Sunday, April 8, 2007

Video Killed the Radio Star

And Nintendo's Wii is going to slaughter Playstation and XBox. Demi and I were very much against getting the boys video games at a young age. And even when they started "getting older" (now all of 6 and 8), it was a hotly debated issue. Our boys don't get a lot of TV time period, let alone video games. Two years ago, my sister in-law gave them a Sony Dreamcast that had been her son's. The boys were ecstatic for the first week. Then the novelty wore off.

At least for a little while. Coco was probably a little too young for it in retrospect. Not that the games were inappropriate. But the time limit factor. After the lull, he would ask about playing a bit more frequently. It wasn't until this past fall, that video games became a problem. It was in NH of all places. We had complete a long hike during the day. Then we took a tour around the facilities of where we were staying and happened across an arcade. The kids had been so well behaved on the 3 hour car ride up and on the hike, that they deserved some reward. So I bought them some tokens and let them have at it. The only rule was no inappropriate games. It was a small place so there was only one really questionable shooting type game.

However, after that foray, Coco kept asking, "Can we go back to the arcade?" Or when you asked him, what he wanted to do, he would answer, "Go to the arcade."

When we got home, he would ask, "Can I play Daddy's Playstation?" (Yes, it was mine. The original Playstation that I bought as a toy before the kids came. I would have had to knock a solid layer of dust off it, for Coco to play.

We had to take action and force some change, cold turkey. Some video Ferberization if you will. But he was not going to sit inside and play video games. He's an active kid, so a half hour, sure. It was getting out of hand. After we broke him, around Christmas both the kids would put video games on their wish lists. XBox, Playstation 2, Gameboy, etc. It didn't really matter because the boys didn't really know what they were. But this past Christmas, Demi's nephew, Lee, picked up a Wii. It was still new and no one knew what to expect. Lee set it up after Christmas dinner and it was a hit. The sports package it comes with was priceless entertainment. If you are not familiar with it, it is essentially virtual sports: bowling, tennis, golf, baseball, and boxing. Yes. Boxing. The remotes are wireless, so you have to move your arms like you are bowling, pitching, or swinging a club, bat or racket. The boys worked up a lather of a sweat in three rounds of boxing.

So Demi and I thought if we were going to get a video game system, Wii was a good pick. It was better than sitting around with a joy stick and starting the early stages of carpel tunnel. There was some semblance of physicality with it. Now the game has a "workout" section and a "training" module. This might be a little much. It's not the next Tae Bo. But it is far the lesser of many evils. The whole family can partake, which is nice too. Demi constantly challenges the kids with "who's ready to get taken down town to Chinatown?" Talk about throwing down the gauntlet. It's like throwing chum in the water. The sharks fight over who is going to get a piece of Mommy first.

Over all rating: 5 out of 5 Chins - It's a must have, baby. It's good for the Mojo.

No comments: