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Games Entertainment

The Video Game Generation Grows Up 131

Posted by CmdrTaco
MarchingAnts writes "The Gaming Generation: Once A Gamer, Always A Gamer has interviews with Gabe from Penny Arcade, best-selling science-fiction author John Scalzi, veteran games journalist and founder of gamerdad.com Andrew Bub, futurologist Dr. Michael Zey, and sociologist Dr. Steve Jones commenting on the phenomena of how video gamers are coping with balancing their hobby with marriages, careers, and how video games might affect families in the future. 'Mike Krahulik, better known to his legions of fans as Gabe, one-half of the team behind the gaming webcomic Penny Arcade, says that time is the biggest challenge in blending gaming and parenthood. "You just don't have as much time for gaming," he says, "when you're getting up every 30 minutes to change diapers and get thrown up"'"
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The Video Game Generation Grows Up More

The Video Game Generation Grows Up

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  • get thrown up? (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Thatsa a stronga baby!
  • They have to frag me to get their tea.
    If I win the tournament they go hungry.

    (Only joking, though tonight I was teaching my youngest how to type his name :D )

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by bitt3n ( 941736 )
      They have to frag me to get their tea.
      I hope your kid isn't named Oedipus, because you may be giving him ideas...

    • Re:My kids learnt fast (Score:5, Funny)

      by vimh42 ( 981236 ) on Friday December 15, 2006 @07:08PM (#17262910)
      Yeah. Gaming is tougher as I get older. It used to be I just rocked her to sleep while playing Quake3 or UT or something. Now it goes something like this.

      Me: "Heals, I need a heal!"
      Daughter: "Daddy! I'm scared!"
      Me: "You're not even getting hit. Just heal me!"

      I'm losing my independence.

  • There is the other side of the coin, though. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Shados ( 741919 ) on Friday December 15, 2006 @05:23PM (#17261510)
    While you don't have as much time for gaming, it is still more convenient than the more...traditional ways of entertaining one self.

    If I have a kid, and want to go see a movie, go to the restaurant, etc, I either need to find a baby friendly place, or find a baby sitter. Both can cost me extra (if you have a kid and go to the restaurant, well you have to feed the darn thing...).

    If, instead, i'm playing an online game with my friends, the only thing I need to be worried about, is that I play a game that can be paused (let say Warcraft III), or a game where I can go away for a few minute at any given time (these are harder to find but still). Or even better, I can simply play solo. All around, its a form of entertainment that has tens of thousands of hours worth of amusement, and is within reach of the kids: going back to take care of diapers is only a hit of the pause button away.

    Definately more convenient than, let say, going to a bar and coming back home drunk, then having to take care of the kid once the baby sitter is gone.

    • Word (Score:4, Insightful)

      by everphilski ( 877346 ) on Friday December 15, 2006 @05:26PM (#17261592) Journal
      My wife and I play MMO's for this very reason. We only play when our son (soon-to-be 2 sons) are in bed. It's much cheaper than a bar/dinner and a movie and its a lot of fun playing together. And it is something progressive we can come back to again and again ... but yea,I used to play (Everquest) hardcore in college, it was a transition once that kid comes along to playing less and just at night and naptime on the weekends ...
    • I've noticed I play much less long level games since having the kids.
      I can grab my gaming in quick 5-10 minute sessions (tony hawk, nfs, unreal etc) and put it down as quickly.

      Slashdot is even a game, it is digested in small doses and after posting I can walk away and do whatever is needed.

    • Re:There is the other side of the coin, though. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Dadoo ( 899435 ) on Friday December 15, 2006 @05:45PM (#17261856) Journal
      the only thing I need to be worried about, is that I play a game that can be paused

      I've discovered it's much easier to play games where it's possible to play just a few minutes at a time. I can't even start a game like Unreal, or Civilization, or Sim City, anymore. Sure you can pause them or, in the case of turn-based games, walk away for a short while, but when kids are involved, that "short while" invariably becomes a long while. By that time, you've completely forgotten what you were doing and the game is ruined.

      Nowadays, it's games like Stinkoman and Super Monkey Ball, for me.

