Was this not the best video game ever? I've been thinking about this a decent amount lately, and it is crazy to me how much time kids spend playing video games nowadays. Just go to the electronics department at Wal-Mart or Target or (dear heavens) Best Buy. There are SOO many games for sale, they're ridculously expensive...and...well I could talk about what's featured in the games and whether it's appropriate for kids, but I don't think the blog will allow that much text, and I have neither the time nor the patience for that type of endeavor.
What happened to riding bikes? What happened to pick up games? Going fishing? Are the only people who participate in these activities...grown ups? Did this stuff die with our generation, in favor of first-person shooter games and Wii sports resort?
Last weekend I threw the football for 45 minutes or so with my neighbor's son, Ethan and his buddy from school. This leads me to believe there's still some hope. That's what kids should be doing!
here's what typical day looked like for me as a kid:
Wake up, breakfast, go find my neighborhood friends. Pick-up basketball for a couple of hours. Playing in the woods. Finding a creek to splash around in, and getting REALLY muddy. Trying to catch crawfish and tadpoles. Climbing trees. Building forts. Someone's house for lunch. Back outside. Football game. If we're lucky, swimming at the neighbor's pool. More bikes and hoops. Dinner at home. Flashlight tag. Duck Hunt/Mario. Back home for bed. Wake up, repeat.
Look, I get it. We live in a high-tech, fast-paced, virtual-reality world where you're more likely to Tweet about your day than have an actual conversation with another human being. And I praise God for technology; without it you wouldn't be reading this. But, I'm afraid it's getting out of hand. I'm afraid, especially for kids, that video games are becoming the focus, and not a small part of a life that mostly includes pop flies, blue gill, skateboards and skinned knees.
I'm sure everyone generation says this, but man--those were they days, weren't they? I remember playing video games as a youngster, but not nearly as vividly as I remember a thousand other things. Like riding in my dad's old VW Beetle to the neighborhood pool, and spending hours catching bugs with my first crush, Emily. She was really something--she even liked bugs!
So if you have kids, or if you are a kid (especially of the grown-up variety), please go outside! I know it's cold, but put on a jacket. You could play a REAL first-person game of cops & robbers.
Besides, as far as I'm concerned, they'll never make a game that will hold a candle to this one.
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