s/o the state of video games today

[Aoife]

So the thread about the article on boys reading got me thinking again today particularly about the conversation I had with DH last night. Not only are kids way way too dependent on electronic media these days but the electronic media these days are well lacking in comparison to the good 'ole days. :tongue_smilie:

 

What I mean by this is..... Remember back to your childhood or at least to the games of the early nineties. Games like Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle, Myst and even games like Metroid and Contra. Back then we actually had to think to play these games. We'd hit a puzzle that must be solved in order to advance and we would have to sit there and actually think it through and figure out that puzzle. I remember just how awesome it was to play through Day of the Tentacle for the first time and how accomplished I felt as I figured out each piece of that puzzle. It was thrilling, challenging and FUN!

 

(Most) Games these days however are greatly lacking in these aspects. Think about the most popular games like WOW and even most playstation games. They all have walk throughs and help and pretty much hand you the full formula for the game before you even begin the quest. Gone is the mystery and the challenge that used to actually make our brains think. Now we have arrows and bright highlights that point us to our intended goals. Now if you can't figure something out the game will help you and hold your hand while you do it.

 

It's sad really. Kids expect everything to be handed to them, easy to use and ready to go. When faced with something that makes them have to think they say it's not fun or sucks. Now this is not all kids of course but the average kid. I have a split in my particular household for instance. I have my two step daughters who were raised with no reading aloud in the early years, tons of movies and a plethora of video games. The girls each have a netbook computer that DH and I control the content and access of. We have loaded games like Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle, Sam and Max hit the Road ect. You would not be able to imagine the complaints we get that the games are too hard, not fun and boring. They would much rather sit fazed into the TV playing something like mario kart or Halo. Heck they would even prefer laying in their beds doing nothing but listening to the local pop channel if we would let them.

 

it makes me sad really because kids have so much potential and society and all of it's glorious technology is squashing that for so many children. Too many parents hear a whining child and flip on the TV and that is their cure. Too many parents say oh your only a child once so let them be kids. That is the most irritating thought to me. :tongue_smilie: So in that rationale being a child means wasting countless hours plugged into some device because it's fun? Being a child means you should let them do and play whatever they want regardless of the outcomes? How about changing the statement to "You are only a child once and you will only have this miraculous ability to absorb and learn due to brain plasticity so why not learn and make it fun?"

 

the other split/side in my house is the boys. We have made it a priority to read to them every day since they were born. Our home is filled with shelves of books and fun educational games. Behavior is rewarded by snuggling on the couch with a good book, playing a fun family board game or a brisk walk outside in the woods. Whining is dealt with much the same way after a gentle explanation that whining is not how we communicate. When we do watch TV you bet your buns it's going to be worthwhile and educational. The only exception is when daddy takes them out to see a new movie or we plan a family movie night and watch a great movie like UP or Wall-E. The only video games my oldest DS plays are leapster games and that is still very limited.

 

We are already seeing the differences in my oldest DS. He LOVES to read. He could sit there (and has) for hours curled up on his bean bag absorbed in a pile of library books. He begs to learn and loves anything challenging. he may get frustrated at first with something but instead of giving up and saying this is too hard, he tries again and again until he can do it.

 

I guess my point is that I personally think that the state of the average child today is sad. I think the opinions of the average parent are sad. I hate that these average parents look down their noses at the minority of us that don't have kids with a bagillion electronic devices as being mean or too strict. I wish that someone would open up their eyes and make them see that these kids are our next generation. They are the ones that are going to run the world when we are gone. What do you think is going to be the most helpful tools for this, video games, Ipods, TVs?

 

Ok down off my soap box and back to your regular programming. I just needed to vent off steam with some more like minded people. :lol:

Edited September 27, 2010 by Aoife

[Diviya]

Have you read The Dumbest Generation? It pretty much says what you said!

[Farrar]

 

(Most) Games these days however are greatly lacking in these aspects. Think about the most popular games like WOW and even most playstation games. They all have walk throughs and help and pretty much hand you the full formula for the game before you even begin the quest. Gone is the mystery and the challenge that used to actually make our brains think. Now we have arrows and bright highlights that point us to our intended goals. Now if you can't figure something out the game will help you and hold your hand while you do it.

 

 

Actually, I disagree with this. I think there are just so many more games now. I think there are games that are much more thought-provoking than any I played as a kid and also more games that are really dumb (or violent or simple). Some of the games that are pretty popular today (like, say, Little Big World) also encourage creativity in ways that the simple old Atari or classic NES games couldn't.

