Huge rant about why it's not a good idea to let your children enjoy video games at an early age. And it got nothing to do with wether playing video games is good or bad for a young child. ;>
My son is a huge gaming enthusiast like me. He just turned 6 and can't even read yet, but he loves nothing more than playing video games. Except for ice cream, maybe. I'm usually pretty pleased with him being so interested in games except for these certain moments where I regret nothing more than introducing him to the gaming world.
1) Delete, delete, DELETE!
I can't even keep track on how many times he accidently deleted my save files, saved over them or formatted my PS2 memory card. My save game for P4 right before the last dungeon? Gone. My 20 hours save file of Arc Rise Fantasia? Suddenly down to one hour...??? I should have learned my lesson and I should keep copies of my save files on the PC, but I'm an utter scatterbrain, so I rarely do... FML
2) Push the button!
There is so many shiny buttons that can be pushed. Like the PSN store button on the Vita. And the Buy button for Super Stardust Delta (did I mention how much I love shmups? ._.). And suddenly all your PSN store credit is gone. Or the less frustrating but still annoying situation where you realise your Wii is set to French. Or your DS tells you it's 5am and you think you totally lost track of time while it's actually 10pm.. .__.
3) Where is my Vita!?
He's such a sneaky little thing. He always tries to fool me with secretly playing DS under his blanket when he's supposed to sleep. Of course I always notice and put it away then. With the Vita it's something else tho, he's not allowed to play on it at all. Since it was very expensive I'd like for it to live a while. But since he's so sneaky he uses every chance he gets to grab it and hide somewhere with it to ogle on it's shininess, I can relate to this urge tho. :> But imagine not finding your Vita and being pretty sure the last time you saw it, it was right next to your pillow. It's nowhere to be found and the little one is already asleep, so you can't ask him if he's seen it. It was scary. I found out the next day that he hid it in his play tent in his room... why didn't I think of that when I was looking for it in his room? orz
4) Mum, you suck at this game!
Oh hell, is it frustrating to see that an 6 year old boy can easily destroy the super hard boss in The Last Story that I wasn't able to beat in my three tries. Or how he can easily avoid all the traps in that annoying Doctor Who game for the Wii. Why is he so much better at Jump'n'Run games? Why does he beat me in all Fighters!? I should be proud, I know.. but it's just so frustrating. ;>
5) Watch me play!
You know, I actually quite enjoy watching people play video games, especially with games I'm not good at playing myself, like shooters, action RPGs or horror games. I enjoy sitting next to them and talking about the game with them. But not with my son! Don't get me wrong, he's certainly adorable when he talks about games or gets all excited when playing certain parts of a game. But he tends to play the same part over and over again, he tells you the same things each time and let me tell you, looking at the same cut scenes and battles over and over again is no fun. No matter how much you love a game. And if anyone ever mentions the cat in Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword to me again, I'm gonna kill someone. 8)
But oh well, I'm still glad that he is into games and as soon as he gets a little older and knows what he's doing when he opens up a menu we'll surely have some great gaming fun together. ;>
Great entry. You don't see post like this often
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