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[CaptainSlayAHo]

I don't have one, but I would think that starting them off with snes or whatever and moving them up from there would be the move right? For those of you that have children, how did you introduce them to your hobby? I'd think that starting off with a ps5 or whatever would have a hard time going back to ps1 and being able to appreciate it

 

[TLZ]

They watched me play Mario 3D World on the Wii U and wanted to play. And it snowballed from there.

 

[NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt]

Introduce them to Dark Souls and when they cry about how hard the game is. I would say Git Good

 

[CaptainSlayAHo]

Introduce them to Dark Souls and when they cry about how hard the game is. I would say Git Good

Lol, trial by fire, if it doesn't work on to the next

 

[Topher]

I introduced my sons to first person shooters with Nerf Arena Blast, but that was like 15 years ago. Today, Nintendo is your best bet. Mario and such. Although, Astros Playroom is fantastic on PS5.

 

[Chronicle]

My daughter watched me on ps4. I got her an xbox to play with me an awesome game that I remembered from the previous gen. Viva Pinata!! So cool.

 

[PhaseJump]

Lock them in a room like this until they can beat me in F-Zero GX

 

[Kimahri]

SNES is great for this, that's what my kid gets to play with.

There are three buttons, power, reset and eject. No menues or internet connectivity bullshit to worry about.

Just insert game, and watch them figure it out.

I miss those days. Glad I kept my old stuff.

 

[CaptainSlayAHo]

I introduced my sons to first person shooters with Nerf Arena Blast, but that was like 15 years ago. Today, Nintendo is your best bet. Mario and such. Although, Astros Playroom is fantastic on PS5.

Definitely good choices, though I'd think introducing them with Astros playroom would make going back to super Mario or donkey kong country difficult right? Or is that not really the case?

 

[Topher]

Definitely good choices, though I'd think introducing them with Astros playroom would make going back to super Mario or donkey kong country difficult right? Or is that not really the case?

I don't think it matters. Kids love video games and they will play them all day if you let them.

Old man advice: don't let them

 

[HTK]

I wouldn’t.

 

[ManaByte]

Introduce them to Dark Souls and when they cry about how hard the game is. I would say Git Good

Stole my post.

 

[CaptainSlayAHo]

I wouldn’t.

Certainly the cheaper option.... Might feel different if you had a kid bugging you 24/7 with such an easy way to distract them

 

[Midn1ght]

Anything cute with coop is a good choice. I personally played a lot of Sackboy on PS5 with my 5 years old last year and she loved it.

Tho to be honest, they’re more likely to grab a phone and start from there.

 

[CaptainSlayAHo]

Anything cute with coop is a good choice. I personally played a lot of Sackboy on PS5 with my 5 years old last year and she loved it.

Tho to be honest, they’re more likely to grab a phone and start from there.

You're right, I hadn't really thought about that, and tbh it's pretty depressing

 

[nush]

I'd start them off with the classics, Pong, Breakout, Asteroids and Space invaders so they can understand the concept of videogames and master their eye hand coordination. Then by the time they get to Supermario World they'll really appreciate how far gaming has come.

 

[Billbofet]

My son has enjoyed watching me play videogames for a while now, but this past year, he's really wanted to play more himself.
For that, Forza Horizon has been great for him. I bought a bunch of Disney Infinity stuff and he's gotten a ton of mileage on that.
Most recently he enjoys Fortnight. We play it together in squads and he is genuinely a great partner - we almost always have a great time.
This past week he asked to try Minecraft, but the controls are a bit of a burden right now, but he'll figure it out in creative mode.

I personally see a lot of benefits to his gaming. I can use it to keep him in line and motivated to get his chores and reading done and it's been a great creative outlet for him.
He also watches me play Elden Ring and is completely mesmerized by the settings and lore until my eventual profanity brings him right back down to Earth.

All of the above has been over the past 12 or so months, so I'm easing him in slowly. He's seven.

 

[CaptainSlayAHo]

I'd start them off with the classics, Pong, Breakout, Asteroids and Space invaders so they can understand the concept of videogames and master their eye hand coordination. Then by the time they get to Supermario World they'll really appreciate how far gaming has come.

That was kind of my thought while making the thread (except nes/snes as the entry point).. Not entirely sure how realistic that'd be able to do

 

[March Climber]

 

[fart town usa]

RE7 in VR.

"Welcome to the family"

 

[Moochi]

Battletoads, NES original. They can't have any more games until they beat it.

 

[Straight Edge]

Spent many a hour racing my daughter in Crash Team Racing. Now she mostly plays Fortnite and Roblox.

 

[sn0man]

You know. Maybe a gameboy with a backlight screen could be a good intro. It’s portable so they could play in their room. You can give them Zelda and Mario Bros and Tetris.

I also like a SNES because of the simplicity. You could get the asteroids and other games (though they’d be ports).

One thing I might do is to give them Super Mario All Stars first and save Mario World for when they’re a couple / few years into it and have an appreciation for the evolution of the graphics.

