I am here to point the finger of blame. With today’s ongoing debates and misinformed media coverage on sex and violence in gaming, blame has been cast on many. Retailers, for not verifying age at purchase, the gaming industry as a whole, GTA IV, the parents who allow their children to play these games, just kidding, no one blames them. But, there is one singular entity that has been absent from this game of buck passing and I’m here to call it out. I’m talking to you, NES. That’s right, the original Nintendo Entertainment System.
Allow me to explain. I’m going to speak in some generalities here, but stay with me. I got my NES for Christmas in 1987, happy day. I was 10 years old, then. A lot of kids got a Nintendo that year, and a lot of parents were glad to buy this toy to make the kids happy. Then, something strange happened, something never before in the history of the gaming console world, the games meant something to us. We weren’t just blasting rocks, we were saving princesses. We weren’t just jumping barrels (no disrespect to Mario), we were saving the world with a new agent from Fox Hound. Games didn’t take a few minutes or hours, they took months and we played every night and saved our game and came back to pick up these grand adventures where we left them the night before.
I’m 31 years old now. I’m still a gamer and I think I always will be. I’m just glad that a lot of the rest of you came with me. People around my age, give or take a few years, we are the first generation of adult gamers. We are an audience that a lot of lawmakers and those in the media do not understand because they can’t see why we exist. To my 57 year old father, I’m still playing with one of the toys he bought me when I was 10, and to many out there, that is still who the games are for. Well, they’re wrong. We are adult gamers, not the first of our kind, but the first masses of our kind. These games to me are now more interactive entertainment than blips on a screen. We demand better stories, and sometimes that will come with more mature content.
I’m an adult gamer, and for the first time I am a market, and there are games marketed toward me. So, parents (and I’m talking to myself, as my wife and I are expecting our first child), be involved, read the labels. And for the mature content of some modern games, don’t hate the game, hate me…or the NES.
Hear hear! Well said Jeff. Parenting is not leaving it up to the government, regulatory bodies, schools, or anyone else. It’s up to you and your partner to raise your offspring in an appropriate way and teach them how to properly operate inside society. You build their morals and standards, set their boundaries for right and wrong. Realize though its just for them, you don’t have the authority to dictate right and wrong for anyone elses kids.
Great article indeed and you made several valid points! Some parents out there still think it’s still justifiable to blame society for presenting such crude content to their children while the parents have not done shit to regulate or prevent it to happen.
This is where the whole “nature vs. nurture” debate kicks in. Good post, Jeff. Although I was 5 when I received my Nintendo, I will include myself in those masses as well.
I agree, it is the parents responsbility. Parents spoil their kids way too much, specifically in the US. I am going to raise my kids in Europe!
And yes, it all started with NES for me as well.
Love that pic, brings back so many memories of playing Contra and Ninja Gaiden.
Very good editorial, Jeff! More parents need to take responsibility for actually parenting their children. Everyone is a big fan of the blame game these days