A reader shares his account of what type ofvideo gameshis children, along with their companions, are engaged in play, and he does not view this as beneficial for the industry’s future.
I’ve been a video game enthusiast for most of my life. It’s not my sole hobby; I don’t define myself by being a gamer, unlike some people online, but I believe video games are really interesting and I play them frequently. When raising my children, I made a deliberate effort not to impose games, or any of my other passions or views, on them, but in the end, they were still affected, particularly by my passion forNintendo.
That indicated they spent a lot of time playingMario and Pokémon, and more recently Zelda, and it’s been great to witness them experience the same kind of pleasure from them that I always did. Similar to me, they aren’t hardcore fans, and have many other interests, including things I would barely consider a video game, likeMinecraft and Roblox.
What I have observed, or come to understand through conversations with other parents, is that most children are not similar to mine. Most don’t appear to have their own gaming console, and their understanding of gaming is based on using phones, tablets, and laptops to play Minecraft, Roblox, and other lesser-known games that I find hard to believe keep their interest. What’s puzzling to me is that none of them seem particularly interested inFortnite.
As I’m not using any actual names here, I’ll say that I believe some of these parents behave quite strangely when the topic of games is brought up. Many of them do own a console or even a gaming PC, yet it seems their children aren’t encouraged to use them. There’s no effort made to expose them to age-appropriate content, like I did with Nintendo, and instead they’re simply handed a phone or tablet to keep them quiet.
Slightly amusingly, some of these individuals have recently begun to express concerns that ‘children’ (children in general, not ever their own children specifically) lack interest in video games and are worried this is negatively impacting the gaming industry and the focus of publishers.
I was surprised they were smart enough to recognize this, yet it never occurred to them that they themselves were the issue. Because they took over the gaming consoles and didn’t provide access to games suitable for their children’s age, the kids ended up going for cheap, often free-to-play, poor-quality options.
It’s similar to a parent expressing concern that their children aren’t eating properly, while only providing them with unhealthy food. Moreover, they appear not to understand that it’s their responsibility.notto provide their children with unhealthy food.
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