I just can not believe all the video games that are available today. I remember when the Atari first came out. I wasn't one of the fortunate kids that own one, but my cousin was. She had probably twenty games for that system and I was so jealous of her. Every time I would spend the night at her house that's all I wanted to do; play the Atari.
Twenty games on one system now is like nothing. I don't even know the number of game systems that are out there, let alone the number of games that are played on each one. And the market doesn't appear to be slowing down any.
Kids these days seem to think video games are a necessity of life. I don't know one kid who doesn't own at least one gaming system, mine included. My children have three video game systems, and the first thing they say when they walk through the door after school is “can we play GameCube?”
My children, however, are very limited on the length of time they are allowed to play games, and the type of games the are able to play. The only "hours of operation" for their GameCube, PlayStation, or V-Smile are between lunch and supper. They have less time during the week, seeing as how they don't get home from school until 3:00p.m. So, they end up sharing 2 hours among the three of them.
I don't understand how parents can allow their children to play so many video games and for so many hours of the day. It seems to me like those children should/could be doing something more valuable with their time. Also, the age at which children start playing these games it getting younger and younger each year.
Have you seen some of the games they have come out with? Some of these games are incredibly violent. And to think, parents actually let their children play these games. That is absurd.
I guess what I am trying to say here is that video games have come a long way. They went from pure entertainment and enjoyment to a must-have necessity of life. Children went from once feeling privileged to have one gaming system to feeling deprived for not owning one of each type. How many games does it take to get to the center of a child's happiness? The world may never know.
