Father Uses His Son In A Video Game Experiment, The Results Are Surprising

"Kids these days have it all; HD television, PS4, Xbox One, high-end PC's and games that are slowly but surely blurring the lines between reality and fantasy.

If you were born after the year 2000 then the chances are that you've missed out on some of the greatest games ever created, the titles that redefined what it meant to 'play', the games that us older folks will cherish forever. Well, most of them, there's still a special rung in hell for those who developed and released Superman 64.

One man thought all of this and decided to have himself a little experiment, using his son as the main instrument of the investigation." The Games Cabin

[PoSTedUP]

cool. was gonna do this with my kid, not as an experiment but because i owe it to them as a gamer.

oldest gaming experience: toe jam n earl when i was 3-4 ('93-'94)
ive been playing more retro than anything the past year or so, including pinball.

[Angeljuice]

First gaming experience for me was on a pong clone in 1979 (aged 6-7).
I feel lucky that I have experienced the entire history of gaming in my lifetime, from it's very humble niche beginnings to the multi-billion dollar industry that exists today.

[darthv72]

You and me both. More younger players should go back further than they remember if they were born in the mid 80 to 90.

Lots of simplistic yet fun and creative games in the first few generations.

[lipton101]

I was born in 88 so I got a good taste of the gens myself. i do call bs on his conclusion though. I grew up legitimately with all of those games but I was never hooked until I played Turok on N64. Next Xmas I got ff7 and a ps1. To this day I'm a shooter / adventure / rpg gamer first. Platformers that echo of yesteryear just don't do it for me.

[PoSTedUP]

i played a bunch on the atari but just for the hell of it. i have to go back and catch up, but i feel like i barely have enough time to experience everything from my Own generation, im still running into new amazing games to this day.

@lipton- me too, and turok was my crack, still play it (3-4 months ago). i cant say about the conclusion, except that everyone is different. i have an appreciation for all games and love every genre, if i told you i have a favorite i would be lying (well socom II is fav game of all time) but i dont favor the shooter genre over the others. thats how it is with me i guess.

[TheMeatPuppet007]

I agree as well, I was born in 1980 and my dad had a 2600 and a system called an Intellevision(I think that's how it's spelled) and I played the crap out of Donkey Kong, Astrosmash, and Nightstalker! Wonderful gaming era!

[Angeljuice]

@TheMeatPuppet

My dad used to rent an intellivision system (by Mattel) from our local video store every other weekend.
"Tanks" was my favourite game on the system (real name Armor Battle) and it was so exciting when he brought it home. My sisters and I couldn't wait to play.

I still have my original wood-effect Atari 2600 (though I must admit I haven't played with it in a while).

Here's a link to Armor Combat; https://www.youtube.com/wat...
(the player is useless but you get the idea)

[Morpheuzpr]

Born in 77 here. Been playing since the atari days. but my addiction were the arcades those days. God knows how much money I spent playing Kung Fu, Shaolin Road, TMNT, and of coarse SFII. But when it comes to consoles nothing gives me that nostalgia feeling like remembering the first time I saw Ninja Gaiden 2's box art at my local Woolworth's, ohhh and the first time I saw MK2 arcade. I remember none of my friends believed me and though I was lying when I told them that a guy called Kung Lao split Rayden in half with its hat. Ahhh those were the days I tell you.

[kayoss]

I've never even beaten Rygar. That game to me was very difficult so im very impressed. Next up for Eliot... Battle toads and Silver Surfer.

[CorndogBurglar]

I beat Silver Surfer...once.

One time. I owned that game for my entire childhood and only beat it once.

Same with Mike Tyson. I only beat him once.

But you know what? I remember doing it, and i'm happy with that, lol.

Battletoads? No way. Never even came close to beating that.

[raptorjacob]

I loved battletoads. I don't think I ever beat a nes game

[Kidmyst]

My 4 year old plays on my SNES and really likes it, I haven't hooked up the NES, n64 or any Sega systems though yet. But he really enjoys Zelda a link to the past, DK Country and Super Mario. Fun to see these games again. I have all my old systems so these will get relived again. He's played pacman via some of the plug and play games too. Atari 2600 games even.

[PoSTedUP]

that super mario!

[3-4-5]

I started on Atari 2600 when I was 3 years old in 1988.

Got a NES Christmas 1990, and nothing was ever the same.

I'm really appreciative of the fact that I've been able to experience video games through the generations as I have.

It's almost the full spectrum of gaming from the early years to today.

* Best thing about getting a NES in 1990, was all the games my friends already had that I got to borrow, and all the games available to rent.

So for me 1990 was the year of the NES...that was when Nintendo was new to me. I'd played it the year before but it was MINE now.

Even though it released earlier, to me, 1990 was still NES years.

Until I got a Sega Genesis in 1993.....then that kickstarted a whole new era in gaming.

Man I miss those days.

