Games and Parents: Your Own and Issues

[SoulBlazer]

I know we've talked about how your girlfriend/boyfriend/mate feels about your games. I know we've talked about how your kids feel about your games. I know we've talked about how friends feel about your games.

I don't recall ever seeing a thread were we talked about how our PARENTS feel about our games.

I'm guessing many people here are around my age or older, and therefore, we grew up with the NES or eariler systems -- before the 90's, before the rise of violent and bloody and M rated games. So the issues are totally different, of course.

I'm curious to know how your parents felt about your game playing, if they tried to limit you in anyway, if they bought you stuff or you had to buy it all yourself, if they ever saw any pratical value to the things. Feel free to include other relatives if you lived or spent major time with them.

To get this started off, here's some information on my case:

I'm 27 years ago -- born in 1976. I started on games early in my life, thanks to my parents, which seems rather funny to me today. When I was 4 I came down with lazy eye, and the eye doctor told my parents that I needed to work on my hand-eye cordination (I also had to wear glasses after that point for the next 20 years of my life, until I had LASIK done in 1999). He suggested a game system like a Atari. So my folks bought me one and some games to play on it. I recall I was allowed to play it for a while each day as long as I did'nt spend all day on it. My parents even played with it some (they liked Bowling) or played with me (I recall Pac Man and Space Invaders in perticular.)

That seems REALLY weird to me now, because even though my parents got me a Commodore 128D for Christmas of 84 (which, granted, my Dad used a lot) and a Nintendo for Christmas of 87 (which I never directly ASKED for, just said the comericals looked nice! ) they always seemed to HATE me spending ANY time with the things.

I was'nt the most social kid growing up, so I saw the games as a release valve, and probaly spent more time on then I should have. Still, even with my folks nagging, I finally settled into a understanding with them. As long as I kept my grades up, did other things with my social life, and did'nt spend all day on them, I could play them. My parents never did understand the attraction about them, but often checked up on me to see what I was doing. They did buy most of my stuff, though (a habit that only recently stopped a few years ago, much to my disapoinment. They think I'm too OLD now for them. )

Of course, this was also in the late 80's and early 90's, when the most controversial games on the market were Doom and Mortal Kombat. I never bought them (never been a huge fan of them) but I rented them and my folks wer'nt thrilled with them but let me play them. I can tell you if games like GTA III had been out when I was 16 or under, no freakin way in HELL would I be allowed to play them!

The Super Nintendo was the first big item that I bought with my own money -- saved up for it all year in 1991 and got my folks to buy it for me for Christmas of 1991. I still recall asking for another game with it, giving a list, and $250. They came back with the system ($180) and Final Fantasy II ($70! To this day, still my most expensive game).

Now when I go home to see the folks they still act like they are 'tolerating' me when I take out the GBA SP for car trips or what not. I guess sometings never change. Hey, they started it back in 1980.

Personaly, I wish parents WOULD take more change in controling what their kids played, like mine did. Stores need to take a morer active role also, but is being controling such a bad idea in this case?

Your turn to share.

[AB Positive]

My mother was pretty much in the same boat, except my eye problems didn't get corrected by LASIK

Not a real social kid, so I'd play video games. When my friends came over, we'd all play video games. My mom was nice about it though, I wasn't really into the bloody games and such so as long as I didn't spend all day and went outside for a while (which I liked to do anyway) I was OK. Last system she bought for me was the Playstation.

She worried a bit about the things but when I was motivated to go to college to try and make all the graphics you see in the games, suddenly she saw they weren't too bad. If games can take a somewhat lazy kid and make him want to go to school and graduate with a 3.75 GPA (*cough* rubs knuckles), they couldn't have been too bad.

The only flack I get collecting is that she wishes I could spend as much energy as I do collecting as I could getting a job. But since there are crap all openings at the moment, I gotta spend my time doing something!

