As I listened to this past Friday’s 1up Yours podcast, lazily typing away and sipping coffee, I perked up when the crew got on the topic of how they planned to introduce their children to videogames. While What They Play’s John Davison is already raising two very young gamers of his own, the other three gents still aren’t fathers but they all mentioned that they definitely want to see their kids weaned on classics from a young age. This is interesting to me because I’ve given the subject quite a lot of thought. My plan? Bed time stories.
I will read stories to my child until they’re embarrassed by it but I also plan on playing classic games with them before bed. I’ll sit down with my son or daughter and fire up The Legend of Zelda or Mega Man 2, something with simple, impressionist visuals and rich with implied narrative. We’ll trade the controller back and forth and when they ask about the world, I might just make something up. Or ask them what they think. We’ll move through the technology quickly so they can acclimate to the vocabularies of different development eras. My hope is they’ll find what I found in these texts; potent fuel for the imagination.
How about you reader? How will/do you play with your young ‘uns?
On another note, I can’t encourage you enough to head over to 1up.com and start listening to the 1up Yours podcast. Garnett Lee, Shane Bettenhausen, and Shawn Elliot are three of the most important voices in the industry today and they’re damn entertaining drunks as well. Another shout out also to John Davison, whose What They Play is fast becoming as essential resource for parents in the western world.