[PoSTedUP]

nice. same here, very appreciative of how i got to game as a kid.

hammy-down genisis was my first in early 90's, and lived with my cousin and uncle who i had access to their NES and SNES at the same time.

i preferred the SNES over the NES because of super mario, MK and ABC football, the ninja turtles games seemed better to me too, also because of the controller.

also my gamegear was my life at that time, for a few years, till my lil cuzzo dropped it... road rash, madden 95, sonic were some of my faves. i only had a few other games for it.

miss them days too, bro!

[sAVAge_bEaST]

Old school Arcade Kid.

My first system was the Intellivision. Utopia , D&D , MicroSurgen/(nanotech) ,Dig Dug, DK, DK2, Frogger, Pac-Man, SNAFU, Tron, Zaxxon,-
that was my first intro into to the home console's.

then of Course Arcades, from 2 stories, -2 the movie theaters, . to the skate board ,. arcade meet-ups.... /beat downs... roller rinks.. '95 -then straight up R4V3.

[ARESWARLORD]

I did the same thing. I had a Sega Genesis on a crt tv in my sons room before he turned 2.

[Gazondaily]

This is a wicked idea. Every gamer parent should raise their kids to play games in this order!

[traumadisaster]

Started my kids on a wii, so they love mario. Then moved to kinect and sonic on 360. Recently brought down the ps3 move and they like that.

At 6 and 8 they think happy action theatre is the best game ever made. For me games are $5 too.

I will keep them on those for years, as I game away on a 4k pc and next gen consoles in the man cave, after they go to bed.

[lipton101]

Lol it's crazy being a dad, that's when my gaming gets done as well, after the wife and baby get to sleep. I'm going to dig out my old genesis for my little girl, I think she'll like sonic

[traumadisaster]

It's so cost efficient to let them get more years of fun out of my old consoles.

Bought wii in 2009 on a whim for me, never would have imagined my yet to be born kids would be getting more use out of it than me.

[KiwiViper85]

Becoming a dad is what really kicked my habit into high gear.

The wife got into downloading TV series on the laptop so the big TV was always free. So 7pm-12pm is game time, every night, 7pm-4am on weekends.

Can't play my music games anymore tho. I have headphones but the instruments are too noisy. Hoping next gen guitars are whisper quiet.

[Clown_Syndr0me]

Only game my 2 year old likey is Doki Doki Universe because she likes making the man wave lol.
She likes to hold my spare controller though and pretend to play games I'm playing, only do it with the Xbox though as can remove the batteries, otherwise she turns it and presses everything!

[Darth Gamer]

Too funny! I do the exact same thing with my 2 year old. Even funnier though is the fact that she now grabs the controller and removes the battery pack herself and then sits next to me thinking that she is controlling the character on screen. Too cute!

[CorndogBurglar]

My 3 year old daughter plays Castle Crashers. Well, she's 4 now, almost 5. But she has been playing it since she was 3. She absolutely loves it. I can't tell you how proud I am of that, lol.

At first she used to ask me to help her through some of the tougher parts, but now its all her. :)

[Xof]

Well, yeah. If a kid is exposed to good literature, good music, good movies, etc., then he or she will develop good taste in those things.

Isn't this common sense? No one chooses to have bad taste. Its a result of one's environment.

[Canary]

I hope you don't mean to imply that modern games are inherently in poor taste.

To rephrase your point somewhat, someone who has a more VARIED experience will have more refined tastes than someone who has a more homogenous experience. If you only play modern TPS games, you'll be much less aware--and therefore less likely to discover and potentially enjoy--an RTS or JRPG or whatever. Kind of like how us Americans can spend our lives eating tons of Chinese food at tons of different restaurants, and then go to China and have no idea what to think of the food.

For those of us older gamers... we grew up in an era of regular revolution. The increasing performance of our gaming machines didn't just revolutionize how games looked, but how games played--which is NOT the case today. Therefore we have been exposed to a much greater variety of games than the... un-shepherded youngster is likely to today.

[mixelon]

I'm taking a more scatter-shot approach and my daughter plays stuff from history in no particular order. Sometimes it's nice to show her things like evolution within a specific genre, and she find some old stuff really fun, while others a bit boring. (Understandably!) She really likes Joust and Bubble Bobble - she's 6.

It's great to have kids who aren't dismissive of old games and tech.

[marloc_x]

The Sega Master System is still a hit in my home :)

[Grave]

Wait till he gets his hands on Demon's Souls. I bet this kid will love it.

[goldwyncq]

There's that one video where a 5 year old managed to defeat the very first boss in Dark Souls.

[victorMaje]

Wow, that's exactly why I kept all my past consoles!
One day, I'll show my kids the wonders of the evolution of video games :)

[Jaqen_Hghar]

Don't make them play too much. Some of those NES games haven't aged well. Also no save points suck just get the WiiU Virtual Console version so you can save at any point. Don't put your kids through Super Ghosts and Goblins for love of god!

[Jaqen_Hghar]

A man enjoys his retro but many are not nearly as great as they were at release unless you have nostalgia goggles on.

