We’ve Come a Long Way From Pong

Anyone who remembers the first-generation video games such as Pong and Pac-Man will appreciate how far the video game revolution has evolved.

Perhaps there’s no better evidence of this than in the Internet Usenet discussion groups. At last count more than a dozen groups were devoted exclusively to video gaming.

Here’s a sampling:

If you are addicted to what are now considered ancient games, such as Donkey Kong and Asteroids, you can find companionship at alt.games.video.classic .

If you find yourself toe-tapping to the Super Mario Bros. theme, try drumming your keyboard to alt.music.video-games .

Just bought a new system? You’re bound to find a group for it. Among your choices are rec.games.video.3do , rec.games.video.atari , rec.games.video.nintendo and rec. games.video.sega .

For general video gaming dialogue, stop by rec.games.video.misc for a potpourri of topics applicable to anyone with a game cartridge in one hand and a joystick in the other. In this section you will also find a useful document of answers to frequently asked questions. Loaded with information such as tips and resources, it gives a complete history of video gaming along with evaluations of all the popular systems.

Remember that Internet Usenet newsgroups are also available on America Online (Keyword Usenet ), Compuserve (Go Usenet ) and Prodigy and TimesLink (Jump Usenet ).