*** (1) What would you want their VERY FIRST video game to be (1B: how old is your kid going to be when they play a video game for the first time)?
1st video game would be the original Resident Evil, played at least at 6 years old.
*** (2) Are there any games that YOU personally were never able to get into (because you were late to the party, etc), but would like to expose to your kids early so they can give it a proper chance?
I was never able to get into Legend of Zelda, so there's that, and maybe other series like Phoenix Wright and Metroid.
*** (3) Are there any games (especially very popular games) you would rather your kids NEVER play, for whatever reason? (Assuming they have the same tastes as you, you could hide games that are only going to be a huge disappointment to them; or you could stop them from getting too addicted to WoW, Minecraft or Civilization by preventing them from ever playing those games in the first place).
I would never let them play any FPSs, excluding things like Doom, but especially including Call of Duty and Halo. Of course, I could let them play those just offline, but its only a matter of time before they want to go online. In regard to disappointments, I hope they would make those decisions for themselves.
*** (4) What is YOUR favorite video game, and under what precise circumstances would you like to introduce this game to your kid? i.e., how old will they be, what games will they need to have played beforehand, and if this is a game with any degree of player/story customization, what choices would you encourage them to make (i.e., play a Thief in Morrowind, or date Yuffie in FF7)?
My favorite game is the Resident Evil Remake, and they would need to have played all the RE releases up to REmakes release, as I did. I would encourage them to play Jill first, to get them used to new things like burning zombies and crimson heads. Story is up to them.
*** (5) Describe anything else you'd do with your kid's life of gaming. (Make them play all the Final Fantasies in order? Give them official remakes or fan-made patches of games to play instead of what was first commercially available? Hold off on giving them any of the games you know they'd get hopelessly addicted to until after highschool / college? Torture them with nothing but awful games for years because you're a sick, sadistic bastard?)
In addition to Resident Evil, I would have them play all Silent Hills, Metal Gear Solids, and Devil May Crys in release order. I would abstain them from addictive Multiplayer games. Bad games, they will have to decide for themselves. I would put a focus on the survival horror genre, and many franchises in addition to one's mentioned.
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Great Calamity Kittens!
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