VideoGame_Discussion

MrBean wrote:


You could always return it if unopened. I did update my post saying it might be OK if you pay attention and help him out in spots.

KCPenguins wrote:

Nah, got it digital ... I gave up on physical for kids games as it's just so much easier let him (and eventually his younger sister) flip through the games on the console.

Also if it sucks, I'll demand a refund from @Scott for his recommendation!

MrBean wrote:

If he struggles, that will obviously just be a reflection of the quality of gamer his father is.

MrBean wrote:


Nah, Scott gives great recommendations. I found some awesome video game music from some of his recommendations.

MrBean wrote:
Your reaction right when he got really into games: *wipes forehead and sighs in relief*

MrBean wrote:

Not to segue into a parenting conversation, maybe this deserves it's own topic. I'll try to keep it brief.

One of my kids (age 11) is a huge gamer. Right now he and his friends are on a Fortnite kick. Out of everyone, he is far and away the best player. He's absurdly good, especially at his age. That said, he isn't just sitting in front of the screen all week either.
He is also into many physical sports: bowling, soccer, football, golf. Still, like your son @MrBean if I'd let him sit on Fortnite all day, I think that is where he would be. I coach high school eSports and look forward to when he can join the team. No insult to the students I coach, but he would be the best player on the team TODAY, hands down.

So to be honest, I struggle with how long I should let him play. Gaming has become as much of a sport as any other and now contains many career pathways. I know prolonged gaming and screen time can be bad for the kids, which is why we limit our kids to an hour on the weekdays and a few hours on weekend days, but at what point am I stifling his gaming ability? Am I ruining a possible career path? Am I hindering his chance to maximize his abilities?

It's like, if you thought you had a star athlete on your hands and your kid felt that way too, I think most parents would be nurturing to that. You get that kid in the gym, you practice with them, you might watch film and study the game, etc. etc. You put in the work. Would we be telling the sports star you're watching too much film? You're spending too much time in the gym?

Scott wrote:

hahaha, well played sir

incubus421 wrote:
Very good points you're making. Very tricky decision. Perhaps if you see in the future that your son wants to pursue a career in gaming or programming, etc, then cater to that, but if he decides not to pursue it at all, he might decide to game less on his own altogether. Who knows. Very tricky, career path guidance.

I didn't know high school esports is a thing. Is coaching that similar to physical sports. In a physical sport, you can try to show a player how to move in a certain way and to work on things like coordination. A digital sport would have similarities. Maybe not quite the same, but definitely some overlap.

@incubus421 - it's a weird new world ... growing up, we all were told games aren't going to amount to anything. I was legit amazing, many stories of how damn good I was. Yet, everyone said, no future there ... boy, were they wrong. Still, I don't regret focusing on my career, as it's lead to great things. If I were to compare? Absofudginglutely I'd rather play video games professionally! Gaming is a very different world now than it ever was before. It can absolutely lead to amazing things, but it can also lead to a world of disconnected, social anxiety, depression and worse. Yet, this exists without gaming as well.

It's truly difficult to know what's the proper balance between sports, esports, education, and beyond as the kids are aging. Ultimately the kid needs to make their own decisions; however, per your point ... they will tend to pick what's more fun in the moment, that may cause challenges later. So I think our involvement is key, yet finding the balance is really important. With mine, I've told him he needs to play 1 team sport, 1 individual sport, and he can bail if he's truly not enjoying it. I've got him involved in various activities, and thus far, he likes them all - yet will always pick Minecraft first, haha.

My kiddo is only 6, so I have time ... you're at a crucial age where these decisions matter more and more. No easy answer there, as the kids don't yet know who they are, or what they want ot be. Our involvement/influence helps, but needs to be more so guidance than a mandate. How many kids do we all know growing up with butt-hole parents that rode them to be the best at sports that burnt out?

As long as we can give them structure and balance, they should ultimately turn out just fine!

It's a good dialogue for sure.

