the disbelief on my brother's face and his bruised hand from punching me in the knee.

My parents understood the necessity of the system: it was a bonding mechanism, and the best times were hiding Mortal Kombat games when my mother would get home from work. Yet, they belonged to the camp of parents who believed kids need to get out and play.

Flash forward a few years, the SNES has been sold of and I now own a Playstation. It took a good while to get that thing, and I cherished it. It was during a hockey tournament in Aspen, Colorado, my dad was my coach and we were in-between games. While we were hanging out in the hotel room my dad picked up the controller and asked to play some NHL '99 with me.

A couple of years later the PS2 is about to debut. After catching the hype-bug I plead with my mother to get up with me to go get it - without a job I couldn't afford it. She agrees, as long as I wake her up. Well, I didn't get much sleep that night and woke her up around 3 a.m. to go wait outside the local Circuit City. Since then she'll randomly bust that story out exclaiming how much fun she had.

All of this background leads up present day. Between the years my mother hasn't picked up a controller, my father has had a stroke and his brain is still working to rewire itself. I picked him up a DS for his birthday last year with Brain Age to give him a little psychological exercise - he has always valued his intellect and the stroke really disrupted parts of all our lives. Other than that my parents have gradually accepted what the industry is about and will sometimes engage in discussions with me about games/gaming.

All of this has changed since my father picked up the X-plorer Guitar for my GH2. When I was a kid I remember listening to the Allman Brothers Band a lot during road trips. After firing up "Jessica," and some instruction, he's hooked. Whenever I head home he asks me to bring the 360 and GH2, joking that I should leave it there.

As of this Saturday my family came over to watch the 100^th Apple Cup football game, the annual rivalry game between the University of Washington (Huskies) and Washington State University (Cougars). The party started long before the game ever did. My dad actually started to understand how the game works, found some timing/rhythm and completed a couple of songs. After a few tries my mom got tired of watching and asked to give it a try! Well, she wasn't too successful but basically the two of them are addicted.

Judging from this last weekend it might be time for them to cash-in their tube T.V. for an HDTV and 360; probably not, but at least we can all finally agree on video games!     

Oh, yeah, and WSU barely beat out my Huskies. At least they didn't piss on the field this year, fucking Cougs.