Overtaken by events -
August 23, 2001 - Chris Jones
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed
within this column are those of the participants and the
moderator, and do not necessarily reflect those of the
GIA. There is coarse language and potentially offensive
material afoot.
Today's Boondocks was damn funny. Go read it, if you haven't already.
Don't say we didn't warn you.
I put up yesterday's column right as the first Spaceworld news was coming in, which had the added bonus of making most of what I said yesterday completely obsolete. Between that and cel shading on the new Zelda (or is it the old Zelda?) I'm still kind of punch drunk, so go easy, eh?
Onward.
| Love/hate relationship |
|
Chris,
I honestly don't have an answer for this one. My parents (read: my mother, my
father having never had any hand or interest in the business at all) have
alternately assisted and decried my gaming habits. It was they who let me
play Atari when I was barely out of toddlerhood, it was they who purchased my
NES, and subsequent SNES, and many games on birthdays and Christmases. Not
only that, by my mother is something of a casual gamer herself. She's mad for
Donkey Kong, both SNES and N64, Mario is quite agreeable, and I have vivid
memories of her feverish preoccupation with Castlevania II: Simon's Quest.
How is it then, that I have heard her say on several occasions that she
"wishes she'd never bought one"? How is it that she is constantly complaining
over my, and also my little brother's, obsessive gaming habits? It's not even
justified in my brother's case (though certainly in mine), he being only
slightly more committed than the average casual gamer. I have no answer for
this. If I had to choose I would say it was the odd position video games
have, hovering between a children's playtoy and a serious entertainment
medium. I suppose, despite my fervent exhortations of it being the latter,
she just can't make up her mind. How female of her.
Super Saiya-jin.
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Way to work in that weak chauvinist jab there, dude. That said, I can relate to your situation; my parents were death on video games when I was a kid, but soon after I left for college, my mom became a complete Tetris addict and still plays today. Looking back, I'm forced to ask myself if I missed an opportunity by not getting the NES Tetris when it came out - would I have gained an ally in the gaming wars of my middle-school years?
I dunno, but I think you've got it right when you say that games occupy an uneasy middle ground between being something worthwhile and a sloth-encouraging waste of time. It's entirely likely that while your mom enjoys gaming to no end herself, she worried about seeing you or your brother plugged in front of the TV for hours at a time... which brings us right back to the original problem of how worthwhile games are in the first place.
| Worst case scenario |
| CJ-
well, if your child is 27 and still living at home in the basement, writing fanfic and prone to breaking into extended, paranoid rants about various members of the gia, i'd say discourage him/her at all costs. maybe slip a copy of "heroes of the lance" in the nes or something. aversion therapy.
that ugly scenario aside, i'd say gaming on a reasonable scale is, at worst, a harmless diversion.
it's only when you mix gaming and the internet (or anything and the internet) that the obsessive element
comes into focus.
after all, that sloth-like, anti-social gaming "nerd"
with the distended belly and peanut butter in his hair might turn out to be the next great software guru, or even the next chris jones!
good luck
bbrooks
|
27 years old... living at home in basement... writing fanfic... paranoid GIA rants... hey, I resemble that guy!
Wait, no I don't - my parents' house doesn't even have a basement... heh...
Truthfully, I think that's just about every parent's worst nightmare. Gamers tend to be more introverted than not, and parents always want the best for their kids, which kind of rules out becoming obsessed nerds who never develop a meaningful, non net-based social life or career.
On the other hand, all those hours spent in front of a TV can be strangely beneficial. Back when I was in high school my dad took great pleasure in putting a particular Far Side cartoon up on our refrigerator door, which showed two parents standing with great pride behind a game-playing kid. Above their heads was a thought balloon showing want ads full of notices for Nintendo players at salaries of $100,000 and upwards. But the thing is, playing video games got me interested in computers, which got me interested in programming, which got me interested in engineering... and while I'm not quite making $100k for playing Nintendo, I'm not doing too badly either. And it's all thanks to video games, which even my dad eventually got around to admitting.
| Best case scenario |
| While I would like to chime off about the level of parental
encouragement for video games, there's not much to tell. With my
parents, it was simply a matter of "you bought it, so you can play as
much as you want."
