Do you play video games with your kid?

Some of you may have come across the study that says that 43 % of parents never play video games with there kids. (I am not one of them!) I enjoy playing video games with my kids and their friends. Hell, I am even trying to figure out what is the best buy for the new XBOX as a Christmas gift for them I am not the best player but I can hold my own. However, I do agree with one of the columnists from the Decatur Herald and Review when he states that most adults don't like playing with the kids because they are humiliating them,(see full article below) and I can understand that completely. My kids do not spend all their time playing XBOX, but far more time than I ever do and their skill at the games shows. My son can walk up to my character in Halo and kill me with one shot or hit with the butt of a gun, but I can send endless round of bullets at him and only take him down maybe 4 times out of 10. I know he is not cheating but it sure feels like something is wrong! Even my daughter is getting better than me! For a while, I felt assured that as long as she was on the other team, there was someone I could beat or at the very least, come out even with. It did not take long for her figure out it was a great deal of fun to whoop Dad's ass in a shoot'em up game! After that, I was all by myself.

Most of the reason I don't get to play the video games much is because of lack of free time, the XBOX being attached to the main TV of the house, and usually, there is little room for me when the kids all get together to play. But that is ok. I will find the time and play some video games with my kids, because I actually enjoy the experience and time with my kids is time with my kids. (Although there are times when I wish there was some time without them too!)

My fall back is that we play alot of board and card games and in those games, I can more than hold my own against them. These games require real brainwork and strategy and not just finger-eye coordination! Give me a game of Memoir '44 or RISK or something else that requires forethought and we'll see who is kicking butt and taking names!

Game On!

Later!

From the Herald and Reveiw Newspaper, 11/07

The Real Reason Adults Don't Play Video Games:

There was a time when I thought it was fun to play video games with my son, who is now 16. When Eric was five, we inherited an old Nintendo console that featured one-dimensional games. The older games had paths that led you places and you had few decisions to make outside of whether to go forward or in reverse. The games are addictive. I spent one day playing Super Mario Bros. 2 for about seven hours before finally figuring out how to kill Wart, the monster at the end.

When I played "Mike Tyson's Punch-Out," I could get through everyone until I got to Mike who flattened me with about three punches. It was then I found out yelling at games and complaining about the unfairness of hitting Iron Mike with a flurry of punches that did virtually no damage was at least therapeutic. That was the heyday of my video game playing. Eric graduated to Nintendo 64 and the end of my effective playing life was near. He easily beat me at just about every game except the driving games - years of actual behind-the-wheel experience finally paid off. I bring this up now because of a survey conducted by Associated Press-AOL Games that found 43 percent of people whose children play video or computer games never play along with them. This result means that 57 percent of them do play along.

The attitudes run the gamut. One man quoted in the AP story said he never plays video games. "It's just such a waste of time," said Jesse Lackman, 47, of Center, N.D. "I tell him, 'Do something that has some lasting value.'" Then there is stay-at-home dad Marvin Paup, 33, of Golden Valley, Ariz., who told AP he plays 30 hours a week with his son and dozens more on his own. Their current favorite is "Halo 3," a shooter game played online by thousands of players at a time.

Place me closer to Mr. Lackman than Mr. Paup. While I don't believe video games are a total waste of time, I can't fathom doing anything more than 30 hours a week other than work and sleep. Plus, I don't play video games much now because I am a poor loser. Eric and a couple of friends coerced me into playing some sort of James Bond 007 game a couple of years ago. It didn't take me long to figure out I wasn't playing the game, I was the object of the game. They used me as bait. I would peek around the corner and my character would get shot in the leg or arm - nothing fatal, just enough to drain some of my energy. Finally, I just said, "Kill me and put me out of my misery. Quit toying with me."

Now, I will occasionally play "Guitar Hero" with Eric, partly because I know many of the songs. While I am musically inept, I am not so inept that I can't at least play along in an easier mode. Inspired by a recent episode of "South Park," I found I'm quite good playing "Guitar Hero" acoustically.But don't let the survey fool you. Adults quit playing video games with their kids because they are tired of being humiliated by a kid. And if an adult tells you they don't play for a different reason, don't believe them. They're lying.

Managing Editor Dave Dawson's video game skills have eroded to the point he would have trouble defeating Bald Bull in "Punch-Out." He can be reached at ddawson@herald-review.com or 421-7980.