Parents Playing Video Games!

Aido

This past Christmas, my half brother and I purchased my mom her first console: a black DS Lite. Upon returning home for spring break, it looks like she's been playing it every day since she got it! Granted, what she plays consists of Brain Age, Big Brain Academy, and Sudoku, but I'm feelin' pretty awesome over the whole thing.

(My mom specifically asked me not to put this picture online.)

So hey, do any of you have parents who play video games?

Apreche

My parents don't play a lot of video games, but they are willing to. My mom actually really likes to play meaningless casual games online. Lately I've seen her playing a simple flash game where they give you six or seven letters and you have to find every possible word that can be spelled using those letters. My dad likes him so Wii sports, but he won't go out and buy a Wii to play it or anything.

HMTKSteve

I'm a parent, does that count?

Sail

My first attempts to play video games with my dad were futile. He tried hard, but he just couldn't get used to the controller.

Fast-forward to the present. My dad loves the Wii and Wii Sports. I think that between the DS and the Wii, Nintendo is more than achieving their goals to bring video games to non-video gamers.

tuttle88

My mother would occastionally play Duck Hunt. She didn't mind the NES controller but after that she said they had too many buttons. She hit one tennis ball with the Wii.

Cramit

My mom got right into the NES, especially once we got The Legend of Zelda. She loved that game. One memorable morning I woke up to find she was on her way to completing the entire first quest without dying. She then moved onto the Dragon Warrior series of RPGs. She would level up while I was at school and then we would make progress in the game together.

My dad only really played Tetris, Duck-hunt, Super Mario Bros.

Neither have been really into games since the NES. My mom will play flash games and Gnome Solitaire.

Ametto

Hahaha. I was just talking to a guy on WoW who's the same age as my dad and has a son my age on the same server.

kenjura

The family aspect of WoW is one of those things haters just ignore.

If you're a geek, and your kids are geeks, why putz around with a ball outside? Do what you like to do. Better still, if you don't actually have the opportunity to be with your kids physically (business trips, separation or divorce, etc), you can still play with them online.

It would have been pretty spiffy to play video games with my parents. I imagine you'd get to know them in a whole new way. It wasn't until I was a fully-grown adult that I realized my parents had lives of their own, and interests, and that kind of thing. It's only improved my relationship with them.

Hitman Hart

My parents are pretty clueless about games, but apparently my grandfather was such a hardcore Pacman gamer on the old Atari that he wore out the first cartridge or something because they had to buy another one

Kiey

My parents are likewise rather clueless when it comes to games and gaming.

RainbowRaven

My mother was the queen of Super Mario and Super Mario 3. I didn't get ahold of Super Mario 2 until recently and she can't get the Nintendo to work. I might just get her a new one with a Nintendo DS or something and a bunch of new Mario games. She's all for the original side scroll type Mario games. We also never got a SNES and that had a bunch of games she'd love. She also reigned supreme on Tetris 2 and Dr. Mario.

When I say she was the queen, I mean she beat both Mario games at a point when my brother and I couldn't and she used to play Tetris 2 up until level 60. I remember every tenth level had an animated scene and all the scenes were part of the same story so it was added incentive to get to that next tenth. I don't remember if she ever got past that level but she was hardcore about it and she would've tried. She would play Mario Golf for hours on end. It was a silly golf game but probably her favorite. This was when I was 5 ish. When we got the Sega Genesis, she refused to play saying that Sonic 2 was confusing with all the loop ta loops. And so the scepter was put away for a while. Systems came and went. But when we got around to Nintendo 64 when I was in junior high, even though she didn't play, she watched my brother kick ass on Mario 64. I'm sure the nostalgia hit her as much as it did us.

She would scold my brother for being so obsessed with video games when he was older but I really don't know what she expected. The two of them used to monopolize the only TV on the Nintendo and I used to get so upset. No TV for me. I thought they were a little crazy. The crusade to beat Mario in one sitting. No saving back then. Used to take up the whole bloody day. And if she died... she'd start all over again... This was before she had a full time job of course.

But then, this was all before finding Playstation, Final Fantasy VII and my love of RPGs.

Apreche

I forgot, my mom is crazy for the Atari Super Breakout.

ProfPangloss

My parents REFUSE to let me purchase any video game systems, regardless of the fact that I have disproved all of their reasons for doing so. They won't even let my friends bring any sort of video game system within the vicinity of my home! They say that I can go play at all my friends' houses, but now they all think I'm just a video game mooch! All I can hope is that there's an uber console available when I go to college.

Apreche

My parents REFUSE to let me purchase any video game systems, regardless of the fact that I have disproved all of their reasons for doing so. They won't even let my friends bring any sort of video game system within the vicinity of my home! They say that I can go play at all my friends' houses, but now they all think I'm just a video game mooch! All I can hope is that there's an uber console available when I go to college.

Get a job and buy a DS.

Sail

My parents REFUSE to let me purchase any video game systems...

Get a job and buy a DS.

Read it again, Scott.

Andrew

MOTU, what are their reasons?

Apreche

Nobody can tell you how you can spend the money you earned. If you have a job, you can buy a video game and nobody can stop you. You just have to not be a pussy. If your parents take your DS away from you, call the police and press charges. People can only boss you around if you let them. That includes parents.

Sail

If your parents take your DS away from you, call the police and press charges.

I'm trying to think of a reason why that isn't a good idea...Oh, wait, here's one!

Apreche

If your parents take your DS away from you, call the police and press charges.

I'm trying to think of a reason why that isn't a good idea...Oh, wait,here'sone!