We limit our kids (between 5 and 10) to an hour most non-school days. Most school days is no games. Never online play. Only age appriate stuff (no shooters). On special occasions we tell them there is no time limit. We also take game time away as punishment, though I generally make it up by giving them extra time the following day without telling them. I'd say we're pretty strict.

As for e-sports, nuts to that same as regular sports in terms of making their child's life revolve around 1 thing. Cannot stand parents who groom their child to be what they couldn't. Odds are they won't be a professional athlete or get a scholarship (e-sports or regular). Rec leagues are good enough until middle school, and nothing should be taken seriously until high school at the absolute earliest. The most I'd force my kid into is trying something once, after that it's their choice. Let kids be kids.

My 2 cents.

KCPenguins wrote:

I dunno I would say kids need something to put their focus towards. If they are in sports, esports, playing an instrument, dance, etc. that all builds self discipline, and also often teamwork and social skills.

I would definitely let a kid choose what they want to do, but let them know that they have to stick with their choice for a certain length of time (length of the little league season for example) then they can choose to continue or try something else.

benstylus wrote:


Maybe I wasn't very clear. I'm talking about parents/coaches living vicariously through their kid, pushing them beyond what they should be doing. It's why there are 15 year olds getting Tommy John surgery. My brother was told by 1 coach that he needed to pick 1 sport for his kid and focus on that or he would never play high school sports. His kid was 6. He didn't listen and ended up playing 3 sports in high school despite being undersized. I've had a couple coaches that were dreadful, yelling at 1st and 2nd graders for quitting on him when they lost to a vastly better team by 2 goals. Activities for kids are vital, but crapty adults can shatter emotions and get kids hurt.

Edit: Should probably peel this out to a new General topic.

Oh yeah I 100% agree with that. Let kids be themselves, not the you that you either never were or wished you still were.

bonham2 wrote:

I've typically found "unplayable" to be hyperbole, but I would call that "unacceptable".

Yoshi wrote:


"Opinion" imo

You can't use a pro controller in Let's Go? How stupid.

Is the pokeball controller worth it? Looks expensive...

Holy crap how out of touch Gamestop is. Looking to get Lego Jurassic World for my kid's b-day on Switch. Going into the city today, figured I'd check their used price. $38... It's $25 new ready to ship from multiple retailers right now. It's $8 on the e-shop. $38 used?! Guess he's getting it digital.

Mario vs. Donkey Kong has a demo out now. The Switch version will have two new worlds, based on what I've read. I never played the original anyway.

I'm probably going to skip the demo and just buy it. The original Mario vs DK on GBA was good, but each one that released after was less and less fun than the one before it, so in a way I'm kinda glad they chose to remake that one instead of making an original one.

BloodPuppetX wrote:


I loved DK(94) on GB. I've always wanted to play the DS ones, but the Minis always kind of threw me off. Will try the demo, and I have a voucher to use. I hope this means DK(94) is coming to GB Online soon.

My Impact of Iwata goodie box from Nintendo Force arrived today! Currently have 2 copies of the book and chapter art poster because artist tier.

sailorneorune wrote:
Sweet!

DK 94 is one of my favorite games, and probably my favorite Gameboy game. I remember before I realized it was DK 94 that I had played as a kid, I thought it was the original Mario vs DK -- so when I tried that game out years later, I was a little disappointed to find that that my nostalgic memories weren't accurate... and therefore ended up not really loving Mario vs DK all that much. Fast forward to like... a year ago, I find the actual game I have nostalgia for (DK 94) and now I feel like I misjudged Mario vs DK. I've played very little of it on my Anbernic device before the remake was announced, so I figured I'd just wait.

I'll definitely give the demo a try and if it's better than I remember (and misjudged it for), I'll probably snag it. Like @KCPenguins I'm hoping for DK 94 to hit NSO sometime soon.

