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Reader Comments (60)

Posted: Mar 6th 2009 2:57PM Bailers77 said

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No, I understood, and I agree!
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Posted: Mar 6th 2009 10:10AM (Unverified) said

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I play video games with my 10 year old all the time. Some games he's actually better than I am.

Yes, he's 10 and I let him play T games. Thing is I've played them first and I know exactly whats in them, and usually I'm playing them -with- him. Thing is I believe my kid is smart enough to know where the line is between fake and real and I don't think he's going to go pick up a crowbar and go smacking things around.

Call me a bad parent if you want, but I'm spending time with my son and we're both having a good time. The Jack Thompsons of the world can go stuff themselves.

Posted: Mar 6th 2009 11:59AM xGeneral DEATHxDEETH82 said

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Spending time with him is exactly what will help him to solidify the line between real and fake in his mind. Just by being there and answering his questions, you're helping him to grow socially. I'm proud of you...and I don't even know you. Keep it up...the world needs more parents who aren't too lazy to GET INVOLVED. +1
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Posted: Mar 6th 2009 12:24PM (Unverified) said

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Good on you. I wish more parents would be into gaming, maybe they'd understand the community and culture that surrounds it and how social games really can do. But nope, they'd rather pay bills, watch reality shows, and feed off the stereotypes.

I've been trying to get my dad back into gaming lately. He used to play the N64 a ton but for some reason he just can't grasp the concept of two analog sticks and always confused which one does what. The only game I've been able to get him to play this gen is Galaga XBLA and Geometry Wars.
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Posted: Mar 6th 2009 10:38AM kevin949 said

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The problem isn't the available game types that are out there, it is the mechanics of gaming itself that parents (or the older generation as it were) just don't get. It stands to reason (and joystiq just did an article a few weeks ago) that the more complicated the controller you start learning on, the better you will adapt to new things. Well, most parents that ever touched a game system started off on atari (I did as well).

Posted: Mar 6th 2009 11:26AM smcn said

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As a 24-year-old who plays WoW (well, played--we're on hiatus until Ulduar) with his mom (who was our guild's MT), I'm getting a kick out of some of these replies.

Posted: Mar 6th 2009 11:58AM sm4k said

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I don't think I specifically wanted my kids to play games with me as much as I just wanted to have a regular activity that both my parents and I enjoyed, and gaming would certainly have fit the bill. I did talk my mom into trying World of Warcraft at one point, but we never actually started playing.

Now that I'm a parent of a 10 year old, I understand that same desire from the other side. He seems legitimately interested in games that he can play with me, and vice versa. Problem is we're still struggling to find something that isn't too slow (lego games) or a bit too mature. I'm sure once he turns 13 or 14, if he can tolerate my presence we'll have no problem finding games to play together.

However, the point about 'parents not fully understanding the rating system' does make sense to me now. As the lone 'gamer' at my office a lot of my coworkers come to me talking about the gamers their kids play. More than once I've had to explain to them that the rating system is about the game's CONTENT, not about the DIFFICULTY or what age the game is designed for. Many times they'll pass up games rated 'E' because they think they're too simple for their kids. Or they'll get their 'advanced' 4 year old an E10+ rated game because the E stuff is too simple. While that E10+ game isn't going to warp your kid's mind, you should know why it has earned that rating before you decide that your kid is 'smart enough' to handle it.

Posted: Mar 6th 2009 12:11PM Blaquebeird said

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When I was young, it was actually my father who got my brother and I into gaming. He worked for IBM, so we were one of the first families to get a Pentium, which was a huge deal at the time.

Posted: Mar 6th 2009 1:50PM Levi Partridge said

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When I was little, I wanted to at least share with them why these video game thingies were so awesome! It started off well with the Atari 2600. Everyone in my family wanted to play that. But when we got a NES, neither of my parents seemed to be able to follow. My mom was still able to figure out what games I would like. She got me Legend of Zelda and Finaly Fantasy on two different Christmases, and I didn't even ask for them.

To this day, I still try to explain to my mom why I'm really excited about a certain games that I'm playing, or a game that I'm about to buy. I know she doesn't really care, and is actually stunned that I still have interest in videogames. But whenever she brings that up I tell her, "Hey! It's your fault for giving me Zelda. I didn't even ask for it!"

Posted: Mar 6th 2009 3:36PM FallenArms3 said

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My parents avoid games like the plague. Once my mom caught me doing some coding in Game Maker and got angry. She said she didn't want me making "more of those things for other people to waste their lives on". Somehow, though, I've convinced her to let me pursue a career in videogame story writing...

Of course, any problems in health, behavior, energy, work ethic, creativity, social interaction, grades or relationships can be blamed on games, according to my parents. I almost want to stop gaming entirely just to show them that I'm still a lazy introvert.

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