Over the weekend, the mate bought me a refurbished PlayStation 2 plus two games. Yes, it took me long enough to get it — blah, blah, blah. This is the first new (to me) console system I received in about 15 years.

In the late ’80s and early ’90s, I was an avid gamer and, admittedly, a Nintendo loyalist. I owned their three major platforms of the era: the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), the Super NES, and the Game Boy.

I also found myself to be the owner of a rather uncomfortable affliction, which I called “Nintendo Thumb” at the time. (I now call it “Gamer’s Thumb Syndrome (GTS),” as it’s obviously not a Nintendo-specific problem. But as I said, I was a Nintendo loyalist then.)

GTS is the soreness that develops as a result of using a video game controller for extended periods of time, particularly directional pads and other small, poorly designed buttons.

Using the NES controller, I only experienced GTS on the left thumb. The red A and B buttons on the right side were concave and therefore distributed pressure to more of my right thumb’s surface, reducing the chance that a minute spot would become sore and/or potentially calloused.

In the very early ’90s, someone came up with a potential solution: padding for your thumbs. To that end, Hot Gloves were invented. Hot Gloves were fingerless (except for the thumb), day-glo colored gloves with extra padding in the thumbs. I received a pair of these prior to my appearance on the short-lived game show Video Power; they were a decidedly bright shade of neon green.

I couldn’t really say if they worked well or not. The gloves I got were a bit small for my chunky hands, and I think I gave them to my cousin as a souvenir. He was in the audience for my taping.

So, now I’m once again in the market for something that will relive my symptoms of GTS. Sadly, I don’t think they make hot gloves anymore, much less in my size.