Retro gaming with your kids.
Hi my fellow NA'ers,
So I have an almost 6 month old, and over the weekend we had a party with lots of kids ranging from 6 months to a few years old. It got me thinking of when I was going to start introducing my daughter to games.
I figured since a good number of people on here have kids, what were your experiences with starting them out with games?
1. At what age did you start letting them play?
2. Was there certain game types that you found more successful?
3. Did you try any of the "made for kids" systems like leapster and such?
Thanks
So I have an almost 6 month old, and over the weekend we had a party with lots of kids ranging from 6 months to a few years old. It got me thinking of when I was going to start introducing my daughter to games.
I figured since a good number of people on here have kids, what were your experiences with starting them out with games?
1. At what age did you start letting them play?
2. Was there certain game types that you found more successful?
3. Did you try any of the "made for kids" systems like leapster and such?
Thanks
Comments
1. At what age? About 2 years.
2. I started with PC software stuff like Putt putt goes to the moon and Freddie Fish.
3. We did try a leapster reader but that fell to the way side quick. It just did not have similar input like the PC games.
At 2 years though I think kids havea good sense of action and reaction to be able to enjoy the learning and experimenting with games and systems. Thats my 2 cents.
1. Preschool seems around the time that me and a lot of my friends started off with games like the leapster, V-Tech, etc mainly from one kid having it and everyone else wanting it.
2. The games that I personally remember the best was my first with each genre of game (Nascar for racing, Alphabet Park on V-Tech for platformer), so I'd recommend a decent variety of games.
3. The made for kids systems are great as a kid, in fact my relatives are still using the V-Tech that my family used for their kids. I'm not personally sure on how different the newer versions may be, but they're for the most part the same.
I hope this helps
(cue old geezer voice) "Back in my day...we didn't have parents to beat games for us. You either beat a game yourself or you died and died and died...and died trying!"
I recently got him a 2DS and he is enjoying that and he will play mario kart using the wii u pad sometimes.
He always wants to watch me play a link to the past so I can only imagine he will gladly enjoy my collection as he gets older. My 4 year old daughter is not as interested in games as he is so she will just watch.
The N64 is the only console she would really put much effort into. I started with the Sesame Street Games and went into platformers. She likes to run around and jump but objectives are still an abstract idea to her.
She plays the innotab 30-60 mins per day (I bought 20 used games for $2-5 each). She also plays ABC mouse 2-3 hours per week.
My suggestion: Get your child something like an innotab and occasionally let them try your consoles. I think the newer the console, the more user-friendly...
I don't have kids but I'd say 60% of the reason I collect games, and keep the majority of my possessions is in anticipation of having kids. My dad had so much cool stuff as a kid he and my grandfather would tell me about but had long since been lost, sold, trashed. I want my kids to have this stuff even if they themselves decide their not interested at least they have a chance to check it out. In my mind I picture steering kids through the gaming generations. Start them on the 2600 then to NES, SNES/Genesis, etc. Each console got progressively more advanced so it makes sense as the kids advance to give them the next step in hardware.
That's pretty much what happened for me. Parents had a 2600 when I was born in '82, then we moved to NES when that came out, then onto SNES, then a year after SNES onto Genesis.
I don't think you have to try to introduce your kids to videogames. They get so much exposure they will probably end up playing whether you want them to or not. (Father of 4 boys speaking here). These days I spend most of my efforts trying to get them off the games and go play outside. My 1 year old is already showing a lot of interest in video game controllers... he doesn't know how to play games with them yet, but he understands that they have buttons on them that you can push (when he's not trying to put it in his mouth) and that they are related to the game on the tv screen. My second youngest was able to get through the first two levels of battletoads when he was 2 and a half.
They definitely play video games a lot more now than I did when I was young. I'd play maybe an hour or so and still go out play basketball, football or find something else to do during the day also.
She is just now taking interest in holding a controller and pretending to play, but she's always loved watching me play.
She has a big interest in the Mario characters and knows most of the characters/enemies by name (and she sounds really cute saying them).
I'll also be a little less strict on the games they can play. Graphic/gory stuff I'll wait till they're a bit older so no Mortal Kombat right off lol...but I think stuff like Contra or Castlevania they should be able to play around 7-8. I'm also not going to be sexist...my son can play "girly" games or play with dolls if he wants and my daughter can play "boy" games or dress up like G.I. Joe for Halloween. It really annoys me that I had to play with stupid barbie dolls...but at least I was able to play video games...so it wasn't horrible lol.
One thing I won't give them is a tablet or smart phone...if they want to play games they're going to grow up playing the games I played as a kid...none of this new BS for them.