Somehow, I don't think the parents who won't allow a video game are the type to hit their kids. Here is some more crazy Scott advice if this is not the case.

If anyone ever tries to hurt you with physical violence of any sort, and you don't want it to happen (some people like to be hit, and some people might feel they deserve it), then I suggest you do one of two things, defend yourself or run. There are no circumstances in which you should be forced to allow yourself to be hit. If someone is trying to hit you, it doesn't matter if it's a bum, your best friend or your parents, you can run or hit back. What you do after that depends on the situation, but the immediate choices should be fight or flight. How can standing there and accepting a beating you don't want ever be an option? It just doesn't make sense. I think the one exception to this rule is if police are hitting you within the confines of the law. In that case, you probably did something very stupid.

Jason

Nobody can tell you how you can spend the money you earned. If you have a job, you can buy a video game and nobody can stop you. You just have to not be a pussy. If your parents take your DS away from you, call the police and press charges. People can only boss you around if you let them. That includes parents.

This is not true if you are under the age of majority. As a juvenile dependent, your parents have every legal right to control your income, though they apparently cannot control your possessions. Here is an interesting article. Maybe Joe or Thaed or whatever other lawyers reside on the FRC boards can weigh in.

Apreche

Nobody can tell you how you can spend the money you earned. If you have a job, you can buy a video game and nobody can stop you. You just have to not be a pussy. If your parents take your DS away from you, call the police and press charges. People can only boss you around if you let them. That includes parents.

This is not true if you are under the age of majority. As a juvenile dependent, your parents have every legal right to control your income, though they apparently cannot control your possessions.Hereis an interesting article. Maybe Joe or Thaed or whatever other lawyers reside on the FRC boards can weigh in.

That sucks. When are kids going to get the rights they deserve?

Rym

That sucks. When are kids going to get the rights they deserve?

Maybe when they stop acting like kids? ^_~

HMTKSteve

That sucks. When are kids going to get the rights they deserve?

Maybe when they stop acting like kids? ^_~

When they become adults.

Jason

I, for one, am a huge proponent of eliminating all taxes on juvenile workers. The government collects income and sales tax from minors, who do not have a vote. No taxation without representation.

tuttle88

I, for one, am a huge proponent of eliminating all taxes on juvenile workers. The government collects income and sales tax from minors, who do not have a vote. No taxation without representation.

I'm all for eliminating the pay for juvenile workers. If they don't learn about slavery how will they learn about...something.

ProfPangloss

This is not true if you are under the age of majority. As a juvenile dependent, your parents have every legal right to control your income, though they apparently cannot control your possessions.Hereis an interesting article. Maybe Joe or Thaed or whatever other lawyers reside on the FRC boards can weigh in.

I'm 14. Great...

MOTU, what are their reasons?

I can't remember them all off the top of my head, but here are their main reasons:

1. "They turn kids into dribbling idiots" Basically, they're saying that users will play until they get addicted, and thus lose their grip on reality.
Uh, I'm not socially inept, and can see a pretty fine line between fantasy and reality. Usually. ^_^
2. "We can't support this 'new thing' financially" It's my money...
3. "There have been so many violent cases where video games are the culprit." Once more, those people are often socially inept, or have some other problem that causes the line between fantasy and reality to blur. I think...

Whenever I should back them into a corner with my arguments, they just say "We made this decision before you were born, and we're not changing our minds."

I love my parents dearly, but with this particular case, I'm screwed. :-/

PS. Feel free to yell at me if my rebuttals seem to lack a solid footing. I'm used to it.

Apreche

Let us talk to your parents. I'd love to have them on the show, it will be awesome.

Andrew

The correlation that has been created between video games and violence/mental instability has been conjured by the media and politicians. There is very little, if any, empirical data to suggest that video game playing relates to any sort of mental illness or abnormal behavior. My guess is that your parents probably don't even have a clear idea on what a video game really entails. They are just told that it dilutes the mind by the news channels and papers. Much of the hype and pompous bullshit about video on the media today is just scaremongering tactic to get people who know very little about video games to support a political party.

It saddens me that video games have become such an easy target by the media and politicians. They blame video games for children's behavior. In reality they are just covering up the ineptitude of the parents and how they were the ones who really contributed to their child shooting up a school or mall. I commend your parents for taking such an active role in life to make sure that you are raised properly, but in all honesty, they have fallen prey to the overprotective parenting that is all to common today. Let your children experience dangerous situations, let them get dirty, let them break bones. It is all what made childhood so great. Our experiences with good and bad situations are what shape our personalities and parents shouldn't be protecting their children from important life lessons.

Jason

There is extensive evidence that video games improve cognitive thinking, problem solving ability, reflexes, and aptitude.

ProfPangloss

I just showed my dad this thread, and he pointed out that "There have been so many violent cases where video games are the culprit" is not one of his reasons (my mistake.) In fact, his main reason is "You're a growing boy. We don't want you to become isolated to this one machine". I'm currently forming a rebuttal. Any ideas?

Apreche

Ask for the evidence. There have not been, as he said, "so many violent cases where video games are the culprit". Ask if he can find even one. He will maybe find 5 or 10. I can't imagine finding more than 20. All of the ones he will find the kids had severe psychological problems. Meanwhile, hundreds of millions of people around the world play video games. Some of those games are violent, most of them are not.

Also, seriously. If your dad thinks you are going to harm someone with violence because you played a video game, then he doesn't respect you very much does he? He must think that you are a stupid, impressionable, evil kid who will copy whatever he sees. Also, what does that say about what your dad thinks of himself? Does he think that if he played GTA that the next day he would steal a car? Sorry man, your dad is a tool.