 

I also think that kids do a surprising amount of reading with some of these games.

 

This is not to say that I think video games are totally good. As a society we're probably too plugged in and we're just starting to understand some of the effects of that (like in The Shallows). But I think it's like movies or TV today. Some people like to decry that "TV is all horrible now. It used to be so much better." I just don't see that. There's some great old TV (or movies or video games...) but there's also plenty that's thoughtful and interesting. It's just that there's more - more movies, more TV shows, more websites, more games and platforms for games than ever before. That means more crap too.

[SkateLeft]

My husband and I are both gamers. We're part of the first generation of kids that grew up with computers in our homes. He's now a software engineering manager with a graduate degree in Computer Science Engineering, and I'm a video game writer (which I generally don't talk too much about on here since it's not really relevant to homeschooling...hehe). :)

 

While I agree with some of what you said, I think that some of it is pretty broad generalization also.

 

If you haven't seen it already, Dr. Jane McGonigal's lecture from last year's TED conference, "Gaming Can Make a Better World," is food for thought regarding the potential of video games. Her argument is that if we can harness the positive elements of games, we could solve some of the world's largest problems.

[Mandy in TN]

My husband and I are both gamers. We're part of the first generation of kids that grew up with computers in our homes. He's now a software engineering manager with a graduate degree in Computer Science Engineering, and I'm a video game writer (which I generally don't talk too much about on here since it's not really relevant to homeschooling...hehe). :)

 

While I agree with some of what you said, I think that some of it is pretty broad generalization also.

 

If you haven't seen it already, Dr. Jane McGonigal's lecture from last year's TED conference, "Gaming Can Make a Better World," is food for thought regarding the potential of video games. Her argument is that if we can harness the positive elements of games, we could solve some of the world's largest problems.

Great video!

I left me feeling hopeful.;)

Mandy

[Aoife]

My husband and I are both gamers. We're part of the first generation of kids that grew up with computers in our homes. He's now a software engineering manager with a graduate degree in Computer Science Engineering, and I'm a video game writer (which I generally don't talk too much about on here since it's not really relevant to homeschooling...hehe). :)

 

While I agree with some of what you said, I think that some of it is pretty broad generalization also.

 

If you haven't seen it already, Dr. Jane McGonigal's lecture from last year's TED conference, "Gaming Can Make a Better World," is food for thought regarding the potential of video games. Her argument is that if we can harness the positive elements of games, we could solve some of the world's largest problems.

 

Great video thanks :)

 

i should mention here too that both DH and I are old school gamers ourselves. I grew up with a comodore 64 computer and intelevision. I do agree that there are some good games out today but for the most point the majority are just eh and not worth it. My Dh also is a software engineer who hopes to one day make his own video games. :) I think my main point is that the "average" kid today is more attracted to the "average" video game of today. It's also not just video games. It seems to spill over into so many places in their lives where they just don't want to put forth the effort into most things and would rather have the hardest and most rewarding work done for them. Take texting for example. Have you ever tried to read a text from today's youth? It's like reading an alien language because they don't want to take the time to even type out the words correctly. They'd rather watch a movie then read a book because the imagination is done for them. I think I am more sad over the state of the children in this generation then I am at the companies exploiting them for their own gain. I think though if you added up all the games made these days that are good and worth playing and put them next to the total twaddle games that have little to no value or difficulty you would be astonished by the lack of good games overall. Most of the good game companies have been bought out by larger companies who's main focus is revenue not quality. You have to really follow games to find the diamonds that are hidden out there like the more recent mine craft. The last great game i can say I really enjoyed was Dragon Age and even then all of the following DLCs were not worth the money and were pumped out only to make EA more money with no regard to the rich storyline or the possibilities they had created in the original game.

[Dana]

Actually, I disagree with this. I think there are just so many more games now. I think there are games that are much more thought-provoking than any I played as a kid and also more games that are really dumb (or violent or simple). Some of the games that are pretty popular today (like, say, Little Big World) also encourage creativity in ways that the simple old Atari or classic NES games couldn't.

 

Portal really is thought-provoking for a puzzle game.

 

On the DS, the Professor Layton games are good for solving puzzles.

