Dust down your old joypads as the ‘Retro Gaming Night’ returns in the Orchard Inn in Letterkenny to raise funds for young Paul Doherty’s “Mammy, I Want to Walk Fund”.
Gamers will be able to battle Bowser, Ryu, Space Invaders and Ms Pac-man as they relive their past with consoles such as the Nintendo 64, Super Nintendo, Atari, Spectrum, Playstation, SEGA Medadrive and many more.
Who among us doesn’t remember? Fighting with your older brother about who got to be Mario and who got to be Luigi? Struggling to play your mate’s Mega Drive because the “controllers were just too different”? Being blown away by the shear realism of Goldeneye on the N64?
Or even better – the images of pac-man running around his maze and Lara Croft being incessantly followed around by her butler have been burned onto our collective retinas. The first great gamer generation has grown up, but that doesn’t mean it has forgotten it’s heritage.
Relive past glories. Beat personal bests. Re-enact old rivalries. Who remembers the combination of buttons that resulted in Blanka’s electric shock? Or the secret short-cuts in Sonic? Who went from World 1 direct to World 4 on Super Mario Bros? (don’t tell me you wasted your time actually playing worlds 2 and 3!)
In a world which today tolerates Flappy bird and Minecraft as genuine games; in a time where games are geared ‘at the masses’; in an age where the Nintendo Wii can become a viable console (good God). In these troubled waters, perhaps it’s time for true gamers to unite.
Take your joypad in your hand. Write your cheat-codes on your hand. There will be no outcasts here. Sega, Nintendo, Playstation, Xbox, Atari, and Spectrum; all versions and iterations welcome. Because on the 5th of November 2014 in the Orchard Inn, Letterkenny, gamers take back their games!
The time for talk is over. Now is the time for play.
Doors are open from 4pm for all ages and U12’s must be accompanied by an adult. There will be games and spot prizes for the younger gamers and later on in the evening the older generation, who grew up with cassette tapes and cartridges will have a chance to prove themselves, as they compete to win prizes and the chance to become the ‘Ultimate Retro Gaming Champion 2014’ and win the coveted Golden Joystick .
A number of local businesses have shown their generosity by donating prizes and a draw will take place on the night. The Radission Hotel, Tesco, Irwin’s Electrical, Brian McCormicks, Xtra-Vision, Century Cinemas, Stateside, Sony Center, Easons and SMYTHS Letterkenny who have donated an X-Box 360 and more.
SO WHO IS PAUL DOHERTY?
Since 5 year old Killygordon boy, Paul Doherty could talk he always said “Mammy, I want to walk”. It broke his mum’s heart to see him stuck in a wheelchair not been able to run about with his brother and sister or even to be able to pick up a toy from the floor that he wanted to play with.
“Paul is a happy boy, playful and full of devilment! As his mother, I always fought to get him the services and therapies he needed. While the HSE gave Paul what they could they could never offer him the opportunity to be able to walk.Then I came across an operation in America called selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR). The operation involves cutting some of the nerves in Paul’s spinal cord that are misfiring the muscles in his leg.
“Paul has been assessed for this operation and has been accepted. The neurosurgeon (Dr. Park) in St. Louis hospital, Missouri expects Paul will be able to walk with the aid of crutches and a walker if he gets the operation. This operation has been a successful part of cerebral palsy treatment in the USA for years.
“We need to raise a minimum of €60,000 for Tree of Hope to realize Paul’s dream of walking to be a reality. This would cover the cost of the operation and the first 4 – 6 months of a two year physio programme which all has to be funded by us privately as there is no HSE funding available for such an intense programme”.
Tags:
