Batteries Not Included
Checking out at Toys ‘R’ Us I was asked “Do you need any batteries?” Well, I thought that the answer was no because I was buying Battleship, the classic naval combat game. So I said, “No.” When I got home I realized I was wrong. I do need batteries.
It turns out that I picked up Electronic Battleship which requires 4 AA batteries. It’s pretty sweet looking so I took the batteries out of two of our Wii controllers and put them in the new game.
The battleship explosion sounds were cool so I kept it. I think my nephew will enjoy it but it seems weird that this classic I played with in the ‘70s should all of a sudden need batteries to make the sounds that my friends and I enjoyed making ourselves. What’s next? Will Fisher-Price Little People and Erector sets need batteries? (Actually, kind of, the little people school bus requires 3 AA batteries and the Erector front-end loader requires 2 AA).
Isn’t this exactly the sort of sappy, nostalgic rant that makes young people hate older people? Just thinking about it, I’m starting to hate myself. But why pick on kids products? What about stuff for other age groups? Like stuff I have? Are there new versions of established products that used to work without batteries and now require batteries?
