Introducing a kid to video games is really fun
When we first moved into this townhouse survey five years ago, we were quickly introduced to a Russian family who were very friendly. I actually enjoy talking to kids since they can be really funny, and I befriended the family's 8 year old son. Eventually since I got along with him so well, the family hired me as his babysitter, and we quite enjoy talking.
I didn't introduce him to video games intentionally, but because I play my Game Boy all the time anyways, he started watching me play. His younger mind takes a lot of things in the games at face value, resulting in some rather funny observations. He also points out things I take for granted, and gives me a different outlook on certain games. We had fun in Kirby's Dream Land just eating enemies like chickens and bears and going "mmmm" after everything. In Kirby's Dream Land there's really no point in swallowing enemies, but it turns out it's actually pretty funny.
Today he actually asked for the first time if he could play. He's now 13 years old, so I figure he's old enough that he won't get mad and break the system. I started him on a really simplistic game with very few controls, a racing game called Wave Race. He was able to finish the races in the time limit, but overall came in last place. At the game over screen he cracked me up by saying "whatever, at least I still have a jet-ski!" and I thought that was a really good attitude towards losing. XD
He really wanted to play Wario Land since he enjoyed watching me play it, and that was a lot more difficult to try and teach how to play. We worked at it for about 20 minutes, and he was able to struggle through the first two levels. We both needed a break at that point, but he had a lot of fun.
It's unlikely I'll ever have kids of my own, so it's rad that I get a chance to teach a kid how to play video games. Let me tell you, it's a blast if you ever get a chance to do it. I'm going shopping for Game Boy cartridges tomorrow, so now I'll have to keep him in mind when I'm picking out games. I might get him to try Yoshi since that's a very simplistic game.
Have any of you gotten to teach children to play games? I'd love to hear your stories if you have.
I didn't introduce him to video games intentionally, but because I play my Game Boy all the time anyways, he started watching me play. His younger mind takes a lot of things in the games at face value, resulting in some rather funny observations. He also points out things I take for granted, and gives me a different outlook on certain games. We had fun in Kirby's Dream Land just eating enemies like chickens and bears and going "mmmm" after everything. In Kirby's Dream Land there's really no point in swallowing enemies, but it turns out it's actually pretty funny.
Today he actually asked for the first time if he could play. He's now 13 years old, so I figure he's old enough that he won't get mad and break the system. I started him on a really simplistic game with very few controls, a racing game called Wave Race. He was able to finish the races in the time limit, but overall came in last place. At the game over screen he cracked me up by saying "whatever, at least I still have a jet-ski!" and I thought that was a really good attitude towards losing. XD
He really wanted to play Wario Land since he enjoyed watching me play it, and that was a lot more difficult to try and teach how to play. We worked at it for about 20 minutes, and he was able to struggle through the first two levels. We both needed a break at that point, but he had a lot of fun.
It's unlikely I'll ever have kids of my own, so it's rad that I get a chance to teach a kid how to play video games. Let me tell you, it's a blast if you ever get a chance to do it. I'm going shopping for Game Boy cartridges tomorrow, so now I'll have to keep him in mind when I'm picking out games. I might get him to try Yoshi since that's a very simplistic game.
Have any of you gotten to teach children to play games? I'd love to hear your stories if you have.
Comments
I got them a 2DS each 2 years ago and a lot of games.
I sat with them and had a blast for a whole day teaching them how to play them. Except for Pokemon. That I left for the Pokemon master of the family, my mum, to do.
Now every time I go visit them, I bring new 3DS games for them to enjoy and we spend quality time together having fun.
As a single middle aged man, me hanging out with other peoples' children and playing video games would be considered very suspicious in my country.
Haha....just don't get caught with a kid playing your "Gameboy Pocket". Thats like an automatic 10 year sentence.
Originally posted by: mbd39
As a single middle aged man, me hanging out with other peoples' children and playing video games would be considered very suspicious in my country.
I just know the neighborhood kids would fall in love with a Michael Jackson's Moonwalker playthrough if I were brave enough to make it happen.
As a single middle aged man, me hanging out with other peoples' children and playing video games would be considered very suspicious in my country.
As you long as you don't play any games like monster in my pocket with him, you should be good
I have a 4 year old niece, and at some point in the not too distant future I'm going to see if she has any interest in games. I hope she will, because it's something I'd love to share with her.
Come on guys, enough with the weird jokes. I just wanted to hear about other people's experiences with kids and video games. Don't throw the thread off course with stupid teen humor.
Well I don't really have any. Although if you switch "games" with "cigarettes", and "fun times" with "300 hours of community service", I have a story to tell.
I have one nephew who loves playing my NES and N64. Really fun to see a new generation come in and give the systems some love. I have a niece on the way, so she'll be my next project haha.
When our brother took us back home he saw that we had another N64 at our mom's place that we had to sell. He offered us a full retail value on it just because he was going to buy a new one for his son. It was still a $200 system back then (latest and greatest) so I thought he was crazy since he had no interest on his own and his kid could not fully appreciate it (a lot of money to spend just to drive circles in Mario Kart 64).
Anyway, I didn't get to see him or my nephew for a couple years, but when they finally came to visit we were in for a surprise: our nephew was now a full-fledged gamer who had beaten Ocarina of Time before he had even learned how to read (he looked at the pictures in a guide book and asked family members what it said). He could now hold his own in Mario Kart and challenging us was the first thing he wanted to do.