Of course, it sort of went unsaid to keep the grades up, but it seems
better to show the open road than the noose at your back, right?
KZ
|
Jeez, I would have loved to have a policy like that, as I'm sure a lot of others would have... but for a lot of parents, assuming that their kids are smart enough to manage their own academic careers without overdosing on video games is too big a leap of faith.
On the other hand, there does seem to be less of a bias with parents and games these days. Once upon a time, most of the kids I knew had strict limits on how much gaming they could do in the course of a day or a week: two or three hours cumulative, if they were lucky. Now, based on what I've seen of younger gamers, there's still a limit to the extent that they can't play all day every day, but I don't get the impression that games are considered any more harmful than, say, television. Slowly but surely, they're sinking into the culture, which is probably good news, all things considered.
| Xenophilia *Xenosaga trailer spoilers* |
| Chris,
I was very pleased with the new information that we've
learned of the Gamecube launch and it's titles. Every
game I've read about and seen images/videos of the
gamecube launch titles, looks interesting and worth my
time.
So...I'm looking through all the latest news,
"Pikmin...yeah, yeah...Star Fox
adventures...alright...Xenosaga trailer?"
So I download the trailer. Huge file, 8 minutes long.
I'm starting to fall asleep watching it. Sure, the
people look really nice. It has some nice graphics.
Nice effects...snore... Alot of it showed just
characters speaking. Sadly, I'm linguisticly impaired
in the Japanese language :)
And then...in the last minute...a man with a sword
walks into the camera. He's got the "scary" voice of
everyone...some villain. He's going on and on about
something.
And then it shows the side view of a man, with long
hair, holding a sword. Talking calmly.
"Could it be? Do we FINALLY get to find out why he
knew so much? Would they really bring him back???"
And then it zooms in, just for me, and I see for
myself, his small...round, golden glasses.
Terminator
P.S I guess this blows my theory that Shion Uzuki IS
Citan! :)
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As any number of people have pointed out, the chances of Shion and Citan being related seem slim to none, but the more info that comes out about this installment, the greater the chances seem to be that the two are somehow inexorably linked in the narrative flow of the story.
That said, I'm starting to wonder what the point is: I liked Xenogears, sure. It was a good game, I thoroughly enjoyed it when it came out, and I'm perfectly willing to admit that it's an entirely engrossing game, when certain things are overlooked. Still, the original game came out close to three years ago in the US, and the sequel may not be out over here for another year at least. Much like the passion I once had for FF4 or Tactics, my enthusiasm for the Xeno-saga has cooled of considerably. I'm interested in the game from what we've been shown of it on it's own terms, but if MonolithSoft's trying to drive me into a frenzy over suggested links between their game and Xenogears, they're about 2 years too late for maximum impact.
| Generation gap |
| Chris-
I've always had problems with my mom when it comes to
gaming, and I'll bet lots of people have, too. My dad
isn't so bad (he'll even play them sometimes), but my
mom just thinks they're evil incarnate. Parents
really should encourage their kids to play some games
(not everything, but certain games could definitely
teach kids some valuable lessons), like puzzle games
or maybe some RPGs. Certain video games really help
keep your mind and reflexs sharp, but the older
generation doesn't really realize that. My mom always
talks about how "when she was my age, she didn't have
fancy technology like this," and how she "played
outside for hours with sticks and rocks." That's
fantastic, I guess (hell, I used to play with rocks
and sticks for hours, too), but she has to realize
that times change, and just because she doesn't
understand this new technology doesn't mean it's bad.
On another note, I don't really care about the Game
Cube right now, because the Game Cube doesn't have
ICO. That demo sent chills up my spine, and I'll be
at the software store the day it launchs, threatening
to go berserk if I don't get a hold of it.
