O.T. - teens and video games

Off Topic - but I happen to not think that 1st person shooter games are real healthy for our teens. Since I have a 15 year old son this is a major issue around the house. Any other computer gamer geeks out there who would like to propose less violent yet still interesting and thought inducing computer games that might serve as a substitute for him? Been through Myst and Riven and did enjoy those.

Koen

Reply to
Koen O. Loeven
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My oldest one is now 24......he's moved on from shootem ups, read that as outgrown them, to auto racing sims. He started with the TOCA British Touring Car sims and Colin McRae Rally sims........The one particular sim he's doing a ton is Indy Car racing........he feels the concentration is far more intense as real world factors of reacting to being in the wrong place at the wrong time can rear it's ugly head. He continues to say 'I can't believe I could enjoy going around in circles.' He'll go outside for fresh air after going 40 laps at Indianapolis and ask how do those guys do that? Or Scott Sharp took me out again. Speed is good.

The younger guy(13 today) is being steered away (read that they arent' allowed in the house) from anything anything pure blood and gore as his mother sees no redeeming value. This I back her up on. Shootem ups on Bonus.com or Cartoon Network's website are allowd.....when we were at NYPOWER in '02 we won a raffle for a flight in a historic aircraft. he asked me if he could go, though a bit apprehensive, we worked it out and he went for a flight over the Finger Lakes....(thanks to the HAG-Historic Air Group-guys for that.....) .......because of it he's started to play with the Flight sims which I'm hoping he continues with. Once in a great while though, he has to take on the Spiderman villains.

Several house rules, the PS2 stays in the family room, period. All the computers are downstairs, period. Homework is done downstairs, period. I can look over his shoulder at any time to see what he's looking at or what he's playing, period. It may sound heavy handed, but one is now moving towards his master's and the little fella has his sights set on Princeton. It's a balance of focus/distraction.......you can be the greatest grand theft auto player in the state, what's the prize for that? Everyone has to relax, but when it becomes an obsessiion opportunities are lost or at least postponed for quite awhile.

Reply to
Chuck Rudy

My son has spent hours building an airforce using x-plane flight and design simulation software. Very well done package. Gary Deaver

Reply to
Deaver

Tony Hawk Pro Skater Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4 Tony Hawk UnderGround

Question: have you sat down with him and discussed "first person shooter" games? Explain your concern. Ask him what he thinks and feels about them.

Your kid seems to have already played the games. A good honest discussion (notice I didn't say lecture) between the two of you will go a long way toward preventing anything from happening.

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Zooty

Reply to
zoot

I almost forgot:

Apogee Rockets has RocSim, which can be used as a game:

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I've got an 8 year old nephew who's fallen in love with it as a game. I've promised to build one of his rocket designs for him, when he decides which one he wants. I did insist that he limit it to 2 stages and model rocket motors.

He's now better at using the software than I am. Sigh.

Zooty

Reply to
zoot

Some of my kids enjoy the "railroad-tycoon" or "sim-sity" type games. Here's an example "Lemonade tycoon":

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the demo and give it a go.

Reply to
Darren J Longhorn

I can think of a non-shooter game that's not healthy for the head; Everquest. Do a search for 'Evercrack' and you'll get the idea. I had a very negative experience with a psycho-nerd Evercrack roommate. It involved the local police, automatic weapons in my basement and truly psycotic behaviour of said psycho-nerd. Not to mention me loosing my cool(something I never do).

Ted Novak TRA#5512

Koen O. Loeven wrote:

Reply to
nedtovak

Get him a girl friend or one of those blow up dolls. 8-)

Phil

Phil Stein

Reply to
Phil Stein

I would suggest ASP.net and or SQL server. They are great subsitutes for games, and they themselves are a game. best news is, once your good, you get great prizes. heck write your own games out of them.

Or if you don't like M$, then J2EE Java, CF MX, websphere, oracle etc...

all great games.

art

Reply to
Art Upton

Why exactly would FPS games not be healthy for teens? Any video game, sim, RPG, or FPS is not likely to be healthy if it becomes an obsession.

If you are one of those that think Marilynn Manson and Doom caused the columbine shootings like the media wanted you to believe, then I hope someone takes away your right to vote. Would prolly end up voting for an anti-rocketry bill if the media told you to. If this isn't the case then ignore.

Teach your kids video games are video games, and that killing people in real life is bad, and let them play whatever they want in moderation.