My nephew's fully grown now and let me just say this: We've created a monster! Lifelong gamer who knows what's good!
One day I picked up Everyday Shooter on PS3 and she grabbed the controller from me and started messing around with it. She actually managed to score a single point in the first stage which is not a trivial thing to do. You have to shoot a bomb and let the explosion kill other enemies and then pick up the chip that's left behind. So even though she did it purely by random, maybe she already has a knack for these video games!
I didn't own any handhelds back then so it was fun to play games I didn't have. Plus I would let him borrow some of my Genesis and PS games so it was an even trade off. I recall us trying to play through Marsupilami and Lion King on Genesis which was a lot of fun. I hope to have kids one day and introduce them to all the classic systems.
Can be found in this thread: http://vintage.nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=31&threadid=104580
Or just read below
Originally posted by: Br81zad
Alright, I feel the need to tell a story.
My friends and I were all Juniors in High School, and most of the time we'd hang out in my parents basement and either play video games or shoot pool. We took turns playing missions in GTA Vice City, and it became a regular thing for awhile. Because of this, Vice City pretty much stayed in my PS2 at all times.
Well, New Years Eve rolls around and my parents decide to throw a party inviting all of our friends and family. A bunch of mine and my girlfriend's friends show up and we retreat to the basement as usual. With girls around, none of the guys are interested in playing video games, so we all take turns shooting pool. My much younger cousins always wanted to be around the big kids, so it wasn't long before they found us. Cameron was 6 at the time, and Brandi was 5. I guess we weren't paying enough attention to them, because they start bugging us to the point to where I start to get a little mad. So I tell them both to leave us alone and go play video games. They reluctantly agree and trudge off. I'm satisfied and go back to the girls and pool without giving much thought to what was waiting for them in the PS2...
About 10 min later, my aunt, uncle, mom, and dad all come downstairs to say hi, and see what we're all up to. I introduce my friends, they do a little chatting with my uncle. Meanwhile my aunt goes over to check on the little ones. All of the sudden, in a very distressed tone, we hear my aunt say, "Cameron, what are you hitting that woman with?!"
We all look over to see my 6 year old cousin putting a beatdown on a woman, using a giant purple dildo!
"It's a purple beatin' stick." replies Cameron, plain as day. My friends cannot contain their laughter at this point, and neither can my dad or my uncle. My mom and aunt are in shock, and the kids think that my aunt's reaction to this is hilarious, so they start laughing too. The place was pretty much chaos at this point, but I could tell my aunt was not happy, lol. I made a quick move to turn off the game and pop in Tony Hawk instead, problem solved.
The rest of the night, there were countless "purple beatin' stick" references. To this day, anytime a dildo is brought up in conversation with my friends, it is referred to as a "purple beatin' stick".
Oh, and one last thing,
Cameron asked for that game for his 7th B-day, my aunt said no, lol
I told a story once, about introducing my much younger cousins to a videogame...
Can be found in this thread: http://vintage.nintendoage.com/fo...
Or just read below
Originally posted by: Br81zad
Alright, I feel the need to tell a story.
My friends and I were all Juniors in High School, and most of the time we'd hang out in my parents basement and either play video games or shoot pool. We took turns playing missions in GTA Vice City, and it became a regular thing for awhile. Because of this, Vice City pretty much stayed in my PS2 at all times.
Well, New Years Eve rolls around and my parents decide to throw a party inviting all of our friends and family. A bunch of mine and my girlfriend's friends show up and we retreat to the basement as usual. With girls around, none of the guys are interested in playing video games, so we all take turns shooting pool. My much younger cousins always wanted to be around the big kids, so it wasn't long before they found us. Cameron was 6 at the time, and Brandi was 5. I guess we weren't paying enough attention to them, because they start bugging us to the point to where I start to get a little mad. So I tell them both to leave us alone and go play video games. They reluctantly agree and trudge off. I'm satisfied and go back to the girls and pool without giving much thought to what was waiting for them in the PS2...
About 10 min later, my aunt, uncle, mom, and dad all come downstairs to say hi, and see what we're all up to. I introduce my friends, they do a little chatting with my uncle. Meanwhile my aunt goes over to check on the little ones. All of the sudden, in a very distressed tone, we hear my aunt say, "Cameron, what are you hitting that woman with?!"
We all look over to see my 6 year old cousin putting a beatdown on a woman, using a giant purple dildo!
"It's a purple beatin' stick." replies Cameron, plain as day. My friends cannot contain their laughter at this point, and neither can my dad or my uncle. My mom and aunt are in shock, and the kids think that my aunt's reaction to this is hilarious, so they start laughing too. The place was pretty much chaos at this point, but I could tell my aunt was not happy, lol. I made a quick move to turn off the game and pop in Tony Hawk instead, problem solved.
The rest of the night, there were countless "purple beatin' stick" references. To this day, anytime a dildo is brought up in conversation with my friends, it is referred to as a "purple beatin' stick".
Oh, and one last thing,
Cameron asked for that game for his 7th B-day, my aunt said no, lol
Haha, purple beatin stick. I like how he asked for the game for his birthday too. He loved beating women with dildos so much that he needed more of it.
Here's hoping that I'll end up with all kinds of fun and interesting stories going forward. With my luck and taste in games (as well as occasionally forgetting that my son is around when we pop in certain content--us realizing he could no longer be present when we watched Game of Thrones was hilarious), I'll probably end up with several "purple beatin' stick" stories of my own, lol!