-Glass Dragon, doin' a little dance |
Ah, I can't wait until I'm old enough to spin out yarns about "when I was your age"... forget all that fancy "8-bit" technology, we were so poor we had to use "1-bit" technology! There was just one one and one zero, and my sister and I had to share it and do all the calculations by hand! It took three hours to figure out what the next frame of Frogger was going to look like! In the snow! Uphill both ways!
And now, just in the name of stirring up some good old fashioned dissent, I'm going to comment on ICO: after playing through the demo a few times, I'm starting to believe it's not all it's cracked up to be.
Don't get me wrong, there are some things (ok, a lot of things) it nails perfectly. The shadow demons are ominous without falling into the cartoonish trap of most fantasy monsters, the graphical design shows any number of subtle highlights which convey that the designers really knew what the heck they were doing, and the girl... well, the girl is sheer genius, from the way her delicate, bright colors offset the rest of the dungeon, to the faint the vibration the controller gives out every time the main character jerks her into walking.
But for all that, the game that I've seen so far has one fatal flaw: it looks like a mere PC adventure game with superb art direction. You know the kind I'm talking about: Out of this World, Monkey Island, Shadowgate, and far back in the mists of time, Infocom text adventures. I play console RPGs for the plot, and for the way they make me forget that I'm doing more than just solving puzzle after puzzle... I play them because the feel more like games, instead of a long string of brain teasers.
Now, don't get me wrong; ICO could have a magnificent plot waiting around the corner, and could be about far more than just navigating through a single monstrous castle. But while I don't want the boy hero to morph into a Paladin, I do hope he's going to be able to do more than wander through large, empty rooms swinging a stick and using a blind girl to open doors.
End of rant.
| Parental control |
| Oooh, parenting and gaming. There's a thorny one for you. I'm rather
liberal in my approach to child-care (perhaps it's naivete, never having
cared for a child), so I feel, basically, that gaming should be handled
like any hobby - the kid should be allowed to use his own judgement for the
most part, though it's good to make a kid explain to his parents why
something is worth buying if they're the ones opening their wallets. As
with most hobbies, gaming is not inherently good or bad, but becomes one or
the other depending on degree. If the kid is all about gaming and has no
motivation to do anything else, that's a problem. On the other hand,
there's nothing wrong with being obsessed with something if you don't let
it stop you from living your life. Parental discretion is, as in all
aspects of child-rearing, strongly reccomended.
Content is a thornier issue. I believe very strongly that kids should not
be shielded from content. A kid's far more likely to be messed up if he's
not allowed to have any experience with things like sex and violence
beforehand, because he certainly won't be able to avoid them in the real
world. Some parents may think games with gay relationships or senseless
killing or Fancy Mel are bad, but if they can't trust their kids to avoid
them on their own, they're going to have to hover over them their entire
life. Teach, don't force. I think a lot of parents would find it better to
talk to a kid about Carmageddon and the various quandaries it presents than
just to ban it entirely. Some would find out enough to need to ban it
anyhow, but a lot might find that their kids aren't as dumb as they think.
As for ENcouraging game playing, I can't think of a single reason to
bother. Even great literature will mean nothing in the hands of a kid who
doesn't already want to read it, and video games are hardly great
literature. Some parents use things like video games to wean kids off less
reputable pastimes (say, knife fighting), but even then it's not likely to
work, and if you're just using it as a tool there are better hobbies to
push for. Basically, the people who don't develop an interest in video
games mostly by themselves (regardless of who provides them with the game
to begin with) probably never will.
-AJ
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Actually, I think this is one place where the ESRB, properly implemented, could prove invaluable. As a rule I'm not big on limiting what kids can experience, and you're right - once a kid gets to be a certain age, parents' only real alternative is to hope that he or she will use their best judgement to avoid inappropriate material, or at least handle said material in a mature fashion. (Sephiroth gets to wear a trenchcoat and behave like a complete psycho, but the you don't.)
Still, I'll be damned if I'd want a 10 or 12 year old child of mine exposed to something like Silent Hill or Parasite Eve. The first few Dragon Warriors or Final Fantasies would be ok, but I can only know that if I play through them before hand, or if the ratings are descriptive and trustworthy. Until then, I suppose parents of young children should just be happy that there's Nintendo, which keep putting out superb, kid friendly entertainment like Zelda (which seems to be getting more kid-friendly all the time).
