Have you ever thought about why some games and toys lasts from generation to generation and others don't? This came up during a conversation that we were having at work about what we did when we were young. My parents lived about five miles from a lake that had a public beach. At the beach was a restaurant and lemonade stand. The lemonade stand was attached to the restaurant, but you accessed it from outside so you did not have to go into the restaurant with a wet bikini on. Inside the restaurant they had several tables and booths to sit at and then there was also a bar area to have a drink.

I remember the summer that the bar area added an air hockey table. There was a foosball table and pool table already in the space, but the air hockey table was the newest thing. We learned to play and that summer I sure we spent more time in the bar playing at the air hockey table than we did at the beach. This is still a popular game in arcades today. Foosball and pool have also remained very popular with teenagers and adults. These are not electronic games with flashing lights and computer scores, but they remain in demand.

One of the guys at work bought a portable air hockey table for his nephew's birthday. The portable table can be set on top of any table. He did not buy one with legs because he did not know if they would have a blast playing with it. He regrets not buying one on a stand because the boys play with it alot. He said that alot of their vacation was spent in the games room playing hockey. He said that his nephews often fight and argue when they are playing games, but for some reason with the air hockey they don't. He said it was the greatest gift he ever got them. His uncle is a carpenter so he is going to beg him if he can make a stand for the air hockey table so they do not have to keep setting it up and down when they need to use the table in the games room. He does not mind that they are playing so much because he thinks this is a good way for them to burn off energy as well as improve their skills. His younger son was slower reacting to the puck when they began playing; now he is able to guess where it will come on the table. He is able to use time at the air hockey table as a bonus when they get their home work finished. He thinks it's safer than them being on playstation games and they are interacting with each other also.