When I was growing up, I had a friend who was really into video games. I think he was the best Pac-Man player in our town. I, myself, didn't really see the point in getting all worked up about controlling the movements of blinking lights on a screen, but, to each his own, right? I did pick up a few nuggets of information about video games just from being around him. One of them was the concept of "power-ups", which were objects in the game that gave instant power or heightened abilities to the character that obtained them. Years later, I still remember this, which just goes to show how deep-seated and influential our early life experiences can be.