      • Re:There is the other side of the coin, though. (Score:4, Interesting)

        by shemnon ( 77367 ) on Friday December 15, 2006 @06:23PM (#17262354) Journal
        You know when I play my video games? Between he time I start putting my toddler to bed and when he actually goes to sleep. So now a days I am limited to my Nintendo DS. When I hear him get up I can quickly click it closed (especially since most of the newer games auto pause when the clamshell is closed) and go put him back down. This takes up to a half hour or so.

        The only real problem is if he gets a hold of it. I either need to wait for two hours when he finally drops it (he doesn't play the games, just takes the pen out and tries to scribble ont he top screen) or I have to bear two hours of him screaming "GAME GAME GAAAAAMMMEEE!!!" when I take it away from him. And I can jsut forget about playing it in front of him. That means it's at least a year or so before I can buy the Wii and put it somewhere other than the closet.

        The joys of parenthood.

      • I've discovered it's much easier to play games where it's possible to play just a few minutes at a time. I can't even start a game like Unreal, or Civilization, or Sim City, anymore. Sure you can pause them or, in the case of turn-based games, walk away for a short while, but when kids are involved, that "short while" invariably becomes a long while. By that time, you've completely forgotten what you were doing and the game is ruined.

        I agree. I've given up on MMORPGs completely, I haven't touched NWN2 in a couple weeks and even some RTSes are hard to come back to after a few days of not playing. I'm actually finding myself getting back into the console world again. Scary. For example, the New Super Mario Brothers for the DS is a perfect balance for me right now with a 6 month old. I can't wait until he's older and we can doing some gaming together...

    • Re:There is the other side of the coin, though. (Score:5, Funny)

      by Tackhead ( 54550 ) on Friday December 15, 2006 @05:46PM (#17261870)
      > While you don't have as much time for gaming, it is still more convenient than the more...traditional ways of entertaining one self.

      If you'd spent more time... entertaining yourself more traditionally, you wouldn't have kids, and you'd still have time for gaming.

      > Or even better, I can simply play solo. All around, its a form of entertainment that has tens of thousands of hours worth of amusement, and is within reach of the kids:

      Dude, I was about to say you were getting it, but that last bit is just so terribly, terribly, wrong :)

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by mollymoo ( 202721 )

      While you don't have as much time for gaming, it is still more convenient than the more...traditional ways of entertaining one self.

      I find I can balance family life with gaming and masturbation perfectly well. It's a really question of planning and sticking to that plan. Or the plan sticking to you.

      Remember, it's only one week till the 10 days of wanking for peace [masturbateforpeace.com]. Touch your sack, not Iraq!

    • While you don't have as much time for gaming, it is still more convenient than the more...traditional ways of entertaining one self.

      I don't know.. with the wii you actually move your hands so the traditional way of entertaining yourself isn't much of a step (if any at all).
    • Or even better, I can simply play solo
      Hey, this is slashdot...

    • Re:There is the other side of the coin, though. (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Senobyzal ( 826207 ) on Friday December 15, 2006 @06:42PM (#17262592)
      As someone who is into roleplaying games, I find I actually get to play more due to technology helping out. I had to drop out of a few groups because I didn't have as much time as an adult for 8-hour Saturday sessions anymore. My last group had something like 10 players but it was very rare that more than 5 would make it to any given session, due to RL commitments. Plus the game site was a 40 minute drive from my house. I finally had to quit because I was missing too many sessions.

      But since Neverwinter Nights came out, I've been able to run two long campaigns, one of which started in August 2002, the other in September 2003. Both are still going. Using the matchmaking/scheduling site Neverwinter Connections, I was able to find players for both games, each of which plays two hours a week. One of them I run early on Sundays, while my wife is still asleep. While it has some disadvantages over tabletop gaming, my campaigns have now lasted longer than any tabletop RPG I've played. In my experience, most roleplaying campaigns die out due to scheduling issues. In this case, technology has made it easier to run a long campaign.

  • Rated R for Retarded (Score:2, Insightful)

    by telchine ( 719345 )
    The problem I have is that most games these days seem to be targeted at kids and lack real depth. Games such as GTA may have R-ratings, but I doubt that many older gamers find such titles appealing.

