High Scores, You VS Them?

[salzmafia]

So for anyone who kept track of their scores, did you do so because you wanted to constantly out do yourself, or were you more inclined to do so to out perform like a family member, or a friend, etc?  In short, what was the importance to you for score keeping?

[RickR]

As a kid, I kept score to outdo my older brother.  And also to try to get those Activision patches.

[Atari 5200 Guy]

I never liked writing in my games' instruction manuals so I never kept a document of scores.  If I did it was a mental score and only while I was playing that game.  As an example if I was playing Pole Position the first few attempts might not have went the way I wanted to so I would keep trying until I accomplished what I was after whether it be a pole position start or maybe completing all laps during the race portion.  On Moon Patrol it was more about memorizing each section's patterns than the score.  I knew if I could harness how the games worked then I wouldn't have to worry about the score.  It would take care of itself.

But you have to remember something, too, my first system was the 5200 as most of the other members here will already know...and they may also know just how much I love the 5200...it's my number one all-time favorite system.  And that's no joke.  So I had to learn the controls per game and then learn the game.  I didn't worry about scores too much unless Mom and me were playing Centipede.  But she always beat me at that game...I wasn't very good at it.  As more games made it into our home Centipede became my least favorite.  Most games we owned were by Atari but we had a few Parker Bros. games.  We never found any Activision games for the 5200.

After the 5200 died I got an NES for my 13th birthday.  After that scores never mattered.