Video games have been a hobby of mine since the days of the oldAtari system.

I was a little behind some of my elementary and junior highclassmates in getting the home video game bug.

Once bitten, though, I enjoyed playing every time my parents letme use the family television for gaming. (I point that out becauseI was almost out of high school before I got my own television formy room as a birthday present one year.)

Back then, I enjoyed Space Invaders, Defender and a few others.Activision games like River Raid and Chopper Command were myfavorites.

As technology advanced, so did my gaming tastes.

I remember catching a few sly and suspicious looks as I toted myNintendo game system upstairs to my dorm room at college. Myroommate and I managed to do fairly well or better in class andstill had time to enjoy video baseball or some other game.

Through the years, I’ve gone from the Nintendo systems toPlaystation to Sega Dreamcast to the original Xbox. Now, I haveboth an Xbox 360 system and a Playstation 3 console at home.

Until the other day, I had resisted motion-technology gamingexperiences like the Wii, or the Playstation Move, or the XboxKinect.

“That looks too much like work,” I would say while flailing myarms about whenever friends talked about their Wii experiences.

Back in college, depending on who was winning and losing, myroommate and I could get pretty animated and vocal while playing agame. Our neighbors said they could tell who was winning by who wasyelling the loudest.

But for the most part, my video gaming has been a rather placid,sedentary experience. That’s all starting to change now.

The release of Tiger Woods Golf – The Masters and a little extramoney that was “burning a hole in my pocket,” as Mom used to say,prompted me to buy a PS3 Move controller bundle. The bundle camewith the motion controller, the motion sensor and a SportsChampions game.

While I think Atari was still popular the last time I physicallytouched a golf club, I have enjoyed the Tiger Woods golf gameseries over the years and I was eager for the release of TheMasters version. I was in for a little surprise, however.

After EA Sports changed how the golf game is played with theregular controller, my thinking was the motion controller would bebetter. So far I have to say “not so much,” and I’ve quicklyreturned to getting familiar with video golfing using the regularcontroller.

What has gotten me off the couch or out of the recliner is DiscGolf. It was one of several games on the Sports Champions disc thatcame with the bundle.

Disc Golf plays much like regular golf, except players toss adisc instead of hitting a ball from tee to green. Lake Lincoln hasa disc golf course, but I’ve only been on it once during an officeparty there a couple of years ago.

In the video game version, the sensor that you sit atop yourtelevision follows your movements as you wave the controller tosimulate tossing a disc. You can play against computer-animatedcharacter opponents or friends if you have a second Movecontroller.

Another game I’m enjoying is one called “The Shoot.”

In it, the setting is a movie studio lot and you hold thecontroller like a gun to shoot pop-up targets. Quick Draw McGrawI’m not, but I’m getting there.

I’m interested in trying out some other “first-person” shootergames using the Move controller.

I’m trying to be cautious, though, as I embrace this new styleof video game play. I think I’d be a little embarrassed to tellfolks I got tennis elbow or a rotator cuff tear from playing avideo game.

That’s all for now.

Write to Matthew Coleman at P.O. Box 551, Brookhaven MS39602, or send e-mail to mcoleman@dailyleader.com.