    • Re:Rated R for Retarded (Score:5, Insightful)

      by HappySqurriel ( 1010623 ) on Friday December 15, 2006 @05:56PM (#17261978)
      This is actually one of the more interesting things I noticed with the Wii ...

      I, and most of the gamers I know who are between 25-40, really wanted to get a Wii as early as I could; my Sister-in-Law's nephew (14) and most young teenage boys (13-17) say that the Wii is "Too Kiddie". It seems to me that, in general, what teenagers (and teenagers at heart) think of as 'Mature' most adults think of as immature.

      • Re:Rated R for Retarded (Score:4, Insightful)

        by McFadden ( 809368 ) on Friday December 15, 2006 @11:55PM (#17265288)
        It's the same with everything. I teach high school kids but I used to teach adult education. The games and fun activities I used in adult ed. to brighten up the classes, the kids hate because they say they're too childish. But the adults used to love 'em.

        I've tried explaining to my kids before that they're being even more childish by having tantrums about being 'grown up' but it's a waste of time.
    • Agreed - mod up! The best part of early games was gameplay. Infinitely hard puzzles don't make games more fun, nor does graphic violence that leaves nothing to the imagination. Consider Tetris - simple to learn and play, addictive as hell, and tough to boot. The violence was more entertaining in Castlevania & Zelda (NES) or River Run & Combat (Atari) than it is in most contemporary games, IMHO.
    • Agree 100%. Usually the argument you hear from people who say something is "too kiddie" are from pre-teens or teenagers themselves while us adult gamers prefer games with solid gameplay just like we used to have a decade or two ago.
    • Right - highest grossing game series for the PS2 series. That didn't appeal at all. Um - you never played it did you? That would explain the no-depth argument. How do you explain your retardation?

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by LParks ( 927321 )
      GTA was actually successful because of its deep gameplay. It was very open-ended, and had "sandbox" style where you could distract yourself from the main story just going around and having fun stealing cars, running from the cops, checking out side quests, finding items, getting to crazy places, etc. You'll see that many Mature rated games don't do well unless they have good gameplay or some novell ideas.
  • ...being responsible and not letting games interfere with real life. like playing after the kids are in bed. it's not so hard to do. plus, diaper rash cream keep those joysticks nice and lubed up for maximum efficiency.

    • Re:it's called... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Cheap Imitation ( 575717 ) on Friday December 15, 2006 @05:53PM (#17261948)
      Sadly, when the kids are in bed is the best time to do the dishes, the laundry, pay the bills, clean the house, or most of the other daily chores that need to be done.

      By the time those are complete, it's often too late, or I'm too tired, to fire up a game.

      I miss gaming. I used to love strategy and role playing games. But the small snippets of time I now get make it almost impossible to maintain continuity in anything deeper than driving games or 3D shooters. It's like trying to watch a movie in 10 minute per day chunks. It loses something.

      • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

        by Anonymous Coward
        Sadly, when the kids are in bed is the best time to do the dishes, the laundry, pay the bills, clean the house, or most of the other daily chores that need to be done.

        Uh...that is what I have a wife for.

  • Walt Disney... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by __aaclcg7560 ( 824291 ) on Friday December 15, 2006 @05:29PM (#17261634)
    When I was a kid, there was a Walt Disney movie about a car nut who baby cries sounded like a car horn, crashes the classroom car simulator, and finds love in the back seat of the car. They need to update that movie with a baby born with a gamepad in hand, who crashes the classroom game design computer, and finds love while testing video games.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Aladrin ( 926209 )
      "and finds love while testing video games."

      Obviously not based on a true story, eh?

    • Re:Walt Disney... (Score:5, Funny)

      by dr_dank ( 472072 ) on Friday December 15, 2006 @05:34PM (#17261712) Homepage Journal
      When I was a kid, there was a Walt Disney movie about a car nut who baby cries sounded like a car horn, crashes the classroom car simulator, and finds love in the back seat of the car.