For instance a man loves OoT, Crash 3, Spyro 1 and 2, ALttP, Goldeneye, and Smash yet a lot of the other ones in those same franchises that he DIDN'T play back when they released (Majora's, Spyro 3, Crash 1 and 2, Zelda original, etc.) that are considered classics are not very much fun to go back to. A man does like on VC on WiiU how you can save whenever you want. That is a nice touch that makes a lot of older games much easier to go back to. In the end times change and while history is important to know of (a man is a history major himself) you don't need to play a bunch of older games to appreciate the past. Gameplay has evolved mostly for the better and basic things like save points especially on NES games are noticeable and annoying in their absense.

Only FPS have really gotten worse and that's due to going for "realism" over gameplay. Things like a 2 weapon limit and regenerating health have opened things up for more casual players, but have made the games much less fun (like carry more and sillier weapons) and less suspenseful (like going into a fight with 10 health). Think of a game like Doom. You could sprint as much as you wanted because your guy just moved faster than a normal human all the time, you could carry a ton of weapons and strategize or have fun with them if you save your good ammo till the right time, and you would have to fight well all the time or overcome the greater challenge of a great fight with no health at the start or make a daring sprint to that health pack away from cover. Play Resistance 3 or Half-Life 2 for a great representation of old school mechanics merged with modern improvements in an FPS. That's why Resistance 3 is the greatest FPS of all time.

[xWilliam02]

I'm born in 2002, i've played on a SNES.. But I grew up with the PS1. :P

[shaw98]

When I become a father that is what I am going to do. Have him/her play good old Super Mario on the NES. As he/she gets older I will give them newer systems over the generations and they will love gaming the way they truly love gaming.

One thing that I learned, don't let your kid grow on the popular crowd, they will simply follow that crowd and not appreciate everything around them. When the popularity of that thing is done, they will simply move to the next thing. But if they play things that are ageless, then they will grow and appreciate things and will live with them forever.

[Yaay4me]

I still play a ton of indie games. They dont interfer with my good looking shooters. It just depends on what im in the mood for. Always enjoy over the top shooters, so im patientely waiting on Helldivers.

[iNFAMOUZ1]

back in the day when playing a game meant having fun, now everything is a competition, its sad, the fun is gone, well true fun

and back in the early 2000's, when people would socialize in games alot, now everyone has the mic but ignores each other...

[WhiteGamerInc]

I think that is pretty cool.

[Relientk77]

I started gaming on Atari 2600 when I was a kid.

I think you respect gaming more when you play the older/retro consoles and then go forward from there

[hiredhelp]

1985 I was bought a spectrum from my Dad aged 6 from there i was addicted.
Now my son and my daughter own a Wii aged 5-8 This is a great idea one unfortunatly i cant do as dont have the systems anymore unfortunatly..

[konohashin]

Hey reta**** wannabe gamers. This is what a real gamer is!

If you want realistic visuals watch out of the window like the rest of the retired 80 year olds.

Kudos to the dad for doing it and for having the patience to replay very very old games especially ones that he never played before (because its hard to play "archaic" games when you dont have the fitting nostlagia glasses)

[TheOnlyMastrx]

If I ever have a child of my own, they would for sure go through this as well, not so much as an experiment, but to give them some of the experiences I had growing up, and for me to revisit some old games at the same time.

[jocelot]

best dad ever? lol

[Tankbusta40]

1989 nes... Was 5...have no desire to play indie games

[brando008]

Oldest gaming memory for me was playing Mario and Duck Hunt on SNES. The game that made me a real gaming enthusiast, though, was definitely Ocarina of Time when I was 5 years old. Played a ton of N64 and PS1 when I was small, and I guess the rest is history. Still wanna catch up on a lot of classic JRPGs I missed though, such as Suikoden 1 and 2. This kid has a great father.

[fullmetal297]

I remember getting a Nintendo 64 from one of my friends as kid when the PS2 was in its prime. My parents couldn't afford a game console and this was practically my first console ever.

I thought my "friend" gave me the console because he looking out for me but he really did it because he saw me as inferior and thought the last generation console would suit me well.

So for past month, I played and enjoyed titles that I missed out on such as the first super smash brothers, Mario 64, and Mario Kart 64.

One day my friend came over to visit and saw me playing Mario 64 and enjoying myself. He was in shock that I was enjoying playing a console that was a generation behind. He kept going on about how the PS2 could play DVDs and the graphics were so realistic, but I kept enjoying the game. Like the a*shat, he grab the controller from my hands and found the shortcuts to beat the game.

He then wanted flex his muscles by playing some rounds of Mario Kart 64 Needless to say he was pretty rusty and I managed to win every race and hit him with so many red shells. Frustrated and angry he took the console back and told me never to ask for anything from him again.

So the morale story is never play Mario Kart with your friends. Mario Kart has been breaking friendships since 1997.

[Rick_Ross_Boss]

This was my first gaming memory. ;)
https://www.youtube.com/wat...