Growing up in an era of video games, and the location in which I lived, I relied heavily on these games. Believe it or not, growing up on the side of a mountain in West Virginia there were no cows to feed, or no hay to bail for me; Only sports and video games. From the early stages, it was the old fashioned Atari, playing games like the timeless Breakout, Popeye, Smurfs, you name It. From then I was hooked.

I turned seven years old, and a beautiful piece of machinery popped up in my living room called the Nintendo with Double Dragon, Paper Boy, Bases Loaded, Tecmo Bowl, Mario, and John Elway’s Quarterback. I was on cloud nine. Where we lived I didn’t have a friend from school within three miles or so.

My days consisted of school, shooting things with my BB gun (some things of which I probably shouldn’t have), ball practice, and slaying big bosses in Double Dragon, to beating members of the clan in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, to being unstoppable with Bo Jackson in Tecmo Bowl.

And if that wasn’t enough to keep a humble kid happy, along came Super Tecmo Bowl! From the era of Mike Tyson’s Punch Out I don’t recall feeling violent. I don’t recall wanting to lash out, and emulate the pounding that Little Mac put on King Hippo, Don Flamenco, Bald Bull, etc.

Then the Sega Genesis generation came about with games like Mortal Kombat, NBA Jam, Madden, etc. Graphics were better, and I was amazed at what this Next Gen (at the time) system could do. Debates rang out over Mortal Kombat and it’s blood and gore factor. From fatality after fatality, did I want to rip the spine of my friends’ out and declare a win? Absolutely not.

Parents debated whether we should play these games or not while we stood back as kids and knew it was just a game. Yeah, we wanted the cheat codes that would give us the most disgusting, bloodiest fatalities possible, but did it make us lash out and be a violent kid? Again, nope.

Super Nintendo came and went along with the Sega Saturn, Dreamcast, and a couple other systems with more tamed down games. Then the PlayStation era came and changed the game completely. CD discs held the games that were sure to be futuristic. The previous Sega Saturn had CD games, but it was obviously no PlayStation! The PS1 had a plethora of games to choose from.

From blood and gore, to sports, puzzle, adventure all at your fingertips, along with…..(drum roll please), Grand Theft Auto, Manhunt, and God Of War. Violence upon violence plagued these games. We all know what GTA was capable of, but did It make me want to pick up a prostitute and rob her? No, I wasn’t old enough to drive yet, nor did I want to!

The game titled Manhunt was strictly about killing and ways to do it creatively. Was 16 a little too young to play this? Probably, depending on the mind set and maturity of your child. Did I know it was just a game? Of course. Taking a bag and suffocating someone, or using a nail gun in real life is frowned upon. That’s why it’s in a virtual reality world video game.

To me, God Of War is one of the greatest games of all time. You could rip people in half for crying out loud! Graphics were amazing, game play and the gore factor was stellar at that time. It also took a good while to beat, which is what I looked for in adventure games.

Fast forward a bit, and you run into the PS2, PS3, PS4, Xbox, Xbox One. Gameplay is as good as it gets. Along with top of the line gameplay, you get more blood and gore, dramatic situations, nudity, etc. More violent than ever before. Doesn’t make the previous GTA’s look so bad now, does It?

Games like Metal Gear are more advanced and less about gore, and more about strategy and understanding. It takes time to figure certain situations out. Far removed from the exclamation point that used to scare the hell out of me when I was trying to sneak around and was detected by the enemy! The popular Call Of Duty games feature questionable harming of innocent people, but at least It warns you and gives you the option to skip that scene all together.

Now back to GTA, where anything goes in the free roaming infinity map. The aforementioned things like picking up the ladies of the night can be beneficial in the game, and also mowing down gang members. Again, It’s just a game. These are just animations on a digital screen.

If you were to go to a maximum prison and ask cellmate in cell block 6 why he did it, I’m pretty positive he wouldn’t say a video game made him do it, or persuade his way of thinking! Do I think a nine year old kid is too young for such a game: yes.

I will say that I believe sports video games can be beneficial. I believe it promotes competition, and helps with your child’s hand eye coordination. Especially If they are a bit on the young side. Let your kids experience the good in games. There is plenty to be learned from old school to newer games. It’s not just things that will turn your kids brain to mush.

I credit gaming for helping keep me out of trouble that lurked everywhere, kept me from drugs, etc. I always looked more forward to coming home, and continuing my season on Madden, or NBA Live versus getting into really bad mischief. It starts with common sense parenting. Who knows. It may help your kid for the future.

 

Written By: Joshua Petry

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