      Times like this I wish Slashdot had a +1 - Batshit insane Disney reference moderation.
    • ...and finds love in the back seat of the car.

      I was under the impression this is where a lot of people find love, but in a Disney movie? That sounds about as probable as the average /. reader finding love in the back seat of a car...

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Qzukk ( 229616 )
        but in a Disney movie?

        I don't remember that particular movie (I guess I wasn't a kid at the right time) but consider the fact that Touchstone is a division of Disney, so the Touchstone Pictures movies are technically still Disney movies ;)

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by __aaclcg7560 ( 824291 )
        IIRC, the movie was made in the late 1950's or 1960's. The back seat was implied like the way many older movies implied that "something" goes on behind the bedroom door at night. If you knew, you knew; if not, you're find out eventually. I had a college English teacher who told the class that she had no idea what to do on her honeymoon since the movies never showed what happen and S-E-X was never openly discussed back then.
    • Watch "Grandma's Boy"! http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0456554 [imdb.com]
      • I spent six years in the video game industry. That's the most unrealistic movie I had ever seen or I worked at a very boring company (Accolade/Infogrames/Atari).
        • It may be unrealistic, but it was still funny!
        • They need to update that movie with a baby born with a gamepad in hand, who crashes the classroom game design computer, and finds love while testing video games.
          "Gradma's Boy"'s protagonist talked about someone playing and beating Zelda before they could walk, and the guy finds love testing video games. What else do you want man?
  • Ok, I'm kinda old-school. I spent a lot of time during my childhood playing my Atari 2600, Vic-20, C-64/128, Apple 2+, etc. Also spent a lot of time with an Intellivision and an Atari 5200, but I didn't own those.

    I don't play any games now, except on my phone when I'm waiting for a flight or something. Between my wife, kids, jobs, reading, (non-gaming) hobbies, and exercise, I just don't have time for it. And I really don't miss it. Although they can a lot of fun (and yes, the 2600 was really fun), gam

    • Re:Cold Turkey (Score:4, Interesting)

      by WidescreenFreak ( 830043 ) on Friday December 15, 2006 @05:43PM (#17261810) Homepage Journal
      There's just so much more to life (YMMV).

      Actually, some of the most fun times that I have with my daughter are the multi-hour sessions playing head-to-head games like Mario Kart 64 or Diddy Kong Racing on the old Nintendo 64. Many times my wife joins in, particularly with Mario Kart 64, and we'll play together for hours on end. Once I get the Wii hooked up, I expect we'll all spend a lot more time playing Wii Sports as well. (I'm going to have to reinforce that ol' Wiimote strap for my daughter. That handcuff mod might do nicely.)

      "More to life" doesn't have to mean "outside" or "at the park".
      • I have an 8 year old son who I love to play games with. After spending 8 hours in the freezing cold I managed to pick up a Wii for us both. My little buddy just loves the thing and was playing the bowling and baseball games constantly. Then I got a few games on the Virtual Console... Now, I can't pry him from Super Mario 64. He is convinced that it's really Super Mario Wii. Amazing how a game made before he was born totally thrills him.

        But it makes sense. Those older games seem to work out a lot better with

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by syphax ( 189065 )
      And then I RTFA:

      Mike Krahulik's 2-year-old son, Gabriel, is still a little young to play videogames, but the elder Krahulik makes sure to spend time with his son and talk about whichever game Dad's playing. He even gives little Gabriel his own controller so that he'll feel included.

      I initially wrote a screed to end all screeds when I read this. To the tune of Put down the controller and pick up your freeking son. Then I realized that I do stuff like exercise that takes the place of time that I could spend

      • Re:Cold Turkey (Score:4, Insightful)

        by drinkypoo ( 153816 ) <drink@hyperlogos.org> on Friday December 15, 2006 @06:02PM (#17262080) Homepage Journal
        I hope, hope, hope that this (dad gaming, son just kinda watching) situation is kept to a minimum.

        Uh, this is clearly time spent with his kids, and we don't know anything about the quality of said time without observing him.