It’s hard because they live in a whole different world than us. Growing up I always wished I was born a little earlier so I could have capitalized on the post ww2 boom. Now I realize I got the amazing home console evolution starting at the NES. A fantastic experience that I’ll always cherish seeing new and better graphics spaced out from my birth (early 1980s) till now.

 

[Topher]

For some of you, I hope you shoot blanks.

edit

Especially adamsapple . lol....love ya bro

 

[adamsapple]

The Last of Us Part 2

If someone kills me, you find that fucker and golf the shit out of their heads.

 

[CaptainSlayAHo]

You know. Maybe a gameboy with a backlight screen could be a good intro. It’s portable so they could play in their room. You can give them Zelda and Mario Bros and Tetris.

I also like a SNES because of the simplicity. You could get the asteroids and other games (though they’d be ports).

One thing I might do is to give them Super Mario All Stars first and save Mario World for when they’re a couple / few years into it and have an appreciation for the evolution of the graphics.

It’s hard because they live in a whole different world than us. Growing up I always wished I was born a little earlier so I could have capitalized on the post ww2 boom. Now I realize I got the amazing home console evolution starting at the NES. A fantastic experience that I’ll always cherish seeing new and better graphics spaced out from my birth (early 1980s) till now.

Yeah the second they went to a friend's or watched a YouTube video about a new game it might be a wrap on my idea lol

 

[StateofMajora]

It's going to be Mario. Which one though?

Maybe galaxy, or 64 is a little less complicated

Or maybe an arcade racer.

 

[kubricks]

I have 3.
Always starts with Nintendo, because games are often family friendly and can be understood intuitively. Funny enough without suggestion all three picked bomberman and Kirby as a starter.
For them it's more about fun than graphics, just look at all those simplistic web games that are popular among young kids.

 

[01011001]

Super Mario World... very simple and the only correct answer.

SMB1 and 3 are too hard, SMB2 is too weird, the newer ones are too cluttered and the 3D ones might be overwhelming as the first game

 

[Aion002]

That would depend on if they are interested or not. I would never try to make a children have the same hobbies that I have.

If they show interest on games I would buy for them the games they want to play.

Unless they end up liking Fortnite...

 

[RoboFu]

You don’t, you push your kids to try out many physical actives and sports. They may like them or not. But that’s way better than having them sit and rot in front of a screen at a young age.
The way things are these days it won’t be long for the kids to get into YouTube, gaming, and social media.

My kids got into games and YouTube at 5 years old, but I am strict on screen time and they also do gymnastics, dance, sports.

They rule of thumb should be “ never expect your kids to be you “.

 

[Northeastmonk]

I always imagined the Robin Williams and daughter playing through The Legend of Zelda together or those photos of kids playing the NES/GameBoy with their parents. I started my step daughter with Mario, Smash Bros, and misc things here and there. I showed her SNES, Wii, PS, Xbox, PC, and etc. I took her to the arcade, but she didn’t really appreciate it. She had more inconveniences and she wanted to do something other than what I wanted to show her. I told her about stuff, but her interests are Animal Crossing, Roblox, Craftopia, and MineCraft.

I feel like I helped push her love of games because I wasn’t bad mouthing them. I don’t feel like she will follow in my foot steps and play the exact same games. The market for kids is real and the kids will view/play anything.

My big impact on her has been the love of games. She loves them. She would play for 7-8 hours if she could. There’s been a lot of problems cause her bio dad also plays and that’s what she does all day over there. She is at the point where she’ll just zone us out, so we limit her exposure.

I think it kinda sucks because all I see is an obsession. I’m not seeing a boss or a quest being the highlight of her experience. It’s just more and more to choose from. She wanted a $40 Subnautiqua game and now it’s not even being played. She wanted Dragon Quest Builders, but she doesn’t want to play it. It’s awesome, but somehow I only get the feeling like I enabled her. The stuff I find fascinating she skips over for the MineCraft YouTube channel. I’m having to restrict games more than I encourage her to play. I’d rather her get an education and a good job than play all day long.

 

[AJUMP23]

I have two. One enjoys it one doesn’t. But they were introduced by watching me. Meaning I played games that were age appropriate but that I enjoyed when they were around.

As they get older we play more and more together.

 

[CaptainSlayAHo]

You don’t, you push your kids to try out many physical actives and sports. They may like them or not. But that’s way better than having them sit and rot in front of a screen at a young age.
The way things are these days it won’t be long for the kids to get into YouTube, gaming, and social media.

My kids got into games and YouTube at 5 years old, but I am strict on screen time and they also do gymnastics, dance, sports.

They rule of thumb should be “ never expect your kids to be you “.

I was in boy scouts, played football, soccer, basketball, and baseball while being in honors and ap classes along the way and some of my favorite memories were sitting next to my friends watching movies or playing rock band or w/e

The two aren't mutually exclusive

 

[93xfan]

Super Mario Bros on the NES.

Then a few days later, they get to play 2 and then 3. Then show him some other great NES classics (Zelda, Contra, Mega Man). and move on to SNES before after a few months.

