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sports

When I went to high school at the beginning of the 80s, I used to bring a bag of marbles in order to play during the recess, as did most of the boys at that time. We used to make a shallow hole in the ground with the shoe heel (La Huaca, we called it), set us nine feet apart and then, we threw the marbles trying to reach the rim of the hole as close as possible; the marble that went straight into the hole was the winner of the first stage; There were a complex arrangement of rules and commandments to follow, as well as a lexicon to use during the games ("Arrechin" was a marble that set beside another one; "Check" was a marble that slightly touched another one; "Too" meant that everything had to be allowed.)

Technically, a marble is just a spherical object, a fraction of an inch in radius and usually made of crystal or steel (there are huge marbles half an inch or more of radius, but those are not common). They are very old. Perfect spherical marbles have been found in excavations of 5,000-year-old Egyptian monuments. To this day, the technique used to make them is still unknown. Also, the marble in USA is considered the oldest mass-produced toy, because in Akron, Ohio the first series was made in 1842.

Another toy we used to play was the spinning top: an inverse cone with a metal point on which it spins, usually made of wood (and universally painted in blue, red and white --- I never knew why!). In order to make the top dance, it is required to wind a thread around it, the loose end of the cord has to be attached in the fingers, and then, the Top is thrown with a sudden movement of the arm which gives it the spinning motion.

Again, it seems that this toy is extremely ancient. Anthropologists think that a rotary device used by our prehistoric ancestors on dry wood to kindle fire is the origin of the top. Persius Flacus Aulius (34-62 AD), a Roman poet, said that in his childhood he had more devotion to the spinning top than to the studies; Virgil talked about this toy too in the Aeneid, and spinning tops made of clay were found in the Troy and Pompey excavations. The Chinese and Japanese cultures have used them since a thousand years ago.

When we got tired of marbles and tops, we turned to yo-yos. These spool-like toys had to be reeled up and let down by a string and there were times when every boy on school had one in his pocket; truly spontaneous championships arose everywhere during yo-yo season; also, big soft drink companies and fast food restaurants organized those competitions for the children to test their abilities with the toy.

But while we were making kites during dry season or playing with marbles, it was also common to exchange ATARI video game cassettes, then the fetish among children.

Not being aware of the phenomenon, we were immersed in a transition: we were the last generation of kids still playing with old traditional games but at the same time, starting the electronic age of video games (I can say that I played during my childhood with the same kind of toys my father did --- nowadays I wonder how many kids can not say the same).

The first time I saw an Atari console It was attached to a common TV unit and the guy was playing "Frontenis" --- it consisted in no more than a short line that moved, up or down at the player's will and the idea was to keep a single dot --- the ball --- from leaving the screen. Compared with current video games, it's now as prehistoric as stone age axes. However, at the time I marveled by that interaction with TV.

Soon, more refinement was achieved and more colourful and sophisticated games stroke the market: Space Invaders, Asteroids, Frogs, etc. In the year 1982 an incredibly successful game was unleashed --- Pac Man! This tireless eater, always chased by menacing ghosts, was omnipresent in everybody's mind, as well as in T-shirts, books, and other spin-off products. There was even a song made in his name.

Then Donkey Kong followed in popularity. At this time the games had better resolution, sound effects, colorful displays and several stages of difficulty to challenge both the novice and the highly skilled player.

In the 90s, as a celebrity, Mr. Mario Bross had to share his fame with increasingly popular PC games --- Prince of Persia, car racing, space flying. "Doom" games of extermination plagued the computers worldwide. Game Boy, Game Cubes, and so on are very popular among children today.

High tech video games have definitely left behind the now extinct traditional games, which are now only seen as bronze sculptures in a forsaken museum.