Current Events > Do your parents understand video games?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Ya they both do. They only play phone games now but they gamed on the ps1 and ps2 at one point.

Hell no. I cant ask them, they are gone, but it wouldnt surprise me if neither of them has ever even played one.

Trying to explain video games to my dad is like when Dark Souls fanboys try to explain why the Bed of Chaos isn't shit.

well, it's a puzzle boss. it's okay that you don't get it.

My mom does more than my dad. She's a casual gamer these days, but she actually has plays them unlike my dad. She used to play some Donkey Kong Country back in the day with me and a few other games.

They were happy to buy me videogames when I was a kid, and show an interest.

My mother plays mahjong on her iPad.

But that's as far as it goes, and honestly, that's more than fine.

my dad used to play F-Zero, Diddy Kong Racing, and F-Zero X all the time when i was a kid. he recently came to visit and when my kid showed him F-Zero X on the Nintendo Switch online pass thing, he was like "i don't remember that very much." he probably hasn't played anything since 2001ish.

what's funny is i even have my OG N64 with the same F-Zero X cartridge he used to play hooked up in the basement. he's seen that as well a few times and pretty much had the same reaction. dad's are something else (also he's 71 so there's that).

My dad's not a gamer, but he's played games in the past.

Mom has zero interest in games.

My parents bought me a SNES in 1993 with Super Mario All-Stars and while they didnt get far they did play it quite a lot for a year or so. Then we got Tetris & Dr. Mario which my mom was kind of addicted to. My dad never played videogames again, although he always was interested in Age of Empires 2, hes retired now so I think Ill get him into that. My mom always played solitaire on PC, in early January I got her Dicey Dungeons which she seems to enjoy so Ill check for similar stuff to get her into games more since she always thought videogames were cool but she has issue with coordination in them.

My mom thinks they're evil. She was one of those people a fell for the everything is demonic hype in the 90s. Then the media blaming school shootings on violent games.

They did buy a wii for wii fit and played it once.

My mom understands the appeal but I've never seen her play anything more advanced than like point and click games or word puzzle games.

Dad, no idea. I know at one point he worked a factory job making cases for DVDs/video games, but I have no idea how long he worked that. He's been almost entirely absent from my life. <_<

wackyteen posted...

I know at one point he worked a factory job making cases for DVDs/video games,

That's pretty cool

Nope. My mom sees no point and gets no entertainment out of it.

My dad has been out of my life for years; I don't know/care what he understands.

mustachedmystic posted...

Hell no. I cant ask them, they are gone, but it wouldnt surprise me if neither of them has ever even played one.

Im sorry to hear that, man.

My mom likes Tetris and Super Mario Bros.

Ironically my Dad enjoyed NES and Super NES games in general as I and my brother do, but he didn't have any interest in trying any Atari games.

I know both my parents played a few arcade games before my time. In the late 1980s, my dad played a few NES platformers. My mom played some PS1 platformers in the late 1990s to early 2000s. Lately, she plays hidden object and puzzle games on her tablet.

The only game my father ever liked was Blades of Steel on NES.

My mom did not.

My dad spends his retirement playing videogames, smoking and watching TV. He definitely understands gaming

In a way, no. They have zero idea what the appeal is, and they still think it's literally 2600 design just with better graphics. You know those TV shows where it shows somebody playing Super Mario Bros with an Xbox commercial while generic sci-fi sounds come out of the screen and the player is spazzing out as if he's trying to to dodge stuff in the game IRL? They totally buy every second of it, lol.

I'm a way, yes. Because they know it's a waste of time.

The only game my father ever liked was Blades of Steel on NES.

no bruins though.

They know what they are, the just only play Jackbox haha.

My mom enjoys basic mobile games, but was never really into video games. She's 77 so I can't really blame her. My dad was never much into even mobile games; he was already pushing 50 by the time we got our first systems.

despite me being a gamer my whole life, my parents still don't really get it. They are boomers in the literal sense. The only game they ever really tried is Pong. They have never understood the appeal of video games, and still think its a waste of time and money. They were already adults when the first video games were being made so to them it was always just a kids toy

Neither of my parents have any interest in them. My dad did really like the I Expect You To Die VR game when I had him try it, though.

I recall my father also playing Mario 64 back when it was new, and I think he owns a NES currently. My mother is technologically illiterate, so Im not sure if she has ever touched one.

They've both been into various ones over the years. They both frequented arcades in the late 70s/early 80s before I was born. My mom used to play NES games, and plays a bunch of mobile games now. My dad played a bunch of FPSes in the 90s and Phantasy Star Online, and also now plays mobile games.

My dad played just as much games as my brother and I did growing up (from the NES lasting up to the PS1, he would rent a video game every Friday without fail). His favorite genres was the scrolling shoot'em ups like 1942, gradius, r-type etc, beat'em ups (if I was playing co-op it was either with my dad or my brother), and sports games which I personally disliked but him and my brother loved. He used to clear 1942 on one quarter in the arcades so he played the hell out of that one. He hated rpgs though and used to joke that "all ya do is read", lol. *He used to rent them for me anyway though since he knew I liked'em*

He still regularly plays games today but he sticks to openbor beat'em ups on his PC and playing things like metal slug etc via emulators. He also owned his own BC PS3 he used to play PS3 and PS2 beat'em ups but that thing eventually YLOD'd. Got a slim PS3 to replace it.

My mom isn't about the life though. She played super mario bros. 1 time, fell down the first hole and never touched a console game since. She'll play stuff like Farmville, bejeweled, and a random quiz game on her phone but thats as far as it goes.

Zikten posted...

despite me being a gamer my whole life, my parents still don't really get it. They are boomers in the literal sense. The only game they ever really tried is Pong. They have never understood the appeal of video games, and still think its a waste of time and money. They were already adults when the first video games were being made so to them it was always just a kids toy

Do they understand the appeal of movies and books?

My dad definitely understands games. When I was really young he would play Genesis games both by himself and with me. Hed face me on the first Mortal Kombat and I remember him getting really far (if not completing) that old hard Lion King game.

However after that he didnt really pay much attention to games until I got a 360 in high school and started talking to him about Xbox Live. He said it sounded really cool and wanted to try it. So he started playing CoD 2 and then 4 (hes really into military stuff having been in the Marines) quite a lot, both multiplayer and going through the campaigns. I dont think he ever really was great at the games but he seemed fairly competent at them.

That went on for like a year-ish but eventually he lost interest. He tried very recently to play some newer shooters when I gave my parents my old Xbox One to put in the living room but for some reason he couldnt get the movement down this time.

My mom on the other hand has never really played anything. She told me the only video game she ever played was Pac Man in the arcade sometime in the 80s. Occasionally shed see my playing a game in my room when I still lived with them and would tell me it looks cool, though.

Once I explained that video games were my cigarette, my dad got it.

wackyteen posted...

Do they understand the appeal of movies and books?

Yes

My mom plays Pokemon, and a little bit of Smash Brothers.

I am the first i dont know my parents vote!
well i know my mother on a very shallow level I see her very rarely cos of circumstances I mentioned before Idc to go into it again but I dont know if she plays phone games or anything even I quite doubt it though.

pops is all about Pac-Man, dig dug, Galaga, and things of that era. we really bonded over Super C on the Nintendo back in the day. core memories right there

my mom plays stardew valley and harvest moon, and my dad still regularly plays namco museum (mostly galaga) on ps1 as well as metroid and super mario world on snes.
when I was a kid, we'd get takeout whenever my dad beat his galaga score.