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with regards to LK's playing with toys vs computer/video games, i agree with you. however i actually received an NES when it first came out in the US with R.O.B., the gray Zapper, and Gyromite and Duck Hunt on seperate cartridges. So... Since I got it for Christmas, i would have just turned 5. Scary...

Thinking back on my years in gradeschool, Nintendo was one thing that captured my imagination, but did not steal it. if anything, in my example, i've always been creative and my parents don't regret the purchase. they never limited my time, as G.I. Joes and other small action figures were my main squeeze.

also, at age 6-8 i would play monopoly against myself on our Epson Apex Computer, and eventually all of the Sim games... probably why i ended up going to school for management, and have never lost a game of Monopoly.

but i DID say i agreed with you, and here is why: when i was younger the games were a simpler form of entertainment, and they weren't dumbed down or terribly inappropriate like many games for young kids are today. i was playing the same harmless simple games as the big boys and had to learn the rules by trial and error... something that doesn't strike me as the status quo these days. back then, no matter what the game, it basically was a puzzle.. some limited by time, others by where you move something, the ones that had both we called action games like super mario bros.. it's easier to see that all games stimilate the mind in a problem solving way when looking at older games; newer ones seem to bombard the senses with stimuli forcing the brain to limit the bloodflow to the prefrontal cortex. translation: these days even though you may be solving a problem, you arent learning as much from it because your brain bottlenecks the information and has to deal with the surge of visuals and sounds, now haptic and motion feedback change the game further. LK's these days will undoubtedly learn less from a racing, fighting, or shooting action game unless it is clean, simple, or requires strategic planning. anticipation of events does not necessarilly mean you're learning, try faking out a dog by pretending to throw a stick, his anticipation of your actions makes you no smarter than him when playing games like Big Motha' Truckas... (ugh)...

as in any example where the bulk of the content comes from personal experience, it's hard to ask anyone to agree with me or to see it from my perspective which spans over 2 decades... but the point i intend to suport is that when i was a kid, i had games, and i think i learned to use then as a tool for learning and entertainment by seeking out games that were of interest to me. i remained unplugged for the majority of my play time, but only because it was easy to do... there were no portable games, and i couldnt bring my NES to a relative's home... so perhaps by way of keeping it tied to the home, my parents were indirectly limiting my attachment to the gray box.

obviously my infatuation maintains, however i've parlayed (sp) it into a safe interest that complements my creativity. i didnt do much recreational reading as a child, but not because i would rather play games, i just hated the books my friends read.

now, i read for about 5 hours a day, granted it's wikipedia, but it's still reading for knowledge and that to me is recreational.

before i end this long diversion, let me say that there are many games that will undoubtedly assist children's minds. the one that stands out the most to me is Pokemon. strategy, memorization, customization, puzzles, simple graphics and gameplay all mean that the player is figuring something out every day they play and the game is stimulating the childs mind (what kid hasn't drawn their own pokemon creations?). the repetition also instills patience and discipline. the portability, however, i think may have taken away from my action figure and family time. so that is why when i have kids i'll be playing with them, instead of letting them sit in the corner playing alone. but i'm ging to draw, race RC cars, read, have tea parties, play dress up, play man hunt, swim, camp, build forts, and wrestle with them, too.

i think children are a product of thier environment.

did any of that make sense? it's about 3% of my thoughts on the topic but i figured i should stop....

Yeah for reals, I started pretty dan g young myself on gaming. And to be honest, I think that they taught me to read faster than anything else (so many times I accidentaly erased saved games off of different games, but never attacking the same part of the fence twice... err i mean game twice).

I think he just needs to have additional interests as well, Ninja turtles and then when they came out, pokemon cards kept me alive in the real world.

I agree with DotEd! I was introduced to video games at the same age as him! I, too, had a limit on gaming at that young age, and during the times I couldn't play video games I was drawing pictures and writing stories of all my favorite Nintendo characters. Anyway, I feel the same apprehension as you because I too often see parents buying their 6 year olds Grand Theft Auto. I don't think there's anything wrong, though, with getting a young kid playing games geared more towards their age range--games with stories and fun characters get kids' imaginations flowing just as much as some books! And besides, lots of successful game developers were playing video games at young ages! I think the important thing is to make sure video games don't hamper any other important aspect of life, such as time with family and school. Video games can be a healthy part of a kid's life as long as there's balance!

