December 23, 2005 - Friday
Harry got a video game for his birthday last weekend. It's one of the new self-contained games that just plugs directly into the inputs of the TV, with all the processing funcitonality built into the handheld control. This unit has, of course, a Star Wars theme and has five different games built in with the card slot for adding more games. At this time, that seems highly unlikely. The boys mother and I have always said that we wouldn't be the ones to encourage them to be playing a lot of video games and that the only way the would get in the house is if someone else brought them. And so it has happened.

I suppose my parental stance on video games has softened a bit since a conversation I had a few months ago with another parent. Her contention, while agreeing that too much gaming isn't a good thing, was that 50 years ago kids used to freely go exploring in the woods, around town, or other places in the physical world. Today's parents are a lot less likely to let that happen, given crime and heightened fear of possible predators, so maybe it's not such a bad idea that they explore different "worlds" from the safety of their own living rooms. Fair enough, but these games can be addictive. Not surprisingly, Harry wants to play it all the time. The other thing that's not too surprising (even if it is) is that Harry has picked it up very quickly and is already pretty good.


Comments, Opinions?