        Save your reactionary attitude for your own household.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by feyhunde ( 700477 )
        Yes he plays with his kid. But this isn't pure entertainment to him. This is work for Mike, screwed up as it sounds. He has to play games and keep on top of them. Although there are going to be plenty of /.ers that will make a joke, his work is video games.

        He's successfully integrating his work with his homelife. Although you know he enjoys it greatly, Mike is like millions of other parents whose work comes home with them and their kids get interested. I had a physics Prof who would tell us about her chi

    • Everything is a game. Some games just have real consequences and those games are in real life. Some games don't have real consequences, and those games are categorized into playtime.

      At some point I think it is natural to transition away from video or board games because you start having the ability to dabble in bigger games with more serious consequences and greater rewards. The dating game. The parent game. The stock market game. The career game.

      It's probably just as natural to start going back to

    • Sorry, but you lose old-school credibility for the use of "Apple 2+". For future reference, the proper way to reference pre-Macintosh Apple Computers is to use "Apple ][+" or "Apple II+" or "IIe", "IIc", "IIgs", etc. One must always reference the machines using some form of roman numerals rather than euro-arabic numerals (even the machines used roman numerals to identify themselves).
      • *cough* //c ][e //e *cough*
        • I'm sorry, I guess I forgot about the italicized roman numerals.

          (of course, if I'm not mistaken, my Apple IIc could not display italicized text outside of the graphics mode)

          ]PR#3
          ]PRINT CHR$(27)
          ]FLASH
          (Assuming you have an 80-column card installed)
    • I, for one, appreciate your honesty. The truth is, you're not the only one out there. What makes my situation different is that I am actually a full-time game developer, with a wife and two small kids. In much the same way that you describe, I have had to almost walk away from *gaming*, but not the game industry. I can only play when the kids are asleep and the wife isn't watching Tivo'd programs. You see, neither of us want our kids watching a lot of TV when they're young; we want them to develop a st
  • Have adult children that can change their own diapers. ;)

  • only on slashdot. (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I find it amusing that people would rather invest their time and money into a video game instead of their personal endeavors. Video games are meant to help pass the time from the boring reality that most get stuck in because of either social disabilities or lack of money. I've seen marriages collapse because of W.O.W. and friendships. It seems that the interaction among online games has decrease the value of real life conversations.

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by cultrhetor ( 961872 )
      I agree. I knew a /.-esque nerd whose wife would do anything to get his attention away from whatever Medal of Honor or GTA game he had just purchased. She would walk by him naked, telling him it was bedtime, and he'd ignore her completely. Made me wonder - she was stacked.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by geekoid ( 135745 )
        Man, what a dork.

        OTOH, maybe he is holding out for some special 'service'.

        My wife came into the the game room wearing skimpy clothing once, and I..errr great now I lost my train of thought.

      • How the hell did he convince her to marry him?
      • Oh - I know this guy's wife, she is pretty hot. They got divorced, and now she sleeps with me and MY wife.
        I still play video games though :P
    • Video games are a form of entertainment no less worthy of our love than a book or movie. Just because you do not enjoy them doesn't mean that other people can't spend time relaxing and having a bit of fun. Having said that, I do agree that people need to moderate their hobbies with 'real life' activities. Perhaps you'd like me to get off your lawn now?

  • This is all very simple (Score:4, Funny)

    by travdaddy ( 527149 ) <travo&linuxmail,org> on Friday December 15, 2006 @05:36PM (#17261740)
    "You just don't have as much time for gaming," he says, "when you're getting up every 30 minutes to change diapers and get thrown up"'"

    There are very simple solutions to this:
    Don't change the diapers. They'll get potty trained faster that way.
    Also, don't let your kids throw you up, it hurts. Teach them some manners.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by The-Bus ( 138060 )
      That, or the way I read it, develop a stronger defense against the gag reflex when changing your baby. Yeah, I know. It's shit. It stinks. But no need to vomit!

