What was your earliest memory on playing a video game? In my case it was around the age of 7 with a handheld device, colloquially known as a “Game & Watch”, due to the device’s dual function nature of being a game and a watch (to tell time). The particular device that I had was the “Western Bar” produced by Konami. My first experience with a console was during my tweens and it served as an introduction to Super Mario Bros, and even that was limited to an annual thing whenever I visited my cousin.
For my kids, especially my youngest daughter, she has grown up surrounded by consoles and video games. There was the Nintendo Switch at first, which was followed by the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series S. Then there’s the matter of the large gaming rig in my room, which she sometimes come over to admire the RGB lights, and the more recent acquisition, the Steam Deck, lying around somewhere either in the master bedroom or my home office.
Usually we would have video game nights with her sister but it was a matter of time before she picked up the Nitro Deck equipped Nintendo Switch and played on her own. It was just a few weeks ago that she started playing Mario Kart 8 Deluxe solo, after being told that yes, she can play video games granted that she asked for permission first and that she had nothing important to do at that point of time (e.g. homework, piano practice, playing with her sister, chores etc).
In those limited amount of play sessions, she has been racking up coins like nobodies business and has been unlocking new karts in the process. I’ve noted that she had a clean sweep of finishes (winning all four races in a single Cup) twice, and that’s only when I bothered to look. Upon further inspection, she was racing without any driver aids (auto drive, auto steer) switched on. To me, winning those races at a trot, without driver aids AND without knowing how to drift, was pretty impressive. Nothing warms the heart of a gamer dad than to see the offspring carrying on his footsteps. LOL.
The only problem that I can think of is that the Switch is also currently my go-to console as I’m trying to finish Red Dead Redemption for the 2nd time. Since the Wild West has plenty of distractions to offer, having my kid playing Mario Kart on the same console would mean John Marston would have to go lasso the same horse, or shoot the same bandito all over again. Sharing the same console means that there’s a risk where I don’t get to save my progress as much as I should for RDR. LOL.
