Don't get me wrong. I love role-playing games, but I moved to the PS3 because of fighting games as well. Most of the time, I would play against the AI (or the game's artificial intelligence). Sometimes, I might even go online to compete with others combatants across the globe. But I gave up that quest when I had my ass handed to me repeatedly and ignominiously everytime I showed up in the online fighting area.
Enter the Dragon. No, not Bruce Lee, but my wife. She's not into video games as much as I am. But that changed when she saw me playing one of my favorite fighters. I was playing as Scorpion against Mileena in Mortal Kombat for the PS3. She liked the fatalities and bone-crunching moves. At first, she thought I could only play against the AI, but I told her, "No, you can also fight against another player."
"Oh!" she exclaimed, "Can I try to beat you, honey?" I laughed, though mostly to myself since I didn't want to upset her. I mean, she's never operated a game controller before, let alone figured out the button combo to perform a successful sai throw. But there she was, challenging me. Oh, this should be good!
As to be expected after the first few games, I beat her. No, not the spousal abuse kind of "beating," but the kind that involved intense finger mashing and special attack moves. Honestly, I didn't have to try hard. I was letting her win, but she couldn't finish me off. Then it happened. She got better. She quickly adapted to the controller and scored some awesome moves of her own. Before I knew it, I had a real battle on my hands. My wife was beginning to kick my butt. I wasn't trying to let her win anymore, but just trying to stay alive. I wasn't expecting what would happen next.
She beat me. Oh, she beat me bad! My wife humiliated me on a PS3 fighting game after only a few rounds. Either I was really bad at Mortal Kombat or she was just too smart and strong for me. A quick learner, no doubt. I wish I could take the credit for teaching her, but she basically figured it out all on her own. Actually, I could take a few lessons from her. Maybe she can become my sensei.
I had learned a few things about myself, about chivalry, about the nature of couples, and about not taking lightly my wife's role in our marriage. In the end, our games of "Marital Kombat" taught me as much about sexual politics and which gender has dominance in a relationship as Chaucer's The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale.
She who controls the game controller must be obeyed.
~Andrew K.
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