  • With gaming stepping out of the shadows of geekdom and into the spotlight of the mainstream

    When did gaming go into the shadows of geekdom? I wasn't around when the first games came out. However, I do remember talking to my other classmates in 6th grade when SNES was coming out. I also remember the arcade being one of the teenage hang outs for the 'cool' kids. I also remember going to parties and there was always people in the corner playing a game be it PS, XBOX, or anything else. If there was someth

  • You calling me old?
    How dare you!
    • Whoa, hold on, hold on. We're all going to grow old. We can't stop that. Many will also grow out, but a few sessions on the treadmill every week could help to take care of that. However, I'll be damned before I grow up!! Some things are just not worth doing! :)

      And considering that your user ID roughly translates to "deceased person", what the hell are you complaining about?! :)
  • I have a 2 year old and a newborn at home. I also grew up with video games and love playing them as a hobby. Time is definitely a precious commodity: Do I spend 2 hours playing games by myself or spend it with my kids? Or better yet, getting some much needed sleep since the baby wakes up every 2 hours.

    I think they need to make good games that can be played at 15 minutes intervals, or games that can be played with the rest of the family. I am very interested at the Wii at the moment as it has lots of po

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by hal2814 ( 725639 )
      "I have a 2 year old and a newborn at home."

      I'm about 6 months ahead of you with a 2 1/2 year old and a 6 month old at home. At your stage, I didn't play any games and barely watched TV. Now that we get proper sleep again, my wife or I may play a video game every now and then. I've been playing X-Men Legends lately and she's been playing Paper Mario. While one of us is playing, the other plays with/cares for the kids. When you have kids young enough to need constant attention, it's nice to have a break

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by slashwritr ( 1009921 )
      I used to play RPGs on the PC and the PS2 back when I didn't have kids; now, I play mostly casual games (like Bookworm Adventures) a lot of which I discover through Jay Bibby's site [jayisgames.com]. I can play these games whenever I have free time, leave them and then play them again without any save games necessary. The cost (mostly free; a couple of demos) is pretty attractive as well.

      I have two-year old twins, so when I'm on the PC they insist on sitting on my lap, mashing the keyboard and moving the mouse around. T

    • I'm a bit behind you, we've got our first, he's 5 months old. Certainly finding out how much I have to ration my free time now. (As you said, a commodity) Given the time between coming home from work, taking care of Junior and conversing with the wife (yeah, we do talk...) as far as actual down time - one hour, maybe two on rare occasions. Do I spend that web-surfing, reading, playing with linux, hopping on WoW for some battlegrounds, play around with the LOTR beta, or mess with oh, four or five single

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mccalli ( 323026 )
      Get the Wii. I'm a parent of three - a four-close-to-five year old girl, a three year old boy and a 14 month old boy. I've just spent quite a lot of the day playing Wii Sports baseball with the three year old, watched the four year old playing pop-the-balloon type games and air hockey, then watched the the two of them play cow racing against each other.

      They love it, and frankly so do I. Although it must be said I'm utterly useless at the baseball game...

      Cheers,
      Ian
    • Try an Atari 2600 joystick--or paddles, they're multi-player--or one of the NAMCO/Pacman joysticks. Or maybe a plug-in pinball controller. Jaxx/Pacific makes them. You can finish an individual game in less than 15 minutes until you actually get good at it.
      It's possible to pause those games, too--at the least for NAMCO and pinball.
      Disclaimer: I do not work for Jaxx/Pacific, but I've had fun with the games.
  • My parents played a LOT of atari 2600 when I was a kid. Possibly even more than my brother and I did. Of course a lot of it was together as a family, but they played when us kids weren't around as well. Warlords was fantastic because all four of us could play at once.

    My mother even had the local hospitals very first gaming related injury when she got tennis elbow (or "atari elbow" as they called it) after too many hours of asteroids.

    They even played Shades, which was a MUD on the UK prestel network.
  • I like the "Quick Fix" games that satisify the gaming needs without requiring a night-long commitment. Online, that means Quake4 FFA. Unlike team-based games, nobody is offended when I drop out of a frag-fest.

    The article is right on the money about saving the game. I am far less likely to play a game that doesn't have the ability to save at any time. Metroid Prime comes to mind as a great game that frustrated me with it's save scheme.

  • So what? My kid's a gamer too. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Beardo the Bearded ( 321478 ) on Friday December 15, 2006 @06:26PM (#17262388)
    Think of it as a respawn.

