Ekim's Gamer View: Gaming Daddy
Ekim, 2004-02-06

Sorry for being rather elusive lately. I skipped my last appointments with my weekly EGV, and now I'm long overdue! And although I might disappoint this week by not really talking about games specifically, I still hope that I'll keep your attention. This week I'll talk about being a parent that loves games…

Turning into a 30 year-old boy with a new responsibility…

Some of you may already know this by now, but it's not without a bit of pride, and certainly with a little hint of vanity that I'll say this: Late last year, just before Christmas actually, I learned that I will soon be a father. A daddy, even. Yeah I'm proud, and sorry for using this column to announce it to the world, but I'll feel no shame about it! The outlook for 2004 now seems a little less dreary than it was before I got that news. See, the thing is that I'll be turning 30 in a few days too… For some reason that's big thing for me, but that's beside the point.

Now as it turns out I'll be a 30 year old daddy this year, and I stopped to think about a few things last January to try and put some things in perspective. One of the chief things in my mind is gaming. I am, by most accounts, among the first generation of kids (I'm still a kid) that actually grew up with video games at home. As far as I can remember, I had some gaming system or other in the house with me since I was around 7 years old. My very first one was an Atari 2600, and for those of you that this doesn't bring a little smile on their face, you can bet that takes me back a few years, and make me feel old.

I know that many people that are older than me and have kids do play games too. The difference probably is that I'm pretty sure they actually had to be convinced that games could be okay for their kids before accepting to play themselves. I'm sure that in their minds at one point they had to decide whether it would be okay for them to stoop to their kid's level, if I may say it like that. To let go of inhibitions that gaming in general bring to the minds of other generations: Gaming is immature, especially video and computer games. I never had this inhibition, and I still don't have it.

Growing up with a gaming console, and later a PC as a gaming platform, I personally can't even imagine my world without it. Kid or no kid, I don't see why I should stop enjoying games. To me, it's a part of life, and since I, and many others around me, turned out okay in the end, I don't see why I should fear that games will turn my own kid (lets start with one, shall we?) into a menace to society.

Whose fault is it anyway?

The menace to society isn't gaming itself, or the kids that play them. It's the parents and their lack of judgement. Rest assured that parents who let their babies die alone out in the car because they were too distracted playing EverQuest would probably have done it even if they didn't play games, under different circumstances, like while watching a movie. Games are a distraction, that's true, but if you can't control it, then you have a deep seeded problem for which gaming is just a part of. I hate to say it, but some people can be stupid sometimes. And I'm not talking about parents that neglect their children for games (although I certainly wouldn't call that brilliant). I'm talking about those who quickly point fingers at the games for being evil. Games aren't evil, people are.

So that being said, I'm definitely going to continue playing games. And what's more: I'll show my kid to play games too! Oh sure I'll carefully select which games he or she will play until they can detect the difference between reality and fiction on their own! But games they will play, I assure you! Filtering content should be my task as a parent, as well as teaching my children how to tell if something is good or bad, and what is real versus what is not. I certainly won't go and play Grand Theft Auto with them until they're much, much older (if ever at all), but I can take them for a ride in Morrowind to show them the sights.

I grew up watching Star Wars and playing video games, and I consider myself a good, decent person because I was told right from wrong, and more importantly I was explained why right was always better than wrong. I don't see why playing games would make me a worst person, and I'll stand up to anyone who thinks otherwise of me. Games are here to stay, and my kid(s), like me, will grow up alongside them.