Entertainment

I quit one of my retail jobs after a bit of a scheduling scuffle, so now that I'm head-first into the first week of my new school year I've found myself with an idle mind much of the day. I have plenty of homework, but it wouldn't be college if I didn't procrastinate a little bit.

"Tis the Linux way to download and play Nethack and Rogue, yes. I did that last year as well. I also gave Nexuiz a bit of my time (though that needed a mouse) and Wesnoth. this year, I'm stepping it up a knotch - I grabbed the ageing Game Boy Color and threw it into my bag.

I enjoy the Game Boy mostly because the principles of the system have been much of what I champion elsewhere. It focused on battery life and price mostly importantly, valuing new technology that made its hardware easier and accessible to a widespread audience. While its competitors were busy making many-colored screens and hardware with the power of the consoles of the era, the Game Boy beat them easily because its battery life was unmatched, even if it did have underpowered specifications.

I love the games on this thing. They're all like Rogue - built with an idea, which blossomed within their technology rather than just pandering and trying to do things it cannot. Games like Pokemon and Dragon Warrior, while simple, are vast adventures that trap my imagination in ways that modern games fail to manage.

New technology and innovation doesn't always imply a better product.