-AG

[Sotenga]

My parents have always accepted my video game obsession! Heck, they even bought an NES before I was born! It was for my brother, but I somehow adapted to it faster than he did. I've been playing video games since I was two, so my parents accept the fact that I'm ever so hopelessly addicted to them.

And although they aren't as much of a freak over them as I am, my dad used to love Castlevania! Don't know what his stance on it is today... as for me mum, she loves Tetris, Klax, and especially Dr. Mario. So, I guess it runs in the family...

[eolsen]

My parents bought my first system for my sister, SNES. After a few years it really became mine and then the collecting started to begin. My parents never really complained about it or told me I need to get rid of some games. They are pretty cool about it.

[Zubiac666]

It's my dad's "fault" that I'm addicted today
He was in japan and brought me a famicom+disc sytem plus over 100 discs
He also used to manage an arcade-machine rental and so we always had the newest neogeo machines in the cellar...great
too bad he fucked up his business

today my father doesn't care about my hobby
and my mother always says: "Stop that(videogaming),better concentrate on your studies(psychology)!!"
Guess I don't need to mention that there's hardly any time for learning

as my bro always use to say: "Dude,u r crap"

[Sand_monkey]

Well I was born in 1985, and my first computer sytem of any kind was the Commodore C64 that my parents bought me, To this day it Is one of my favorite systems. My parents used to encorage me to play, when we got a master system with the game "Phantasy Star" I never even got a chance to play it becuse my dad was always on it! He loved the master system and completed Alex the kid more times than I can remeber!
My mum really likes the RPG's and games like that to and the really violent games that we get now (Like postal 2) she finds funny more than anything else :P

Me and my parents still prefer the older systems like the Amstrad CPC 464 and the Spectrum ZX to most of the systems that are out today. I asked them why and they said that back then the games had a bigger challenge... and they're right!

[gamergary]

My parents were gamers so I just took their 2600 and started gaming. While I can beat them at most other games my dad can kick my ass at River Raid (he had the score to get the patch but he never did) and my mom at Frogger. Thus they didn't care if I played video games as long as I keep my grades up.

[gamegirl79]

My parents bought me an Atari 2600 for Christmas in '84. At that time I was 5 years old. I remember playing it constantly...so much that I broke one of the joystick controllers!

Then in the summer of '88 I finally got a NES. We set it up in the basement and I played it so much that my mom actually brought food down to me so I would eat! I was obsessed with that thing....and I still have it hooked up today right next to my PS2 and Gamecube.

I wasn't very social as a kid (and as an adult not much has changed) so videogames were my outlet all through elementary, high school, college, and into my adult life. My parents didn't have a problem with it but thought I would "outgrow" it. By the time I was about 17 and still asking for games for Christmas, I think they just accepted the fact that I would always be gaming.

[Flack]

My dad got me started into gaming. In 1978 I believe he brought home our first pong. The next year we had an Odyssey II, and then an Atari 2600. While my little sister and I played on them quite a bit, you could always hear the sounds of Video Pinball or Pac-Man floating in the air long after the kids had gone to bed.

My dad was actually on Radio Shack's waiting list for the TRS-80 Model III. We used to take turns gaming on it. In later years, we owned an Apple II, a Commodore 64, and a PC jr. At one point in time, all three of these systems were hooked up in the living room on one big 8' desk.

My dad still likes PC games. I think his favorites are The Incredible Machine and Lode Runner and whatever flight simulator is hot at the time. He got out of consoles when the controllers got too complicated for him. He hates Playstation, he just thinks that the controllers are too complicated. If there was a way to use Atari joysticks on a PS2 he would probably still be in there.

My dad still enjoys coming over and seeing the new stuff I get, but I think he gets a kick out of the idea that I still have our original Atari 2600 and Odyssey II hooked up as well.

