Is hardcore gaming bad for kids?

M

marco79

New member
I purchased our first Xbox when my younger son was 18 months. It was more for his older brother who was 5 at the time. Our first games IIRC was Lego Star Wars II & WWE 08 (or 09).

By 2 years old my younger son finished Lego Star Wars. He is 9 now and can sit through an entire day in front of the Xbox. He has finished all the COD, GOW & the first 3 Farcry games. We have somewhere between 80 & 100 games that he has mastered. He gives most of his uncles a run for their money in the FIFA games.

It's funny that his progress at school is very good. He does have a problem though, that he isn't very sociable. He likes playing with kids and with army figurines but doesn't make friends easily. Could the gaming be of influence with this?
 
I encourage my daughter, to not play games for too long and also play/go outside. Luckily, she's more of a casual gamer. Also, I kinda put presure on them to at least be part of one sport, they can choose. Works for us, they seem happy.
 
What concerns me more is you exposing your child to uber violent games at such a young age... The COD, GOW (whether Gears- or God of War) and Far Cry series are dark games with adult themes that children under 10 won't fully grasp, never mind the gratuitous use of violence and sex.
 
FarligOpptreden said:
What concerns me more is you exposing your child to uber violent games at such a young age... The COD, GOW (whether Gears- or God of War) and Far Cry series are dark games with adult themes that children under 10 won't fully grasp, never mind the gratuitous use of violence and sex.
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Exactly, I've let my son (6 and a half) play a bit on the BF4 test map and we've played together on some empty servers, bought him a copy of the game when it was on special, but I wont let him play too voilent games. he loves running around the map with me and just messing around, its also a good bonding experience for us.

My thinking is, I dont want to completely shield him from gaming and only let him find out when he someday goes to visit a friend. I want him to see what is out there, to experience it and come to know it. But at the same time, games which are very brutal like Doom, Dead Space, Far Cry, etc, I dont let him play or watch me play. We'll get to that kettle of fish later.

I am trying to get him to play more games like Minecraft, Space Engineers, the LEGO series, etc. Luckily he isnt one that sits infront of the PC/360 the whole day, he has a bit of ADHD (we've had him to a professional) and he doesnt sit for too long. Loves to play outside, with his LEGOs and other toys.

My personal feeling on things in general is a balance in what you do.
 
He doesn't spend all his free time gaming (Xbox or tablet). He plays with his toy men, now he is collecting these Pick n Pay animal cards, and plays around the house with our younger daughter.

I need to get Minecraft for Xbox soon. My daughter (5) likes playing Minecraft lite on my Note 4. I actually stopped the boys playing multiplayer on tablets/phones a few weeks back because it took too much data.
 
marco79 said:
He doesn't spend all his free time gaming (Xbox or tablet). He plays with his toy men, now he is collecting these Pick n Pay animal cards, and plays around the house with our younger daughter.

I need to get Minecraft for Xbox soon. My daughter (5) likes playing Minecraft lite on my Note 4. I actually stopped the boys playing multiplayer on tablets/phones a few weeks back because it took too much data.
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About Minecraft, he loved the game and saw the other version, the Story mode one. I got him the demo. (BTW. you get the demo for both I think on XBox Live) If he likes the Story Mode, I'll buy that for him too.
 
My only concern for kids who game is them developing a gaming addiction. I would pay attention to the age ratings on games too.

My son is 18 months now and has had no contact with games yet but I plan on getting a Wii for him in the next year or so. Most of the nintendo games are great for kids and the motion controls will be a blast for him I think.
 
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