I was recently reintroduced to the world of video games through my daughter. We had gone to visit friends from church who also have children a few weeks ago. They had a game console and my children really enjoyed playing with it.

While I don't profess any specific knowledge, I did enough research to start understanding how the whole thing works. I always try to make sure I do at least a little research on things before I allow any new media to enter my home. Obviously when one has rabbit ears on top of the television, it tends to make controlling the viewing habits easier. "So, do you want to watch PBS or PBS?"

As for th

e video games, I probably never would have even seen such a thing if I wasn't a father.

I can remember video games from years gone by, games that required people to push a button and move a little stick around. I still remember "Pac Man Fever" and dropping quarters into the slot, but I better remember playing pinball games at the apartment building in which we lived temporarily while moving into a new home when I was young.

Those machines were strictly mechanical, with numbers that rolled over when the electrical contacts were made. This new microchip stuff is beyond anything I can comprehend on my own.

Even the controls have changed vastly. The buttons and sticks aren't anything like those that I saw as a youth. The controllers have motion sensors that detect the position of your hand and then relay that information back to the game. In that way, as the hand is moved or the arm is moved, the controller can actually emulate your human movements on the screen. The controllers even make noises and vibrate to simulate contact.

When I first saw 'Pong,' or even the Atari games that seemed so very high-tech in the early 1980s, I would have thought this sort of thing was a fantasy. In those days, everything was little more than a menagerie of squares, moving across a square world that obviously was technologically produced.

Today, the graphics are very realistic and the movements are nearly intuitive, drawing children (and adults) into an alternative world filled with many unusual characters.

While we were at the really big store to pick up the game for her birthday and Christmas and any other holiday that comes before I replenish my bank account, I was surprised by what I saw.

Most of the people looking at the games weren't kids. Many were in their 30s and 40s.

One particular guy got my attention. He was bald with a graying goatee and I noticed him playing a video game with a number of other people gathered around him, some watching and at least one other playing the game. "What's that old guy doing playing that video game with those kids?" I wondered.

Dismissing the thought, I went over to look at the game system my daughter was telling me she couldn't possibly live without. I guess I'm just a sucker for pleading children.

After a few minutes, I noticed the aisle was getting very crowded and the 'older guy' walked by me to buy a copy of the game they had been playing. I then overheard them say that they had been involved in a tournament on a new football game. The games were $50 each. No wonder kids don't buy them, I thought. They can't afford it.

I then glanced over to the side and saw the man's face from the side and did a double-take. It was one of my childhood friends, who happens to be a few years younger than me.

He was in the store with his brother's son, who is 14 and got started playing these games with my friend's son, who is now 15 years old.

I must really look old, since he didn't even recognize me until I spoke to him.

They say you're only as old as you feel and sometimes only as old as you act, but you easily can tell when you get too old to play.

I had just got the new game home and opened the box. After installing all the wires around the television, my daughter showed me how to operate the controller. The games that came with the expensive, I mean system, included several sports games. I chose boxing.

So after she beat me up a few times in the virtual world, I started to go to the kitchen to get a sandwich when I felt a twinge of pain. It felt like I might have pulled a muscle in my shoulder pretending to box.

Thank goodness it wasn't a real match, since more than my shoulder would have been hurting.

I added this revelation to my growing mental list entitled, "Good Reasons to Return to the Wellness Center."

So far, most of the reasons have involved pain of one sort or another. Pain is a very good motivator, no doubt. But it is also a very base motivator.

There are less painful reasons, like improving the quality of life, but that's not as concrete.

I hope I could learn to make quality decisions before being forced into it. For instance, wouldn't it be better to decide to start eating better before having a heart attack? Shouldn't I exercise regularly to avoid not being able to accomplish my daily routine—or shadow box without injuring a shoulder?

As for the eating part, I made bacon, ham and tomato sandwiches on grilled white bread for supper after taking a couple ibuprofen for my shoulder. Does that sound like a fellow who is really extremely health conscious? In fact, that may sound more like a fellow who is lucky to be conscious at all.

Just to be extra nutritious, I added a little regular mayonnaise and poured myself a big glass of chocolate milk. I definitely got my daily dose of vitamin M—the meat, milk and mayo group.

Of course, I don't eat that way every day or anything, but there's probably enough fat and cholesterol in one such sandwich to keep most of my arteries clogged for a few months.

As for my other reasons to motivate myself to work out, I am also not pleased with what I see when I look in the mirror. The signs are already appearing, from the slightly bulging midsection to the pants that constantly seem to succumb to gravity.

When I think about it, I suppose I am in pretty good shape when compared to the other unhealthy people who sit in front of a computer screen for a living. However, it's not my goal to compare myself to unhealthy people. I also noticed while looking over the game that there are optional add-ons that allow people to 'work out' within the game. Great, I thought, maybe I can pretend to be healthy while pretending to work out with a make-believe virtual body. What's the world coming to?