I bought this xbox last winter, that I had to part with for a while. I have just received news that it is on its way back to me. Now, don't take this to mean that I am this avid gamer that is a genius with the controller, and wins every game I play. Far from that ... It does give me something different to do when I get back from work, rather than just reading, watching TV, and taking long walks. (Though, I must add, that the long walks are quite refreshing).

I remember the first time I saw a computer game - one of those Sega machines that you hooked up to a TV for display. It had a single joystick, and my favourite game on it was a car racing game. It had very basic CGI graphics, minimal use of colour, and all I had to do was wiggle the joystick a little every now and then to get the car to follow the moving road. Later, once I got my first computer at home, I found as many simple CGI games I could. Then again, my favourite involved a F1 racing game, but it was more involved, and had me racing against other computer racers. I also remember playing a similar game but with bikes. As VGA and SVGA monitors became more popular, the graphics, length and eventual goals of games began to change. This was the period when I began to play games like Prince of Persia, F-18 figher combat and such.

Since those days, I have tried a few games like the Age of Empires on the computer. They can keep you occupied for hours, and therefore require a significant availability of time. For a while, they began to affect my sleeping patterns.

The xbox changed that for a while. I went back to the simplicity of car racing games like Gotham City racing. Having become accustomed to using the keyboard for such games for the longest time, it took a while to get used to the games controllers. I had gotten better at it, and then had to separate myself from it for various reasons.

It will soon be back (hopefully in working condition), and then we'll have to see how the skills have fared during the same period.