[maxlords]

I was actually banned from video games by my parents. I wanted an NES back in Jr. High SOOOOOO bad, but they said no, not unless I could buy it myself. Of course, at that age, I just couldn't come up with the money and they knew it. Strangely, they let me have a computer for "educational" use, and they bought me a C64, conveniently with 400 or so games! Basically the ban on console gaming made me obsessed. I bought every magazine, read every article, went over to friends houses and played every game. By the time I could afford to buy games, I bought with abandon, and here I am now. Ironically, my dad LOVES arcade games, especially mindless fun ones like T2 and Terminal Velocity (The old 3D Realms shooter). It's my mom that hates the gaming. Either way, I'm glad things turned out as they did!

[Gamereviewgod]

I played the NES/video games for the first time in 1985 (maybe '86) at a freinds house. My parents thought Contra, the one game I wanted, was too violent (yes, it started back then), so they bought me a 7800 instead for Christmas that year. Well, after a year of nagging, I got my first NES with Contra, and another game that slips my mind right now. The next morning I wake up to find mom blasting ducks out of the sky in Duck Hunt, a person who is completely against any form of hunting. THAT was a priceless moment.

[hydr0x]

it's my parents "fault" that i collect

when i was young i and my brother got a NES, i always wanted to get Zelda for it, but they never bought it, cause my dad thought it was too much english text

i stopped gaming 2 years later i think, until we got internet in 1995 (was it 1995, yeah, think so) and i finally found out about emulation. i got zelda as rom but realized that this wasn't really what i was looking for, so i tried to get the real one as i still had my nes, that's how i started collecting

my parents are against my hobby though, in fact they do not even know i collect, they just know i've got a lot of games. if they knew how much i actually own they would go crazy but who cares i've earn my own money and live on my own, they can't forbid me anything

my gf is absolutely ok with my hobby, that's what matters...

[LazingBlazers]

Well, I was born in 1980, and my first system was the NES. I remember playing Atari when I was 5 or 6, and really wanted one bad. The games were so cheap, too... but my Mom wouldn't let me have one because this Nintendo was coming out. Because of that, I got a NES in probably 1987, maybe 1988. Think of this time frame, and how old I would have been at the time... also think of how realistic the graphics were. I was freakin' banned from playing Double Dragon, Renegade, and later Double Dragon II!!! Man! My Dad is a Vietnam Vet, who was a Platoon Sargeant in the USMC. He'd take me to see R rated action movies, but I couldn't play some stupid NES game because it was too violent! My Dad actually rented me Double Dragon a couple of times, though, and just told me to keep it cool. Eventually I did something to make it acceptable to my Mom to play these games, for the life of me I have no idea, and I later bought a used Double Dragon II right in front of her in probably 1991 or 1992. My Mom even used to drive me and a couple of my friends to the arcade basically every Saturday. I remember reading the Mortal Kombat EGM in Church with my Cousin, in hindsight I'm glad my Mom or Aunt didn't see that.

In conclusion... playing Video Games has always been okay with my family, except for some violence issues when I was younger.

Looking at some of the other posts, I always associated playing games with social activity. Nowadays, I pretty much play them by myself... but when I was a young kid, and even a teenager, it was always a group thing. It was just a thing you did... go play some ball, go cruisin', do some stuff like that, and play video games.

[ventrra]

I never had a problem with being able to play video games because of my parents ... well, except when they were playing and wouldn't let me have any time to play the games myself. My mom & dad were/are video game players. My mom's parents (my grandparents) were video game players until they died. Of course, all of us started out by plying "Pong".

[Kejoriv]

Im 22 right now. My parents never had any probs with me playing video games. When I was in junior high and high school, I was out on control. Skipping classes, getting kicked out of everything, sneaking out, going to parties, etc. I dont know what happened to me then. But, they loved when I played video games because I wasnt doing anything bad or getting in trouble. Except when I stole the games to play. I have completely changed, thank god.
~Kejoriv

[petewhitley]

My dad loves vids. I usually buy him a game or a system for Xmas, his birthday, etc. Back in the days of the Genesis, I had it hooked up in my room (to the computer screen, for better resolution). I had to yell at him nightly to turn the PGA Tour Golf off so I could go to sleep. He'd keep right on playing in the dark... He was hooked on that game.