 

Day of the Tentacle is fun (and there's a website that gives a way to crochet a purple and green tentacle! can't find it now, but neat idea!) but you're looking at games you remember playing and getting nostalgic. I could have said the same things you did about Tentacle going back to "Remember when Infocom games were what you played... nowadays they've got games with graphics where people don't need to know spelling or even use their imaginations! Hardly a grue to be found anymore!" :D

 

My son has a great time playing with level editors now as well and does a lot of gaming that way rather than actually playing the game. It's a cycle.

[Jilly]

Actually, I disagree with this. I think there are just so many more games now. I think there are games that are much more thought-provoking than any I played as a kid and also more games that are really dumb (or violent or simple). Some of the games that are pretty popular today (like, say, Little Big World) also encourage creativity in ways that the simple old Atari or classic NES games couldn't.

 

:iagree: Little Big Planet is an amazing game that encourages creative thinking.

 

Actually I think there are many great games out there today, much better than when I was a kid.

[Homeschooling6]

 

Here is what my limited t.v., non electronical games, book reading children did today. We do own a Wii but haven't played it since Jan. 2009;)

[Mom22ns]

If you haven't seen it already, Dr. Jane McGonigal's lecture from last year's TED conference, "Gaming Can Make a Better World," is food for thought regarding the potential of video games. Her argument is that if we can harness the positive elements of games, we could solve some of the world's largest problems.

 

That was exactly what I thought of when I read the original post. My son loves video games, but those he loves are those that have a story with quests to figure out. He loves being able to accomplish a quest without using a walk through.

 

He is also the kid who got new library books Friday and told me Friday night he had finished the first. He'd been downstairs and I thought he was on the computer. I asked how long it took and he said, "What time is it? It took the amount of time we've been home minus dinner". (That was 7 1/2 hours.)

 

I played early computer games. I had my first computer back in the 80s I loved Myst. However, I also played plenty of console games in the 90 like Sonic the Hedgehog or if you were on Nintendo it was Mario. The mindless games have always been there and they have always outnumbered those that required thought, all the way back to pong.

[vonfirmath]

Portal really is thought-provoking for a puzzle game.

 

On the DS, the Professor Layton games are good for solving puzzles.

 

Day of the Tentacle is fun (and there's a website that gives a way to crochet a purple and green tentacle! can't find it now, but neat idea!) but you're looking at games you remember playing and getting nostalgic. I could have said the same things you did about Tentacle going back to "Remember when Infocom games were what you played... nowadays they've got games with graphics where people don't need to know spelling or even use their imaginations! Hardly a grue to be found anymore!" :D

 

My son has a great time playing with level editors now as well and does a lot of gaming that way rather than actually playing the game. It's a cycle.

 

This. I played Myst as an adult -- oh and there were places to go even "back then" that you could get walkthroughs and answers to all the quests if you wanted.

 

It was GORGEOUS in graphics, but there was not a lot of game play there, really. I was really missing my Adventure Construction Set where I could make my OWN games if I wanted to! And Nethack (though that is still out there) where the game changes from play to play. And then there was a little aiming game where you were the air traffic controller trying to land all the planes.

 

Oh and Stars! I don't know what happened to that.

[5LittleMonkeys]

Portal really is thought-provoking for a puzzle game.

 

 

 

We LOVE Portal!

 

 

 

Aoife, I'm so glad you posted a little more clarification to your original post. I was getting reading to post a defense to the fact that my dc do play video games but are some of the smartest kids I know. Anyway, yes, I completely agree with you that it is difficult to find thought provoking video games. I find that there are more of that type for the PC than there are for consoles.

 

Getting back to the real point. I believe a dc can play video games, spend time on the computer, text, etc. and still grow into an adult that is ready to take on the responsibility of being a productive, contributing member of society. It's all about balance. That is something that I think is really lacking in many of the dc your referring to as "average". These are just my observations of the people who live around my area and whom I am in contact with. Both parents are working, the dc have school then homework, then sometimes 2 activities an evening. On the weekends the whole family is on the go again or mom and dad are trying to get chores, groceries or bills done and they don't want the dc in their hair. Technology is just an extension of that go, go, go mentality that a lot of people seem to have.

 

I think the appeal to many dc is that their technology is fast, instant, many times portable, and easy. As you said, many times not a lot of brain power needs to be exerted in order to be the winner. Video games are a huge effortless (in many cases) boost to your ego. A lot of dc will feel better about the ranking they have in a video game than they do about grades in school. They aren't getting bells and whistles and fanfare at school and many times they don't get those things from mom and dad either. It takes a lot of effort at school and at home to get the kind of gratification they get from easy video games. So, of coarse they are going to gravitate to them. Why, because parents have allowed that aspect of their lives to become unbalanced. Why have parents allowed that to happen? Because it is hard and takes a lot of effort to restrict your dc from those things especially if your dc go to ps.

