NWC

 "I spent all morning massaging his fingers while he practiced," she said. "I think I'll keep him."

About 15,000 Nintendo-to-the-endo groupies mobbed the Valley Forge convention center for four days of video bondage that ended yesterday. The grand occasion was the regional competition in the first Nintendo World Championship, where the video samurai competed in a six-minute trilogy of Nintendo games - Super Mario, Rad Racer and Tetris.

Paul Lee, 10, of Perkasie, captured the 11-and-under crown. "He plays about 12 hours a day," said his sister, Jeung Lee.

"No," he corrected her. "About six."

What else does he do?

"Homework if I have it - and eat."

Josh Caraciolo, 12, of Norristown, won the 12-to-17 category, narrowly defeating Brad Klein, 14, of Cherry Hill. Josh may be the best player in his family, but he is by no means the most avid.

"I play more than he does," saidhis grandmother, Janet Mulligan, 59. "Guardian Legend is my game. I'm stuck at Level 8. It's killing me, but I call Josh every night and he bails me out. I guess Nintendo's in the blood."

Even Matthew Davis, 2, of Allentown, gave it a whirl. "Believe it or not, when he's concentrating, he goes right through the screen," said his dad, Francis, 31, on whose lap Matthew had to sit just to reach the controls. But Matt cracked terribly under the pressure, and didn't even make the quarterfinals. Still, not bad for a kid who won't turn 3 until July.

"He plays about an hour and a half a day, and that's it," said the father. "Mostly after supper. The rest of the time we feel he should color and do other things." Matthew plays about 30 Nintendo games and can hook the game up to the television by himself. "The only thing we have to look out for," said his mother, Amy, 27, "is that he doesn't electrocute himself."

The winner in each of three age categories earned the trip to Orlando to compete against 29 other regional winners in the fall.

The three national champions will win a car and $10,000.

The convention center resembled a child's version of Atlantic City, with row after row of television screens (350 in all) lined up like slot machines. Many featured new Nintendo games yet to be released in stores.

"For him, it's Nintendo heaven," said Ruthann Burman of Springfield, Delaware County, as she stood behind her son, Mark, 7, who was glued to a game of Super Mario 3 on Friday afternoon. Then she lowered her voice. "I was here five minutes and I had my fill, actually."

No matter. The only thing that could have grabbed Mark's attention would have been a complete power shutdown - which the Nintendo folks instituted every half-hour or so all weekend just to keep the players moving around.

Mark did answer a few questions as best he could in the heat of battle.

How many Nintendo games do you have?

"Thirty-seven."

("Can you tell he's an only child?" asked his mom.)

How many hours do you play a day?

"Usually five."

("But he's not allowed to play until he practices the piano," his mother chimed in. "Piano comes first.")

What does your mom think of Nintendo?

"She hates it. She says it's not good for me."

("It's like a drug," she said.)

With video games such as Nintendo - fierce, fast, colorful and exciting - how does a child ever settle for building a model plane, playing with an electric train or reading a book? How, indeed, when a kid can shoot the terrorists holding hostages in the embassy, hit home runs, drive 255 kilometers an hour, rescue the princess or help a little guy named LoLo free LaLa?

"My favorite is Shadowgate," said Mike Marones, 12, of Chester Springs, Chester County.

"You have to kill the warlock before he awakes the behemoth to destroy the world." This, by the way, is great preparation for Harvard. "You use your mind," he said.

"I think it's great," said his mom, Carol Marones, speaking of Nintendo. "The kids seem really to enjoy it. But you do have to restrict it, or else they'd veg out forever."

Mary and Mike Czyzyk of Tabernacle took their two children out of school on Friday to bring them to the show. "We didn't tell them they were coming here until we were right around the corner," said the father. "They would have been nuts too long a time."

The two parents were amazed at how quickly their children, Stanley, 10, and Mike, 8, mastered the new games.

"I think if you're under the age of 15 you just know what to do," said Mary. "How do they know? How do they know?"

"It's easy," said Stanley, summing up the challenge of keeping a video character in play. "You die and you learn."

The hottest game at the trade show by far was Super Mario 3, in which a fat little Pac-Man descendant swallows gold coins, bumps question marks, sits on mushrooms and travels to warp zones. "Everyone's killing for Super Mario 3, but you can't get it in any of the stores," said Sandy Fuga of Schwenksville, Montgomery County, who came with her husband and two sons, Andrew, 9, and Brian, 6. "We were down at Kiddie City the other night. They got a shipment in at 7 p.m. and by 7:35 they were all sold out."

Nintendo is running a rock-concert-style tour, with the Philadelphia area being the third of 30 stops. Company executives estimate that by the end of 1990, the game will be in 20 million American homes.

Nintendo isn't cheap, with each new game cartridge costing around $40, and neither was this show. Many parents were upset about the admission prices: $9.50 for children and $12.50 for adults. Every competitor also had to pay an additional $3.

"My husband and I paid $25 just to stand around and watch these kids compete," said Sandy Fuga. "It cost us all $50 just to walk in the door."

If you have never heard of Nintendo, don't feel bad. Ben Montague, 19, of Philadelphia, was being paid $12.50 an hour to walk around the convention center dressed as an overstuffed Mario, shaking hands and posing for pictures. He was on his way back to college in New Hampshire, and needed the extra cash.

What did he know about Nintendo?

"Not a thing," he said. "Not a thing."