And as for ENcouraging gaming, I'll let someone else handle that...
| Family tradition |
| Dearest Chris,
*sigh* that's it in a nutshell... Personally, I don't think you are as
obsolete as a N64. I mean, you are so much handier to have around. The
best two things the N64 can do (besides being that verdant Donkey Kong
Green) are 1) Harvest Moon 64, and 2) Ogre Battle 64. Considering I
would have never bought it if they hadn't, at once point, fooled me into
believing that Earthbound 64 would be released onto it, that's the best
consolation I could give myself.
Anyway, as you were saying... I'm not sure exactly where this little
essay is going to take me, so buckle your seatbelt. I know this may not
seem relevant, but as both a child and a parent in the gaming age, I
think it is. First, my mom and dad never encouraged me to become a
gamer. It was something I noticed happening, but never really got much
into, in the olden days. We had the systems, sure. Well, the Atari and
C64, but games never became a big part of my life, other than to have
fun with my family.
While I was growing up, a company called Nintendo came along, and
suddenly, everyone knew about it, seemingly overnight. And so, my mom
got one for our brood that Christmas, I think a year after it had been
on the market. I really didn't notice it much then, either. My brother
and dad played a lot, games like Super Mario World and Duck Hunt. We
subscribed to Nintendo Power magazine. And that's when I saw something
that changed my life, forever...
I was idly reading it, and something caught my eye. A walkthrough of a
little game called "Final Fantasy" that bespoke to me of a world much
like that in my beloved books, a realm where I could loose my
consciousness into something that was pure fantasy, with Kings, Queens,
Princesses, Magic, Swords, even Dragons! It was wonderful, just thinking
about it. That was the first RPG I ever owned, and I still have it.
This, here, is what set me on the path of RPG, forever.
Where Duck Hunt and SMW were "bonding" activities for my dad and
brother, RPGs became "bonding" activities for myself and my mom. I went
to school during the day, and she would play, after school we would
talk, and I would play, before she went to take a nap for work. Over the
years, I never failed to talk her into playing more and more RPGs, and I
have always gotten the newest Square title for my birthday (of course,
we opened it and played it the day it came out, regardless of the fact
that my birthday was a month away).
After my parents divorced, and we moved back to my mom's parent's house,
the gaming tradition continued. We somehow got my grandma addicted to
Sim City and Tetris, and my grandfather and uncle to competitive rounds
of Donkey Kong Country. My entire family was gaming, and it's something
that brought us all closer together. Gaming is what landed me a
boyfriend, because I had the UBER rare Shining Force III, a game which
he coveted.
Games have alwasy been something that brings my family closer together,
and because of that, I'm absolutely sure how much gaming I'm going to
let my daughter do, when she gets older. As much as she wants. Other
things, like learning and martial arts, will, of course, take up most of
her time. But if she decides that gaming is something she likes to do,
I'm going to continue to tradition.
~arc
|
This is another prime example of how gaming's permeated the culture; there are families to whom gaming's a tradition, as much as families in the past used to go on camping trips or religiously follow a sports team.
I think arc's a relative rarity in having this kind of setup during her childhood, and we've had some discussion in the past as to how much people will continue to game as they get older, but I also think that as time goes on there'll be more people for whom the above situation holds true, and while it may never be the case that I'll never bond with my son or daughter by playing through an RPG together, I imagine gaming will be part of both our lives, much as my dad and I both enjoyed rock and roll without following the same particular bands.
Then again, if the entire family can get together all at once and enjoy playing the latest Mario Party, so much the better. Just as long as the kids stay away from my Silent Hill stash, it'll work out just fine.
Closing Comments:
Tomorrow's a free topic day, although I'm sure you've got lots more to say about Spaceworld and the Xenosaga trailer, (if you start now, your download might just be finished by 5pm tomorrow) so have at it. Adios for now.
-Chris Jones, weeps bitter tears over the new Zelda
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