I like all the Mario vs DK games but the first one is definitely the best.

incubus421 wrote:

This is something we struggle with. My son is 12 and loves to play. We really don't limit him that much. As long as he's on top of his schoolwork and chores, he can play as much as he wants. We do enforce good bedtimes, so it's not like he stays up all night playing (we hear so many stories about kids staying up crazy late, even on school nights). He played a couple sports when he was younger, but organized sports just really aren't his thing. He'll happily come outside and play basketball in our driveway, badminton, toss a ball around, throw a frisbee...he'll even run and workout with me. He just has no interest in being on a sports team, so we're not making him. He's also done a few extracurriculars over the years, like art classes, and he was in band in 6th grade. He enjoyed playing an instrument and would have stuck with it longer, but the band instructor was super competitive and always pushing them to practice practice practice so that they could be better than the rival school and score highly in competitions, and that just made it not fun for my son. He'll join us for family time...board games, watch a movie together, do something outside, etc. But whenever we're not doing something like that and he has no homework/chores, he's on his Switch. When he was younger, he and my daughter spent tons of time outdoors, but it's gotten to be less and less as they've gotten older.

I wonder a lot if he's playing too much. But, he's a kid, spends most of his day at school, and he's on top of his responsibilities, so I feel like it's mostly up to him how he spends his free time. He does seem very interested in pursuing a career in video games, like game development or something, so you could say this is somewhat of an investment. He's never shown an interest in eSports or anything like that, and I definitely wouldn't encourage that. I know some people are able to make a decent career out of it, but I still don't think it's a viable option for most.

MrBean wrote:

No, it's really annoying to use that controller. The best way to play is in handheld mode. You use the gyro controls to aim, it works so much better.

Scott wrote:


This reminds me of the time a friend got Goldeneye 007 on n64. He stayed up all night playing until 5am. His mom called him in sick to school that day. lol

My parents would've sent me to school and taken away the game.

theJaw wrote:


What a bad demo. Should've been the first world. I'm underwhelmed. Dissuading me from buying it.

As a teacher and school administrator and a parent of 4, I can tell you most kids play way too much and way too late. It's a constant battle in my house, except when it comes to bed time. I can't tell you how many middle school kids are playing until 2 or 3 in the morning and sleeping in school. They all think they're going to be professional gamers (either eSports or YouTube stars). As much of a gamer as I am, I absolutely can recognize that it is a real problem for a lot of kids.

Persona 5 Tactica is $19.99 on amazon. That's what I was waiting for. Definitely good enough game to bite at that price.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&lo...

KCPenguins wrote:

I must have not played this on GBA, I assume I have it though, will have to look. I DL demo and was not a Fan. It has to be better than the demo reflects. Are the Mario Mini Games not different, pretty sure I played an enjoyed them. Been a while but I thought the mini would auto move etc.

Anyway, I saw I have DK 94 on my 2DSXL so I need to put some time on it. Still working on Hey Pikmin!

Yah I wasn't too impressed with the demo either. I don't know what it is about DK 94, but that game is legitimately fun... maybe it's the simple graphics add to the experience. Mario vs DK can't really replicate the satisfaction I get from DK 94 unfort.

I'm taking my son to compete in a Pokemon VGC Regionals tournament this weekend. He's always loved battling people online and does very well overall. Hoping he can at least make top 8 and win some prizes, I know he'd like that.

That's cool. Good luck to your son!

Scott wrote:

Thanks!

Buy him an ink stamp to publicly and authoritatively mark a victory for every adult player he crushes.


image

theJaw wrote:


DK94 feels like a fleshed out game. They had an idea, built a game around it, added in boss fights and mini-games. It has themed worlds with unique features that taught you how to use said features to your advantage, then challenge you. It feels like they said what if we take a lot of ideas from Mario 3 and apply them to the DK arcade game? Mario vs DK feels like they had a couple different ideas, didn't want to commit to either, then decided to sell it by quickly slapping a level select screen on it and inserted some barebones GUI. It feels like it was created in a level editor which might be the case as I believe it was originally supposed to have one.

DK94 also holds a special spot in my heart as I knew very little about it before playing it. I borrowed it along with a Super GB from a friend. When I defeated DK in the "final" arcade level, I thought the game would cycle back through the same old same old like the NES and arcade versions. Was a great surprise.