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[Rogue]

I think that proper game education is required.

My syster in law (13 year old) finished Full Throttle and is about to finish Days of Tentacle. Other games that interest her are Donkey Kong (SNES - GBA), Frogger (Arcade - Sega Genesis), old Disney titles (Aladdin, Lion King, etc.).

She does like new games on PS/PS2 (I bought her both consoles) but very often she would turn ScummVM or some other emulator and play some of old point and click adventures or arcade/action games.

My wife said it's all my fault! :crazy:

[Don Andy]

I would at least try to get my child a NES or something, but it would most likely want to have a better console sooner or later.

Since he will have friends (at least I hope so :P) who have all the nifty 360 and Revolution consoles, he will soon realize that something is wrong with his console.

So basically, I would allow him to play games of any time he wants, as long as I can afford it (letting my child have a NES is much less expensive than a 360) but I wouldn't let him play all the games he want. If he is 8-10 of age I would never allow him to play GTA or other 16-18+ games. Although it may not be true that kids murder their family because of videogames, it is that some children get more aggressive when playing those games. I observed this with my own brother. He is about 10 now and loves to play GTA:SA. He became really aggressive ever since.

[Grinder]

You should see my brother when he's playing International Super Star Soccer 64.

[efthimios]

I had fights (yes physical fights) during games of GBA Two on Two championship (abandonia title soon?) with a close friend of mine at the time (both around 12). GTA my donkey. You don't need violence in a game to make kids go violent. I remember showing and letting a young (at the time) cousin of mine play Mortal Kombat 1 when he was oh about 6yo, but for some reason explaining him (while sitting him on my laps to reach the desk) that this was fake, a game and in real life this type of violence and behavior is not right. After a while he became addicted to computers, is going to attend a course in computing next September and he is a very nice, clever young man without tendencies to kill anyone.

I don't think it is a good idea to take a kid and teach him/her about old games just for the sake of it. What I would do is play the games I play, and when he/she sees me play much older games, if he/she is curious, then do something about it, perhaps play a couple of multiplayer games. Avoid getting the "teacher" look, some kids will not like something because you tell them they should.

I don't have kids (but I would like to), but I had a lot of time with babies and young kids in my earlier years. (before becoming a 29yo fat bastard )

[Kon-Tiki]

Monkey sees what monkey does. If you play alot of old games as a parent, a kid'll get an interest into those too. If you only play new-fangled games, a kid'll get an interest in those only. Just make sure it'll play outside too and gets plenty of exercise. That's very important, especially when they're in kinder garden and primary school.

[Grinder]

Yeah, you can't let a kid go to kindergarten without enough physical power to show the other kids around .
About the NES, Don Andy, I'd rather give the kid a PC. There's Abandonia for PC games, but is there a similar site for NES games? Or a fleamarket?

[Puffin]

I'm a support-person/parent to a little boy. That means I get paid by the government for being fun and hanging out with him, but I've also got some rights. I'm like.. backup-mom.
Anyways.

Last Friday was his birthday.. I told his foster parents to give him a PS2, and I gave him Sonic and Tails Loved that game when I was a kid myself!!!!! Then when I go back to the city, I'm gonna visit him and play the game myself

[gregor]

Originally posted by Grinder@Apr 11 2006, 12:29 PM
There's Abandonia for PC games, but is there a similar site for NES games? Or a fleamarket?

www.oldgames.nu

downloaded many spectrum games from there. And sometimes they have some good abandonware games set as game of the hour (no credit required for DL).


also CGA has them i think. i am not into the consoles so much so i never follow these games.

[Bry]

I think the older games like some of the old Sierra series ...Space Quest etc..... where you have to type in the commands and solve minor puzzles make great learning tools..... other games like Q bert and Pong make great eye to hand coordination ...... so yes if the child shows an interest....

[my 2 cents]

[Kon-Tiki]

The old adventure games... most definitely. That's how I got sma... no, that's a counter-example. Well, they still do alot more for a kid's education than might seem at first.