So, you have a child who is showing an interest in gaming. He's bugging you for an XBox, or a PlayStation or something, you're not sure. It's clear that he's not going to stop bugging you and damn it, you're a good parent who likes to make sure your kid has a happy childhood, so you want to do something.
So, first of all, we need to look at gaming in the context of your child's life. Games are the new Book, the new Film, the new TV. They provide learning experiences that your child might not otherwise receive, talking points for him to discuss with friends and otherwise entertains him. I remember that as a child and even now, I can spend just as much time discussing strategies for beating bosses for various games as I can that surprising end to the first episode of this year's series of Doctor Who.
With these basic ideas of your child's next new experience, you need to decide on where to go with it. In terms of money, the Nintendo Wii is definitely the cheapest of the options available, followed by the Microsoft XBox 360 and then at the 'premium' end of the market, the Sony PlayStation 3. Whilst for the 360 and the PS3, the games are pretty much the same but with different packaging and possibly slightly different controls, the Wii is less complex to learn, for the most part, with it Wii Remote basically being a point-and-click affair just like a normal TV Remote.
This makes the games for the Wii arguably easier to learn, with a more visceral experience at hand than the 'hardcore' buttons-and-thumbsticks of the other consoles, but because it's a relatively new technique, games are still coming to grips with the new system, much like the dual thumbsticks were to the PlayStation One crowd those many years ago. Epic games could be a year or more away, but in the mean time, there are plenty of "gimmick" games available, as well as games that are making strides into the realms of system-defining awesomeness.
Stay tuned for the next post, in which I will discuss the games available for the various systems and how they may apply to your child.
5 comments:
Yes, you should post about the Halo series and how MLG have come to where they are now. These days very talented gamers can make a living out of it, tho it might not be the career you had in mind for your child its as solid as any other assuming you are better then good that is!
Also, I think you should go into depth on the Xbox 360 and the Achievement system.. Children like rewards no? Achievements give you something to strive so you are not just playing a game for the sake of bordem as i know some young people do.
I'm not all that sure that hardcode FPS "kill the other guy dead and make his head pink mist" is appropriate for kids ;)
Halo = Team Building.
Social Skills.
Explaining ones self.
Working as a team while also being independent.
Keeps the mind fresh.
Forces you to think out of the box.
Forces you to adpapt to the situation surrounding you.
Multitasking.
All very good skills for a child to have, some of those things adults don't have!
As soon as you exhibit one of those qualities, I'll accept it as valid :P
It's the violence you have to worry about :P
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