    I started programming when I was 8. My daughter will probably start sooner than that.

    She can use a mouse. She can play several of the Curious George games on PBS kids - without assistance. (We have to navigate there, but she can select games from the list and choose the ones she likes the best.)

    Oh, she's 2.

    Her younger brother will also learn how to use a computer. Right now he's working on "crawling".

  • I remember we had the first Nintendo growing up, my brothers and I would spend countless hours playing Zelda and Mario Brothers, usually later in the evening, during the day we either were at school or working on the farm.

    I've got a four year old girl now and so far I have held off on buying and consoles. I watch her already spending way too much time watching Nick Jr. and Cartoon Networks and it really bugs me. Even though my brothers and I did spend a good deal of time playing games, at the same time we
    • While a video game console can never (at the moment) replace real physical interaction. The wii is a lot better than the alternatives out there by getting people to actually stand up and get involved in the games. Plus the learning curve is so small that anyone can play. As with anything in life, a proper balance is something we all need to strive for.
  • We have two boys and 7 computers. I got them started early. Now I can have a lan game if the internet connection is down or team attack when everything is working. My older son is playing games to acquire virtual property and sell it on ebay. Who knows a few more kids and I can retire to the basement forever.
  • When I was first married (1985) I really loved video games. We had our first child a year later and I remember playing a flight simulator on my Amiga 500 praying that my child would like to play video games with me. Now, 18 years (and soon to be 5 children) later, things have certainly changed a bit. My older two boys (18 & 15) would spend every moment of their waking lives in front of the PC, xbox, or Wii. My oldest daughter (9) spends a lot of her time playing kid internet games. My 2 year old tries t
  • an amazing thing happened witht he rise of tetrisand such games... my parents took my nes to play games like Solomon's Key, Tetris, Marble Madness, Dr. Mario, and the like... thus i got a computer... they tried to move in on Wolfenstien, Doom, and the like but i was smart enough not to teach them how to use them.. until I moved out.. then i taught them how to use the computer... Windows 3.11 was pretty harmless at the time,, so i figured they cant get into too much trouble.. then came 95-98 2kp
  • You can game with your kids. My 2 daughters and I have played many hours of Might and Magic (6 & 7) together. A kid on each knee, one clicking the mouse, one hitting the "A" key (attack). Dad does movement, and we all figure out the puzzles together. Drives mom nuts, especially when we're talking game in the car. "The liches in Castle Darkmoor are really tough, they might be immune to magic. No problem daddy, shrapmetal does physical damage"

    They're only kids once, so you gotta share with them as much a
  • When we were younger we had lots of time for games but little money. Now we have the money for games (but much less free time).

    I haven't seen any ads that target the adult gamer segment specifically; I guess they figure ads that work for a 17-year-old will work just as well for someone twice that age. But soon enough we will probably see ads: "Forget the Civ [firaxis.com] games! I play Oasis [oasisgame.com] because I can get in several games between feeding the newborn and changing his diaper."

    BLATANT PLUG: If you are a member of The
  • I think the hardest thing for my generation is the gap between males and females. I personally grew up a gamer female, so when my boyfriend chooses to play video games for hours, it really doesn't bother me at all. However, the biggest complaint I get from a lot of my female friends is that they cannot understand why boys feel the need to play video games so much! The idea that guys play too many video games is slowly, but surely sneaking into Cosmopolitan magazine and others like it. Beware, Men, Cosmo
    • An easy rebuttal: ladies (Cosmo girls really), you spend hours in front of a mirror every morning. Let's not talk about who is spending "too much time" doing anything.

  • I'm from the stand-up generation.
    If you are from my generation, you learned to play video while standing, sometimes for hours, at your mall, downtown arcade parlor.
    My younger brother is from the console generation. He finished Mario World but perhaps never left his initials in the Frogger or Galaga at the Arcade.
    I too froze my ass waiting outside Target for the Wii.
    See, we don't have a console at home because we frowned at the idea of having the kiddos pressing their butts for hours on the sofa with sore th

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