Video Games, Walkthroughts, and Cheats, Oh My!

Picture of the red DS Emery made before he was given one.

If you’ve read any of these other posts, you’ll know that my son loves video games. As a professor/mom who has read a plethora of parenting books and research articles before he was born (I just finished Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother and I can safely say that I’m not a Tiger mom—and I agree/disgree passionately with her opinions on the Suzuki method, but I have to admit, Emery and I have shared similar arguments), I swore my child would never watch tv or play video games. Yeh, that didn’t last long. But, once I realized that in order to play many of these games, he had to read, I justified the time he spent on these games as worthwhile.

It didn’t take long for him to want to share his enjoyment with me. That has led to my spending many hours either watching or playing games with him. That’s why this week we thought it would be nice to share a few of the games we enjoy with you. (Also, we’re taking it easy this weekend in between his Seussical performances, which I must say are awesome!.)

We are definitely a Nintendo family. I think the first game Emery saw me play was Zelda: Wind Waker, which he tried but was unable to finish (it’s a hard game for a first game to attempt).

Games we play together

1.     All of the Mario Kart games. He can beat me on the courses that require skill; I can beat him on the courses where you can’t possibly fall off the course. He usually plays as Luigi; I prefer Yoshi and Birdo.

2.     The Mario Party games. Those are actually rather a lot of fun, but they can take a long time and a great deal of luck.

3.     Game and Wario—there are some fun two-player games on this one.

4.     Pikmin 3 (there will be an upcoming review on this game)

Games he plays and I watch

1.     Paper Mario Thousand Year Door

2.     Super Mario Bros Wii

3.     Mario Galaxy II

4.     Pokepark I and II

Games for the DS

1.     Zelda Spirit Tracks and Phantom Hourglass

2.     SuperMario Bros.

3.     Pokemon Black/ White

While several of these games have few words, there are many that require reading and even more that require cheat guides. After I got tired reading cheat guides for Emery, he began reading them (and even finding) them for himself.

If you’ve read even one of my posts before, you’ll know that I struggle with letting Emery spend hours playing video games (he has even taken to watching walkthroughs on Youtube of games he’s already played). That’s why we have one tech-free night a week (last year it was Tech-Free Tuesday, but because I teach on Tuesday nights, I’ve had to switch it to tech-free Thurdays). And, then, like many parents, the time comes when I just turn off the tv, personal game system, and console, and give him “a tech break.” Which seems a little weird, shouldn’t tech be a break from other things, like homework or violin or even outdoor play?

How do you negotiate tech in your house?