Fortunately I Still Control the Off Switch

Meanwhile, in the God’s Revenge on Ace department:  it turns out there’s a burgeoning number of web sites containing nothing but free Flash games and advertisements to pay for them, and that Jack has been given the address for one of these sites (called Nitrome) by his friend Dahl from camp.  The games thereon range from blatant rip-offs of older games that the kids playing are too young to have heard of, to more original creations that are interesting and funny (if also inevitably derivative in some fashion;  there’s only so many 2d game principles under the sun.)  The effect is the equivalent of having an Eighties arcade permanently wired for short attention spans, where the next game is only a click (and an ad) away, with no need to deposit quarters or change discs or cartridges.  Jack will happily allow me to sit next to him and help him play, in case he hits a tough spot in a puzzle game, or a control technique he doesn’t understand.  He will also just as happily sit in front of it for hours by himself, changing from game to game to game, without allowing me to play with him, or even acknowledging comments I address to him…