 

Would mine play more video games if I allowed them? Oh yes! There fun! Do I think my dc will be damaged or somehow be inferior to a child that plays no video games, absolutely not. It's all about balance.

[Mommamia]

My husband and I are both gamers. We're part of the first generation of kids that grew up with computers in our homes. He's now a software engineering manager with a graduate degree in Computer Science Engineering, and I'm a video game writer (which I generally don't talk too much about on here since it's not really relevant to homeschooling...hehe). :)

 

While I agree with some of what you said, I think that some of it is pretty broad generalization also.

 

If you haven't seen it already, Dr. Jane McGonigal's lecture from last year's TED conference, "Gaming Can Make a Better World," is food for thought regarding the potential of video games. Her argument is that if we can harness the positive elements of games, we could solve some of the world's largest problems.

 

I'm so glad you shared this. Thanks!

[Homeschooling6]

We LOVE Portal!

 

Do I think my dc will be damaged or somehow be inferior to a child that plays no video games, absolutely not. It's all about balance.

:iagree: just like many other things (like sugar).

 

My nephew is really smart and loves to play his games. You should see how fast he can finish a rubik's-cube as well ;)

[mom31257]

I couldn't watch the whole video, but it was very interesting. Everyone probably has some activity that could cause problems if they do too much of it.

 

My kids do play video games, although, dd plays a lot less now. They watch some TV with us and some without. They do get on the computer for games or internet stuff.

 

My kids also love to read, play out or (in dd's case) write out things from their own imaginations, etc. They don't "have" to be doing something electronic "all the time", but they do really enjoy when they get to.

[Aoife]

I totally agree on the balance aspect! My mother used to say that most things were totally OK in moderation which is something I agree with whole heartedly. However The vast majority of children today are not getting it in moderation. They go to school, come home and plug in. There are some parents who have become the minority these days that actually will make their child do their homework first or do something constructive before playing games or watching TV. It is still consuming way more time then should be permitted to these kids though.

 

Fantastic wonderful awe inspiring games should still be limited IMHO. If you have a PS kid then half an hour a day is way more then enough plugged in time. You need the rest of the time to allow them to be unplugged, read, create something, learn and play.

 

Maybe it is the examples I am seeing around me constantly or the posts on other forums and the articles on how much today's youth is slipping behind. Maybe it is the grains of my own childhood where the emphasis was on reading and learning with very limited plugged in time. Whatever the case I fully believe there is so much more wonderful and beautiful things in the real world that can gain you so much more then in the fantasy world of games and TV.

 

I see the effects every other week when my step daughters come to visit. Their mom has the polar opposite views then hubby and I do. TV, internet, games and ect are completely unrestricted at their house. When DH calls the girls each night they are almost always watching TV. When they come here they complain almost non-stop that they want to watch TV, play games or doing something that isn't boring. Now mind you our home is anything but boring. We have a whole closet FULL of games like carcasonne, Risk, settlers of catan, candy land, life ........... We have art supplies coming out of our ears. We have hundreds of fantastic books. We have a huge .5 acre back yard with a playhouse and swingset. The kids have bikes, roller blades, a basketball hoop and a soccer net. we have wood working stuff, at least 100 pounds of fiber and a spinning wheel. I mean I could go on and on but the fact is we don't have cable. We lock down our kids PCs with net nanny, we do not allow facebook or myspace, we take my older step daughters phone away. We limit radio listening because my older step daughter would just lay motionless in bed from morning till evening and do NOTHING but listen.

 

When they complain they are bored we rattle off hundreds of thing s they could do. Then they say they don't want to so we ask what they want to do and it's the same every time. They want to watch TV or sometimes play games past their alloted times. Art is boring, reading is boring, board games are boring outside is boring........

 

it is this that makes me worry. it makes me worry because 90% of their peers are the same way. it makes me worry because this is our future.

 

On a side note we love portal here too as in hubby and I. the girls though have said it's too hard and not fun. So yes maybe my thoughts in my original post were more of a generalization but if you look at the stats and you go to local PS you'll find that the generalization is the average. Maybe go and watch the movie Idiocrasy http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387808/ It's a scary revelation. I wish someone would put out more thought provoking and more world changing games but even if they did would the kids want to play them?