A while back I talked about playing
GAUNTLET: Dark Legacy on our GameCube while my adoring fans, David and
James, watch in awe as I slay fierce and evil villains. There have been
new developments in the last week or so; Gauntlet is a cooperative game
for up to four players. So we got some more controllers,
and now David and James will sometimes play along. David’s getting
pretty good at it, though James idea of how to play is to run headlong
into danger, opening as many treasure chests as he can and shrieking with
glee when he picks up an object. He’s not to clear on how it all works,
so on those occasions when his character (“Green Dwarf”) survives to the
end of level he gives me a big adoring hug and says, “Daddy! You saved
me!” (James is three, by the way).

Anyway, today marks a major milestone; my original character, playing
alone, completed the last couple of levels, destroying the evil mage Garm
and purging the Realms of his evil. David was very impressed. I was
perhaps a little dismayed by the final statistics; over the last four of
five months, I’ve spent almost 48 hours getting to the conclusion. And
that doesn’t count the time spent playing with the boys. If nothing
else, I can honestly say I’ve gotten my money’s worth.