That way he looks fondly at great games that are 2D, and understands what got his dad into gaming.

 

[ranmafan]

Like others I didn’t introduce them to gaming with some plan or anything like that. They saw me playing games when they were young and wanted to join in. So I would let them, and they were introduced themselves to the world of games. I would give them some games to play, like Nintendo games mainly, and they loved them. And when I showed them older games they wanted to play them too. Eventually they chose the games and genres they wanted to play and have fun with. And that’s how I wanted to do it. I didn’t want to be the person I see often online that says their kid will start with Atari and then earn their way up to current generation. I wanted them to pick their hobbies and interests themselves. In the end games became one of the things they ended up enjoying and now they are even trying out games I hoped they would like dragon quest. And while I sometimes cringe at some of the games they play that are popular with the younger crowd these days, like Roblox, I still let them choose what they want to play. As long as it’s appropriate for them of course

 

[kiphalfton]

Introduce them to Dark Souls and when they cry about how hard the game is. I would say Git Good

Actually it would probably be good for kids to start with more difficult games, and not this Paw Patrol or Peppa Pig shit. Teach them perseverance, patience, and not to be impulsive. Also probably get them started on something that has zero micro transactions so they don't learn early on about frivolous spending or bugging me to buy them meaningless crap.

 

[kubricks]

You don’t, you push your kids to try out many physical actives and sports. They may like them or not. But that’s way better than having them sit and rot in front of a screen at a young age.
The way things are these days it won’t be long for the kids to get into YouTube, gaming, and social media.

My kids got into games and YouTube at 5 years old, but I am strict on screen time and they also do gymnastics, dance, sports.

They rule of thumb should be “ never expect your kids to be you “.

You don't need to push them, they will naturally start playing games in some shape or form because all their friends does. Might as well introduce them to play games that exist in a relatively safe and controlled environment, like Nintendo for example. The last thing we want is to have them addicted to some online web based multiplayer games which are full of creeps and whatnot.

I do my best to bring them out over the weekends for physically activity, but gaming is inevitable unless we live in a remote village with no internet.

 

[TGO]

I got my daughter a 3DS, got her Mario and the kids friendly games etc, she now has Switch
But her mom got her a iPhone and she mostly watches YouTubers do stupid shit in Minecraft.
I've got her things like Animal Crossing but she's more interested in watching Minecraft created content on YouTube.
So I'm just like.

 

[Magic Carpet]

You first give them a cotroller with no wires or batteries and let them pretend to be playing the game with you.
I wish this still worked today.

 

[Dr. Claus]

Same way I did. Arcades, NES, GameBoy, and move up from there. Little shits definitely won’t be play F2P mobile trash.

 

[Nautilus]

 

[Ghost of Caelid]

I'll start them up on pokemon like I did.

 

[reinking]

Same thing I did with my daughter. She had options laying around and whatever SHE was interested in playing is what she played. People trying to force their kids to go through Gameboy etc are being silly. Let them enjoy whatever is offered. It doesn't hurt to expose them to the classics but I would not force it on my kid. These days, they find games on phones before they find them on consoles/handhelds anyway.

 

[Dr. Claus]

Same thing I did with my daughter. She had options laying around and whatever SHE was interested in playing is what she played. People trying to force their kids to go through Gameboy etc are being silly. Let them enjoy whatever is offered. It doesn't hurt to expose them to the classics but I would not force it on my kid. These days, they find games on phones before they find them on consoles/handhelds anyway.

Whatever is offered is dependent on the parents. If all they have access to is a GameBoy and an NES, then they will enjoy those. No one is suggesting “Forcing” anything, except me when it comes to F2P/Mobile trash.

 

[reinking]

Whatever is offered is dependent on the parents. If all they have access to is a GameBoy and an NES, then they will enjoy those. No one is suggesting “Forcing” anything, except me when it comes to F2P/Mobile trash.

Of course, whatever is offered is dependent on what the parent have purchased. The way OP asked the question implied there are more modern options as part of the question. I must be reading a different thread than you. I am seeing "I would start them the way I did" post.

 

[Gamerguy84]

LBP, flower, ibb and obb, driving games.

As she grew up it turned into every Disney Infiniti and that was a lot of fun. Now she games on her own on PC, well except for VR games.

 

[nemiroff]

I introduced my two year old (now seven) to gaming with Forza Horizon (FH3 I think) on PC. Cars in an open world plus no camera management was perfect for him.

 

[april6e]

I wouldn't. I don't like pushing my hobbies on other.

If they naturally come across gaming and want to give it a try, I will help them explore that interest. If they never end up discovering gaming and develop other interests, then I would never bring gaming up with them then and just play by myself as I've always done.

 

[CaptainSlayAHo]

Of course, whatever is offered is dependent on what the parent have purchased. The way OP asked the question implied there are more modern options as part of the question. I must be reading a different thread than you. I am seeing "I would start them the way I did" post.

I don't mind where the conversation goes, but yes it was assuming that everything was available