[Dire 51]

The tale of my parents and gaming is a long, sometimes odd story. It started when my older brother gave them a dedicated Pong system. They liked it quite a bit, and because of this, my mom received a 2600 as a gift for her birthday in 1980. My parents played the hell out of it too... some of their favorites were Space Invaders, Pitfall!, Air Sea Battle, Canyon Bomber, Haunted House, Q*Bert and Carnival (my mom especially loved Carnival - there were times we couldn't pry her away from the system while she was playing it).

To them, however, it seemed to be more or less a passing fancy, By the mid-80s, both of them had almost stopped playing games permanently. The 2600 became the sole property of my brother, sister and I. By the time we wanted an NES, they were completely beyond gaming (in fact, at one point the NES was banned from our house - long story).

At least, that's what we thought.

My dad complained that the new games lacked the simplicity of the old ones, and he said several times that he had no interest in them. Riiiiiight. More than once, I found him sneaking around playing NES games... I surprised him once playing Mega Man 3. His response? "I just wanted to see what the big deal was about." (it was my brother's favorite game at the time,and he wouldn't stop talking about it) - but I could tell he was enjoying it. We rented Hard Drivin' for the Genesis once, and for once he didn't sneak playing it - he actually wanted to try it, and he thought it was great once he did (he particularly loved running over the cow - I'd never seen him laugh so hard at a game before that).

My mom, on the other hand, stayed almost retired from gaming until the day she passed away. We got her to try the NES once, and she enjoyed it once she figured out the controls, but she just never got back into it.

Currently, my dad plays the occasional PC game - and the Atari 2600 emulator I hooked him up with. It blew his mind that he was playing all of his old favorites (and then some) on his PC.

[Lady Jaye]

I'm 28 (born in 1975) and my parents were not big videogame fans. The only console they bought me was a used Atari 2600 clone (the Coleco Gemini) with games for $50 from a friend of mine, in 1987. A few months later, I bought more Atari games from another friend, with whom I used to play videogames all the time (he had just moved on to the NES).

Since my best friends had a NES and a Sega Master System, I didn't really nag my parents for either console. From 1990 to 1997, I wasn't much of a gamer (I sometimes borrowed my friends' consoles, but I wouldn't play regularly). That pretty much changed when I bought my SNES in early 1997.

Anyway, my parents don't really approve of my videogaming (they view the GBA SP as a gimmicky toy), but there isn't much they can say anyway.

[TRM]

My parents had bought some sort of videogame machine which played a Tank game during the 70s. Gaming was popular and they didn't want to be left out. However, since they couldn't afford to buy Atari or Colecovision or anything, they bought this single game knock-off. Eventually they would sell it at a yardsale, long before I came around.

I was born in 1986 and by 1989 I was playing Nintendo. My brother and I were at my Aunt and Uncles house and my cousins had us play their NES. Then we got addicted to the NES and we got our very own in 1990.

Our parents always made us buy our own Nintendo games. However, we got a few as presents from Uncles and Aunts and friends and such. My collecting habits had started in 1998 or so---I did not have any way of buying more NES games until this year. A Funcoland moved in to our area and it was a great source for NES games. I was finally able to buy all of the games I had wanted as a young kid.

My mom really doesn't care about my collecting habit, one way or the other. As long as I buy the games, it doesn't matter. She figures that I have enough other interests to stay balanced.

I do not think that my dad enjoys my collecting though. Sometimes he seems interested, though often he asks how much money I've spent on this game or that---and I think he views it as a waste of money.

[RoboticParanoia]

I don't think my parents really care about my games and the games I play...my mom let me buy Vice City, and she even watched me play. And she started laughing.

They didn't care whether I gamed when I was young, either.