As though someone reached into my Somerset childhood and recreated it in bricks and mortar, I was extremely excited to discover Houston's latest, greatest addition: Cidercade. Yes, a warehouse filled with 275+ computer games where they also serve cider. With the Davies Summer School in full swing, where better to teach Pete about history, technology and...er...apples?
I gleefully handed over the $10 it costs for unlimited play, and slowly took in the majestic sight of so many arcade games! Over there was the Star Wars game I played in Florida when I was nine. In that corner was the four player Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game that stole so much of my money on a school trip to Germany in the late 80s. Here was Street Fighter 2, which I was - and remain - rubbish at. Ahhh, the memories.
Pete was in his element, of course, with none of the cruel and unusual limits on his screen time. He was quickly drawn to a number of hunting games that involved plastic shotguns and computer-generated deer and ducks. Against my better judgement I was rather drawn in too. Better to do this in a computer than real life, I thought, and then realised this is the time-honoured argument used by kids to their shocked parents since the dawn of Pacman; cider helps take the edge off thorny ethical issues.
After three hours our rumbling tummies and sore feet told us it was time to go, only to discover you're allowed to bring your own food along and picnic in the arcade! That's for next time, but even in our weakened physical state it was hard to drag ourselves away. Computer games make everything better, cider makes everything better, and when the two combine an infinite positive feedback loop occurs. But (as I've maintained since my youth) does cider make me better at computer games? More research is needed to determine.