When I was really young (< 5) my sister owned an Atari. I played the heck out of it until 1990 when I got my SNES (and yes I got it in 1990... long story, and I don't completely understand how either). I never owned a NES because I had epilepsy, and my parents thought that long exposures to TV screens would cause me to have one, but they quickly learned I had seizures because I had them not because a TV caused it. My friends had a NES, so I got plenty of exposure to the NES without actually owning one. I could read when I was 2 because my parents taught me to (and out of jealousy of my sister who's 7 years my senior), so playing games with text on screen wasn't that big of a deal for me. I played many classic games on the Macintosh then some DOS and Windows games when my dad's business required a PC.

When I was a kid the thing I liked to do most was draw over anything else, so even when I was interested in consoles and later computers I always enjoyed drawing over anthing else and still do. Because of that my parents never set a limitation on how much gaming I did. I would draw and read more than I played games most of the time (until Final Fantasy III came out ).

With my exposure to games early I don't think I would start letting kids play games until they are interested in them or are mature enough to play them. Games these days are incredibly realistic, but games back when I was a kid (and many here as well) were simplistic in contrast. I think most games these days are too complex for most kids below 10, but it really all has to do with the kid himself/herself. I think games like Mario and many Nintendo games won't hurt him no matter what age he is, but many of the games out there are even too ridiculous for a 23 year old (me) to play let alone a 6 year old. If anything I'd stick to Nintendo's games.

Very interesting post, Ed.

Like I said it's hard to compare due to the changes in technology and gaming in general, and it is interesting to see comments on how more basic games need more imagination - I hadn't really thought about it, but I guess it's very true.

It's just that when I see him playing Star Wars Lego II on the PC rather than actually playing with the physical Star Wars Lego he has, it makes me I don't see him enough to know what he does every second, and I guess he can't play games at school (except perhaps Granny's Garden ). I am glad he's getting into gaming, as I enjoy playing Double Dash with him (and getting that sweet sense of victory - beating him isn't hard )

I know that the majority of people here have played games since an early age, and have turned out to be fine model citizens, so I shouldn't really be concerned (that much).

my mom bought me Nintendo (NES) in 86 i was 5-6 at the time.Tiger games were real big back then too then gameboy dropped soon after
it was great
but yea video games are great especially for kids
and you dont have to worry about your kids goin out getting hurt or kidnapped you know there right where you left em in front of the box tapping buttons
also get em some educational games!
and you can use games against kids
do all your homework or your not playing nintendo
if you dont finish your food no nintendo etc.
plus you dont want your kid being know as the kid whos parents dont let him play games
that will enter him/her into a world ridiculement

oh man i totally forgot how much i played with legos. and still do... i bought the Mindstorms NXT kit upon release.

nerd alert

those lego star wars games are really good though, but as long as he likes legos all the same, i'm sure he's benefitting a little from each.

we can't really expect our kids to build a deck, and at the same time.. i think our parents who played with even less lack the imagination that today's youth seems to exhibit...

could it be that we've created a species of child that imagines too much?! aaaaiiiiiee!!! (cue dooming music chords)

this is a fun topic.

Yeah I forgot about legos! I had 2 55 gallon rubbermaid drums full of 'em. I used to play and build things with those for hours. I'd sneak in small Lego sets when my mom would take me to Wal-Mart, but even if she found them in there I'd still get 'em.

Games aren't going to turn anyone into killers, but there are games that are appropriate for different age levels. I wish my nephew would play Double Dash with me, but then again I can't get anyone to play me anymore... because I always win!

I started playing games at age 7-8, with my cousins Pokemon Blue. I loved the idea of having these creatures that looked nothing that I had ever seen before. And, if anything, it helped form my imagination into what it is today.

Ocarina of Time and Banjo-Kazooie were the next two games I was subject to, and they opened my mind up to the impossibilites. Before that, I had never imagined a non-human saving a whole realm, and I had only imagined heros as either Superman, or grown men in knight's armor.

The games I played back then, and still do, stimulated my mind and cultivated my thoughts. They did not raise me, of course, I had parents for that, but they did help a little bit. They were not my babysitter.

I am not sure if kids should be playing games at that age now, however, because of the realism of the violence nowadays. With Banjo-Kazooie, I knew that it was a violence that could not be replicated, because it was a bird that lived in your backpack. And in Ocarina, you were in a forest with a sword, and at age 7, you can't get a sword to battle skeletons with.

I think that if you are going to play games at that age, play fantasy ones, that can't corrupt you, and have some form of educational value.

I obtained my first video game console when I was fourteen, though I'd personally have no trouble giving one to a twelve year old. I wouldn't get one for a little kid to have, because I wouldn't want him playing too much. It's a difficult decision, I'm not sure if my approach is the right one.