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Growing up in the 1970's was great fun. Back in those days our parents let us play outside and only called us in for dinner in the evening, but after school hours, this time was ours. It was during these hours of the day the sky was the limit and the world was just waiting for us to explore.

This was the age where video games were in their infancy, Big Wheels were the rage and our imaginations went wild from the impact that movies like "Star Wars" and "Close Encounters" had on our lives.

The magnetism and possibilities of what else could be residing out in the universe brought to us in brilliant color and fantastic technical effects on the "big screen" at the drive-in movie theatre was astonishing. These images transferred into our play. Picking up our sticks in the yard and dueling like Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker did with our brilliant light sabers were just the beginnings of our ideas . . .

Electronic toys were becoming a staple in the 70s. During the holidays parents would take their kids over to Radio Shack or Consumers' and where they'd oooh and aaah over all the neat battery operated toys. "Pong" was the first video game that hit the market during those years.

It was simply amazing to be able to transform a black and white television to become an interactive game. My two brothers and I used to sit for hours mesmerized by this new toy. This was so different than the traditional board games we were used to playing! As the years went by we eventually had the colorized Atari, and by the early 80s this had led to video arcades.

While these video games were a lot of fun, but virtual reality was even better. Yes, before the 80s, the 1970s had virtual reality. My brothers and I used to play these "live action" games, they didn't have fancy names, but we'd dubbed them with names such as "cops and robbers" and "circus". These virtual games weren't played on the TV or with a computer though. No, they were played in the backyard and all throughout the neighborhood.

In order to engage in this game, the strategy we had to use entailed climbing trees, rolling down "dangerous" cliffs of grassy earth, burrowing in dirt piles, swimming across murky waters or prancing around the yard doing cartwheels like the acrobats we were. All the action components required for today's video games were there, but it was even better because it was live! The thrill of catching your nemesis or performing a dangerous feat was fantastic and tantalizing.

One of the best parts of

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