<a href="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/?attachment_id=8947" rel="attachment wp-att-8947"><img class="size-medium wp-image-8947 alignleft" title="photo" src="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/photo3-225x300.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="300" /></a>What better way to celebrate the New Year and The Year of Play than with a very special playdate!  On January 1<sup>st</sup>, I asked World’s Most Precious Niece if she would like join me in my playful quest.  Since she’s a kid, she’s a natural at this sort of thing.

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I asked World’s Most Precious Niece for ideas.  When you ask a digital native for play ideas, there is a 99.9% chance that they will choose some sort of video game.

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“Just Dance 3,” was her suggestion.

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“What’s that?” was my obvious question.

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She then rattled on about a video game on Kinect where you follow dance moves, yada, yada, yada.

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I had limited Kinect knowledge.  I knew it was a streaming device, but what makes it different from xBox (sp?) and all of those other streaming boxes/video game thingies?

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World’s Most Precious Niece explained that Kinect senses your body movements and so . . . .  This is still incomprehensible to me . . . . Your body is the joystick/controller.

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Toto, we’re not in Atari-Land anymore.

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I know, I know.  I’m certainly (minimally) aware of changes in video games in the past 30 years.

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There was that one summer circa 2000 out when my sister and I stayed up late every night playing The Sims.  We spent countless hours locking grunting virtual people in their virtual rooms to see what would happen without virtual potty breaks and food.  How mature.

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A couple of New Year’s Eves ago I played Rock Band with friends.  I was the lead vocalist and was booed off the stage by a rude cast of virtual characters.  As a trained singer, I found this terribly amusing, although the virtual me was miffed.

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O.k., o.k.  So the real me was equally peeved.  Surly cast of virtual characters, <em>excuse me</em> for living and showing expression while I’m singing rather than popping out notes like a robot!

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And then there was that trip to Fiddlesticks last winter when World’s Most Precious Niece attempted to teach me Guitar Hero.  <strong>Young ? kicked my bootie to</strong> Foghat even though Young ? had never touched a real guitar while I own and play an acoustic.  Go figure.

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As you can imagine, I was more than a little skeptical about this Just Dance 3 nonsense.  My possible saving grace was that I’m a clueless dancer in real life, so perhaps I might rock it for Virtual Dance Fever.

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Makes perfect sense, right?  Good at things in Real Life = Sucky in Virtual World.  Sucky at things in Real Life = Fabulous in Virtual World.

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World’s Most Precious Niece and I took the virtual stage in my sister’s living room.  I watched WMPN wave her arms about in spazzy kid fashion.

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Video games may be child’s play, but it takes a controlled, experienced professional to set the stage.

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I was mildly concerned when 10 year-old World’s Most Precious Niece wielded her arm to the first dance selection of our Dance Off:  Promiscuous.

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I turned to m

y sister.  “Promiscuous????”

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Sis shot me a mixed look of exasperation, disgust, and resignation.  I feel for the parents of today.

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World’s Most Precious Niece blurted, “I know!  I don’t know what it means either!!!!”

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“Oh, I know what it means,” I muttered under my breath.

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The music started, and I was pleased to see that I was assigned the v

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If a picture tells a thousand words, then a video must tell a million.  How did I do?

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Video of me and chloe set to scissor sisters.

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