Slashdot Mirror
Indoctrinating The Young As Gamers
Gamers with Jobs has an interesting look at what it's like to indoctrinate the next generation of gamer. From the article: "Now, as I stumble through my fourth decade on this spinning marble in space, it is my great privilege to pass this obsession on to my own son. It is something of a shock to me that my years of gaming can be measured reasonably in terms of percentage of a century. I shudder to think how many productive hours and how much money I have sacrificed to my passion. Instead of dwelling on that point, I pretend that the question doesn't even exist, in much the same way that I occasionally like to pretend the mortgage doesn't exist when a desired game finds its way onto store shelves. And now, already, my own son has begun his own epic sacrifice to the pastime, so that someday he too can struggle in the decision between food and maintaining his subscription to World of Warcraft."
Besides, its snowing like crazy now, its 20 degrees outside, what the hell else am I going to do?
Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
In no time at all, he'll be bagging your favourite childhood games as being unplayable crap.
Kids grow up so fast these days, don't they?
...je'll act like this
503 Sig Unavailable
The Signature could not be accessed. Please try again later or contact the administrator
Ok, seriously - why do people treat gaming as some sort of an addiction in most all cases? Anything can become an addiction if it is taken to unhealthy or unproductive levels. Everyone *NEEDS* entertainment. Having fun isn't some sort of sin, unless you are neglecting family/work and other responsibilities. In that case, it *is* an uncontrollable addiction. You can't spend every hour of your life exclusively focusing on just your work/family. Just a thought I had when i caught this article. People think, and even gamers themselves think there is something wrong with them for enjoying video games - but this is no different than someone whose favorite pasttime is playing piano, or watching movies, or playing chess. It's a different form of entertainment, and like all entertainment *CAN* be taken to unhealthy levels - but in most cases it is not.
"Potpourii doesn't taste as good as it smells." - Dark_Link2135
Daddy can I got outside and play? No! You'll stay in the house and play videogames! Why can't you spend all day cooped up in your room like normal kids?
I don't get the whole "I'm getting old thing" and I don't think it's just because I'm 29, though I suppose it does help that I watch anime shows like Tenchi Muyo! and Crest of the Stars that have people that are chronologically old but physically young. Oh and watching Doctor Who growing up didn't hurt either.
It's called spending "quality time".
Mu
We're homeschooling. Educational games play a part of that. We have games from the "Reader Rabbit" series as well as a few other one-offs such as "Physicus" which is a cool physics simulator/tutorial/game and "Rosetta Stone" for Arabic and Chinese. However, much as he doesn't mind these, they are not what gets him really interested. He's been a Civ player for over a year... and he's only seven and a half. Right now he loves CivIV. He is starting to learn the difference between strategy and tactics, learning about planning, and of course, learning some things about history from the game itself. However, we have found that we need to put tight limits on his time playing. Currently, he plays CivIV only on weekends, and only in the time he has available when we're not doing other things (visiting, groceries, etc.). We have had some struggles with obsessive game-playing and we are trying to moderate that, but given that I myself go through periods of intense game playing (and so does my wife), we have to balance that with our own example. When we first got CivIV, we didn't do much else except eat for about three days... I truly hope that this is not a problem. I haven't seen anything conclusive about this and we do have a balance with visiting, regular academic work, and my son is an avid reader as well. I'm not worried, but like with television or other forms of entertainment, I don't think that children are able to set their own boundaries very well. It's important as parents to do that both verbally and by example. For those interested, my wife keeps an extensive web site about homeschooling and some other things.
Helping with organizational effectiveness is our job.
What kind of father is this guy?
When the fruit of my loins is unleashed upon the world, I am ready to raise him properly.
That means starting him out with Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, Burgertime, and all the classics. He will move up to the NES, SNES, Genesis, and along up the generations as he gets older. Of course, Number Muncher and other classic educational games will be on tap, too.
Start a kid off with current-gen stuff will only produce another graphics-obsessed drone that will shun anything that isnt 3D and is too soft to handle the occasional hard game that is released by brave studios (FZeroGX, Ninja Gaiden, etc).
Off-topic:
And when he isnt playing the classics, he will be watching Transformers, Thundercats, the original TMNT, and all the other great cartoons that were on when I was a kid. It worries me that kids are growing up these days watching YuGiOh GX and other drivel CN and the other networks are putting out. Sleep in on saturday, kids. We can watch some cartoons on DVD when you get up.
"so that someday he too can struggle in the decision between food and maintaining his subscription to World of Warcraft."
"Too?" As in you think about whether to buy food or WoW? And you have a son to feed?
Look, we get enough flak from Jack Thompson types as it is, why don't you do us all a favor and call child services now before your face is plastered on TV news.
Humour.
Elijah is four years old; his computer sits directly in-between mama and papa's computer in the living room. He games for 2-3 hours every day; his favorites being Novadex Rocket, MoonBase Commander, Incredible Machine, Homeworld 2, Don Pachi (Mame), Takumi Fighters, Unreal 2k4, and Google image search + Photoshop. Elijah's gaming habits were definitely something we thought long and hard over, but eventually we decided to give him access to almost everything we play and do on computers. Keeping him from playing things like Unreal Tournament (gibs off) is going to hurt him more in the long run, by virtue of him feeling left out of what his papa and mama are doing. I remember being horribly scared as a kid, by not being allowed to play Starflight 2, and I don't want to pass that kind of thing on to Elijah. I knew I was smart enough to play Starflight, and so does Elijah. We even include him (for a couple hours) in LAN parties, so he gets an idea of the social aspects of gaming.
I think the most important thing you can do with raising kids into a gaming world, is make sure you're participating with them. Both through multiplayer and simply by being in the same room with them and seeing the kind of experience they're getting from the game. I'd much rather have Elijah experiencing an interaction with his PC than watch his brain draining away into the occasional spurts of drivel that air between the commercials on TV. Also important are the interests that he gains through gaming that help him learn about the computer itself. For instance, Unreal Tournament leads to Unreal Editor, which leads to lessons on 3d modeling, textures, and lighting (he now tries to spot CG while watching TV shows.) Or Novadex Rocket, which leads to all kind of interest in the physical world, including the way blocks tumble off each other, or how the human body can move.
I like how you mention Civ4, as I feel that about the worst thing you can do for your kid is buy them "educational" software, which is often underdeveloped crap. I do work for the Boys and Girls club, so I know all about educational software. We also plan to Home School Elijah when he gets to that age and we are starting early in that respect. Games that are professionally made to be both fun and educational (like civ4) are your best bet. And you'd be surprised what unintentional learning happens even when playing something as non-educational as Unreal Tournament.
only one everything