Ah, I remember the first big video game boom, and how I became even more stigmatized at school for spending my precious disposable income on books instead of video games. I honestly think a lot of the switchover came because of the social interaction as well: remember that a typical new paperback or issue of F&SF (if you could find it; I couldn't buy a copy of my own until I was 19 because none of the stores in my old town would carry it) ranged between $1.95 and $2.25, which could pay for a good morning run before school at the 7-11 arcade. Considering that I might have been able to save up enough for a paperback in a couple of months (I wasn't able to afford to buy books on a regular basis until I got my first real job in 1983), and that you couldn't read over someone else's shoulder the way you could backseat drive an arcade game with a good dozen buddies, spending that money on video games was generally a much more attractive option. Back then, we weren't paying for the actual game: we were paying for the opportunity to have a good two dozen friends watching how well or how poorly we were playing.

I also remember the stories being passed by the Dallas Morning News on the apocryphal teenage girl who was offering sexual favors for video game change, and I was doubly infuriated at the obvious lie, probably produced by a high school principal or guidance counselor desperate to see his name in the paper. It wasn't just that she never asked me, but that I'd have that kind of opportunity in a bookstore. Comic shops, on the other hand, were a different story: I'm pretty sure that most of the sales of Elfquest and Sandman over the years were made by teenage boys whose girlfriends made all sorts of promises so long as their comics addictions were fed.

more than one person has declared video games the novels of the future. some of the best SF going on is in games. i think it would be awesome if more SF writers got the chance to learn how to write for games - just think, a novel as game!