On Family Gaming Past Present and Future

blacklily8 writes "Armchair Arcade has just released the fifth issue of its retrogaming magazine." It features an involved look at Family Gaming, reaching from the past into the present and out into the future. From the Article: "Videogames haven't always been so exquisitely classifiable into nice, neat marketing niches, nor have so many of them been marketed exclusively at those lucky enough to own a penis. Indeed, as most of us know who grew up in the late 70s and early 80s, when videogames first appeared on the scene, we gamers had to wait our turn--and yes, sometimes grandma stole an extra one."

Don't want to meet your relatives

[AtariAmarok]

" at those lucky enough to own a penis. Indeed, as most of us know who grew up in the late 70s and early 80s,yes, sometimes grandma stole an extra one." Odd family there.

She owns it, that's for sure

[Anonymous Coward]

many of them been marketed exclusively at those lucky enough to own a penis

My wife will be happy to know she's in the target market.

Males and video games

[Anonymous Coward]

When I was a kid, my mom was the best in our family by far at games like Galaga, Centipede, PacMan. She later was the best player in the house at Tetris and Dr. Mario.

She can't play Madden 04 to save her life, or Doom, but all the older arcade games (she was 18 or so when they came out) she's still very good at.

I remember going to my friends house, and his mom would play for an hour before she'd lose, and we'd fall asleep waiting for her turn to finish.

Re:Males and video games

[Pxtl]

Know lots of people who love platformers and can't get into newer games. I recommend them to play Abuse.

Re:Males and video games

[Captain Salty Pete]

When we first got a Super Nintendo, it was actually for my dad -- he had hinted that it might be a good gift for me, it being the hot new system, and my mother assumed he was trying to be subtle and failing. So he played for a bit. Super Mario World he liked, but I think once we got to Super Metroid, he decided that it was too much of a time drain for him to get good at it.

A focused spam campaign

[AtariAmarok]

"...nor have so many of them been marketed exclusively at those lucky enough to own a penis. Indeed, as most of us know who grew up in the late 70s and early 80s..." Sounds like the target audience for all of those V1AgR::A and "See Alice" spams. Just about the right age, now.

Gimmie back!

[spyrochaete]

I hardly saw hide nor hair of my Gameboy (not that it has those things) for 2 years thanks to my parents' infatuation with Tetris. I later bought them Dr Mario for their wedding anniversary and it was the most used gift they'd ever recieved. Now they love Popcap and Yahoo games and the like.

Short of kids games and CDRom versions of board games and gameshows, games are not generally marketed for the whole family. But don't let that stop you parents! If you want to be responsible role models for your children, make EVERY game a family game! If your kid is reluctant or embarassed to have you join in on a gaming session, there's a missing link in your relationship! The family that MUDs together, hugs together!

Animal Crossing?

[HeaththeGreat]

Come on, this is an OBVIOUS family game.
The only downside is that everyone can't play it at once, but this is fun for everyone from ages 5-95.

Re:Animal Crossing?

[dextr0us]

Animal crossing is one of those unique games that reaches out to everyone, regardless of demographics. I can play it, my friend and his wife play it, my niece plays it. I heard they're releasing Animal Crossing for Nintendo's DS, so that will make house counstruction much easier with a touch screen.

Lucky enough to own a penis?

[Anonymous Coward]

You have no idea... it took forever to get him housetrained.
He's always trying to stand up on the bus when there are others around. He can be downright sensitive if he's not approached delicately, yet he demands to be played with several times a day. And sometimes, even within minutes of a bath, you look down and he's gone all sticky again, as if he's just come back from a sleepover.

Broader demographic appeal? Get a Gamecube

[Anonymous Coward]

"The question that I'm trying to answer in this essay is why so many older games appealed to whole families, whereas almost every modern game appeals to a narrow demographic."

I don't agree with this perspective. But, then again, I own a Gamecube. I am in my 30's with two kids and we have never had a problem finding games that appeal to us all. And that is to say that I have not had to resort to buying Disney games or the like. We own roughly 50 games for the GC and there are only 1 or 2 that I wouldn't

Re:Broader demographic appeal? Get a Gamecube

[urbaer]

I own a Gamecube and a PS2 (as well as a whole heap of older consoles), though I don't have any kids. Agree that the GC is very family friendly, but the PS2 is coming up with a lot of interesting family games (Singstar, Eyetoy for example). Looking at my collection of PS2 games though the only one that my (possible) future kids can play is Space Channel 5. GC I have Pikmin, Monkey Ball, Super Smash Bros, Harvest Moon and on and on.

I assume that you were a gamer when you were in your teens and thus know wha

I can just imagine....

[complete loony]

... 101 ways to pwn your children in Counter-Strike.

Mom

[cuteseal]

I can still remember my mom playing Zork... :)

Her other favourite game which she would play for hours on end was Othello/Reversi.

lucky enough to own a penis

[cluke]

"lucky enough to own a penis"?
I didn't know Jeffrey Dahmer was into video games.

Ah, memories!

[CodeWanker]

I remember the first time I heard my (then future) wife swear. I mean, she's nicer than nice. No Damns, no Hells, nothing. Then I loaded up a ROM of Dig Dug and we were playing it (her favorite game of all time.) It was her turn and she's great at it, so I would settle in on the futon and read bewtween turns. I had just got my magazine open when I heard a voice out of the Exorcist say, "FUCK!!!!!!!" That's when I knew I had to make her mine.

My family and video games

[chia_monkey]

For starters, I'm 32 right now. My family seems pretty addicted to games though. I remember our first Atari 2600. My mom, dad, and I would stay up all night playing "Yar's Revenge". Other games we'd play off and on included "Defender" and "Pitfall".

Then came Intellivision. Ohhhh...that was fun. I do remember playing "Burgertime" a lot with my parents, but to be honest I don't recall much else. My grandmother however was a "Burgertime" junkie. Good lord, she'd play that even more than me. I loved going to her house...she had Intellivision in her room, Atari 5200 (with the trackball! Ohhhh, how Ioved "Centipede") in another room, and Colecovision in the family room. My friends and I would play "Smurfs" (I know, it sounds cheesy but it was a fun game) and "Donkey Kong" a lot on that.

Then came Nintendo. Again, my grandmother was on the cutting edge and got it first. I played all sorts of games there with her. My parents didn't seem to get into Nintendo as much. I don't know if it was because they didn't like it or because at the time they had just started a new business.

Now however, my parents beat the absolute crap out of me. I've got the PS2 which unfortunately I don't get to play much (I have two companies I'm trying to run currently) and they've got their XBox. "Halo" junkies I tell ya. Every single night. When I call them and ask "what are you doing?", the reply is generally "blowing shit up". Every time I visit, that's part of our bonding experience.

Yes, video games have actually played quite a role in our family. We were one of the odd families that actually played games TOGETHER as opposed to me shutting myself off from friends, family, society and immersing myself in the games.