Personally I have stopped playing a lot of FPS's because of other interests and there hasn't been many games worth playing that have came out in a while.

Still trying to beat Baldurs Gate 2. Great great RPG if you son is into that sorta thing.

I generally try not to play video games related to activities that I can do in real life easily which eliminates some games.

You could have him play The Sims, or Sims Online for hours and hours and hours. That is guaranteed to screw him up more then counterstrike or battlefield 1942 in moderation.

Pax

Reply to
Paxton

While I have played many, many, shooters...

Total Annihilation, Sim Tower, Sim City, online board games, Civilization I/II/III, Nintendo emulator, Atari emulator, Aquire, Chess, ... these are just a _few_ of _many_ of my "safe" and "non-bloody" addictions for some time...

I would try to quit, but I would fall off the wagon and not go to sleep for a couple of days. My longest straight game-playing stint was about 3 days... (or was it 4... I don't know).

until it cost me... dearly...

I deem it my personal biggest contribution to the dismal failure of my first marriage... while I was playing games on my PC, she was chatting with her future husband on her laptop... for over 3 years... and then one day I came home to nobody home... except the the friendly Sherrif, who issued me divorce papers, and escorted me back off the property... took a long while to absorb what hit me... and came close to never recovering.

This is not to say that there wasn't a whole bunch of other issues that contributed to the failure, in which I had little control... but my habits certainly did not help the issue, either.

I have given up games in general... because I _must_.

("My NAME is Duane Phillips, and I am a game addict...")

no... better make that "computer addict"...

Problem is, I use the computer for many other useful things... so certain "cold turkey" doctrines do not quite fit here...

I do not think my case is unique, either.

I think nothing short of involvement and HUGE investments of _time_ with my children will help to alieviate this ever-increasing problem, and I may just learn something.

~ Duane Phillips.

Reply to
Duane Phillips

One point of clarification: In no way am I concerned that this guy will act out in real life what he may want to play on the computer. I just have a moral objection to this type of game.

Koen

Reply to
Koen O. Loeven

Believe it or not, My 9 and 13 year old boys really dig the old 80's arcade Games. I'm talking about using MAME. (Multiple Arcade machine Emulator). It's an emulator program that was started as an open source project in '96 and has grown to support every game you could ever put a quarter into. We're working on building an arcade cabinet to house the thing in for more arcade like feel.

Sure there's shoot-em-ups, but we're talking about space invaders and

1941 type games here.

As for the PS2/N64, they are only allowed to play on the weekends. The Violent games are off limits (At home anyway) and they have to get the homework done before anything else.

A nice distraction for the 13 YO is that he is now learning to play the guitar. If he only concentrated so much on his homework...

-Chr$

Reply to
Chr$

......and as a parent it is your job to try to pass on to him your values. Though they often try to talk you out of it........ ;-)

Reply to
Chuck Rudy

I encouraged their playing the Gameboy versions of PokeMon, as there is a fair amount of strategy to the game. In fact, with PokeMon yellow my oldest was so stumped he had to "learn" to follow maps in the strategy guide. Since then he's been all over the place looking fro his own resources.

The three of them (daughter, 9, sons 11 and 13) now hav something in common (just imagine!), and often are seen huddled up helping each other, or just showing off. Of course, that's until they see me watching them, that is.

My oldest also likes race car games, and some Tom Clancy's. I refused to buy any games that were just shoot-em-up without any significant strategy, and nothing with gore. Thankfully the games all have ratinsg in that regard.

in terms of groundrules, there is no game playing until all homework an reports are done, and homework must be done ASAP when assigned, NOT when "due". Truthfully, though, with Karate lessons they don't have much time until the weekend anyway. If I get a 'bad homework report' or a failed test in a week, they lose game privileges from the incident, until the end of the following week.

on the computer, the same rules apply. It is available at any time for schoolwork (reports, Encarta, etc.), but internet access is as per games. Same for TV (other than Learning, Science or Discovery channels).

I promised them a game system when they all have B or better averages, bu the boys haven't been able to meet that requirement as yet. My daughter, OTOH, has been Honor Roll for the past three years.

in short, I think the gameboy/Advanced/SP is excellent, and lets them play in groups with their friends in the neighborhood with the multiplayer gamelink. But there games do have to meet certain standards, as does their school performance.

- iz

Chr$ wrote:

Reply to
Ismaeel Abdur-Rasheed

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