Posted by dkidwell on March 23rd, 2006 — Posted in World of Warcraft, mmo, parenting
Wired – You Play World of Warcraft:Â Youre Hired
“I used to worry about not having what I needed to get a job done,” he says. “Now I think of it like a quest; by being willing to improvise, I can usually find the people and resources I need to accomplish the task.” His story – translating experience in the virtual world into success in the real one - is bound to become more common as the gaming audience explodes and gameplay becomes more sophisticated. The day may not be far off when companies receive résumés that include a line reading “level 60 tauren shaman in World of Warcraft.”
This quote from Wired holds a really nice nugget for a gaming parent – why not look at the obstacles in front of you as one of the quests in your game? Taken one step at a time, the task is likely to look less daunting, more achievable, and may even include a nice loot drop at the end. String together a run of quests, and that promotion to ‘management’ falls right into play.
And the tedious quality of most educational programs? Not so different from the ‘level grind’ in many MMOs. Slog through high school, pick the toughest quests, read up on strategy on the side, do the same through college.  Now if only they would include a decent sword drop with the cap and gown…
Posted by dkidwell on March 16th, 2006 — Posted in World of Warcraft, mmo, parenting
SXSW interactive just finished up here in Austin. SXSW is a large music/film/interative conference that brings the best and brightest to Austin. The interactive conference itself brings technologiest, internet marketers, and culturists together to discuss how online activities are changing politics, science, entertainment, etc.
It isn’t uncommon there to find that the CEO, CTO, CFO, or other prominently placed executive actively plays games online. Is it possible that the game you picked up for your child at Christmas has virtually introduced them to a future manager? Is your child’s behavior in game going to impress them with level-headed thinking, clear communications, and organizational leadership?
Take a moment to look at these two articles:
The business lessons of “World of Warcaft” from News. com
Is World of Warcraft the New Golf? from 1UP.com
Posted by dkidwell on January 13th, 2006 — Posted in Nintendo DS, World of Warcraft, daughters, parenting, sons
GameFam: Just Say No…To Bad Parenting
Dan Matkowsky quotes an article that makes me wonder if this woman is of the same species:
In the article, Roxanne Richardson, soon-to-be mother of two, contends, “I’d rather my son take a more proactive, less habitual drug like cocaine, than lock himself away and play video games. It’s so lazy. At least with pills and coke you’re out and about doing something.”
Wow…let’s talk about lazy for a second.
It’s Friday – my husband and I spent the week working, fighting off the flu, and doing all the chores that a family of 5 treats as everyday life (laundry, dishes, dinner, repeat).
What are we doing right now, having finished all that? We’re gaming with our kids.
Dad and the boys are playing Warcraft. Actively teaching our youngest, who is 6, the strategy necessary to keep up his production of units to help out the team.
Mom and daughter are exploring Electroplankton, using a keyboard to tune our voices and discovering how the plankton react to our directives. Huge music lesson here in how the scale works, etc.
Now, I’m sorry, but are my kids engaging in a lazy habitual activity? Exactly who is the lazy parent here?
Any parent who advocates cocaine, even in jest, is simply competing for a Darwin Award.
Posted by dkidwell on December 8th, 2005 — Posted in Christmas, pc games
Darwinia
Our family is tracking Darwinia, and anxiously awaiting the game on the Steam Network. It comes out December 14th – Steam allows us to purchase it now, download it and be all set to go on the 14th when it is released.
Now, this is a good thing if you have a family of excited little fellas who will want to stay up late on a school night to see the game in action. Steam’s distribution model saves us time – no trips to Fry’s, no downloading of updates after install, etc. As I recall, Venvendi (who sees to it that Fry’s get’s their copies) still got their cut of the first Steam distributed game – Half Life 2.
Early movies of Darwinia are reminiscent of Pikmin – a game we loved. We’ll post a review after we’ve played.
Posted by dkidwell on November 30th, 2005 — Posted in console games, parenting, pc games
Where do ya even begin…
Hillary Rodham Clinton, Senator for New York: Senators Clinton, Lieberman Announce Federal Legislation to Protect Children from Inappropriate Video Games
“I have developed legislation that will empower parents by making sure their kids can’t walk into a store and buy a video game that has graphic, violent and pornographic content,†said Senator Clinton.
How exactly are parents going to be empowered by that? That’s going to enable me to…think less about what my kids are doing? Empower me to be less watchful of my kids purchases? Sorry? Did I miss something here?
Oh, and later on:
“This is about protecting children,†said Senator Clinton.
Whew, cuz my elementary school kids have been engaging in unprotected video game purchases.
But wait, there’s more:
This bill requires the FTC to conduct an investigation to determine whether what happened with GTA: San Andreas is a pervasive problem. It also includes a Sense of Congress that the Commission shall take appropriate action if it determines that there is a pervasive problem.
Excellent! Because I just sat in my office reviewing the travesty of health care options I have in 2006 to adequate take care of all those kidlets and darn it, we need time and energy spent on finding out whether game developers are pervasively loading sexy easter eggs in games. Furthermore, you can’t just go digging without expectation of taking action on what you discover – cuz what kind of leadership would that be? – so create a commission if you find evidence of degenerates.
Congress reconvenes in 2 weeks they say – which is the week before Christmas and likely to be a truly productive time. Might be a good time to set 2006 resolutions – ya know – be a better parent and all that. Or maybe not – maybe Congress will just take care of that for us.
