There are a lot of video games that get played in our house. I’ve been a huge fan of them for as long as I can remember. As a kid, I loved our various consoles but the games on the computer were always my favorite. To me, classics like Donkey Kong and Pitfall couldn’t compare to what Sierra released. I spent hours and hours playing games like Quest for Glory and the King’s Quest series. Now, I see that my love for gaming is starting to manifest itself in my children.
Yesterday when I got home, Emma was could hardly wait to tell me that she had played Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets from beginning to end. She’s just like me; she can sit for hours and hours with a good game and not get tired of it. Even though she plays the game almost daily and has beaten it multiple times, she always comes back for more. We have plenty of games that she could play but she always chooses to play Harry Potter.
It’s not just Emma that enjoys playing video games; Alex can’t get enough of them either. I’ll be watching TV or doing something on the other computer and I’ll hear Alex say things like “OH DARN IT!” or “I died.” For a four-year-old, he’s surprisingly good at the games too. He needs help every now and then but he’s quickly turning into quite the gamer.
My kids don’t just love playing video games, they also love watching them. Hannah will sit in my lap and Alex and Emma will pull up chairs so that they can watch me play. Lately I’ve been playing Star Wars Battlefront II. Alex loves seeing the stormtroopers and gets so excited when I play as a scout trooper. Emma’s favorite game to watch me play is The Elder Scrolls III. Even though I don’t have it loaded on my system right now, she always tells me how she wishes that I would play it.
Even Holly gets into video games. Lately, she’s been playing a lot of the computer version of Settlers of Catan but she also enjoys the SimCity franchise. Usually though, Holly will try to not get too involved with a particular game because there are other things to do.
Holly and I are planning to get the kids a Nintendo Wii once the basement is finished. Until then, we are all are content to play on the computers. Now if I can just find something good to play once I’m done with Battlefront II.
Update: It should be noted that we don’t just let our kids play video games to their hearts content. Nor do I or Holly play them an unreasonable amount of time. Usually, there are other things that need to be done and video games are used for leisure, not to feed an addiction. I make these comments in light of the death of some World of Warcraft players that you can read more about here. We don’t have problems like these guys did.
You might also like:
Don't miss another update. Be sure to 
Do you have a big screen to play the Nintendo Wii with? I’ve heard about people who’s hands get all sweaty from the controller, then when they swing it, it goes flying into the TV. Good stuff.
No big screen just yet. Once the basement is finished though, Holly promised me that I could get one to sit on top of the fireplace. It’ll be high enough that there won’t be any Wii-motes thrown through it but they may go into the fireplace.