“I Love Pokemon!” 

I am a media consumer and so are my children. There - I said it. My kids watch television, enjoy movies, and even play games. Having said that, they also enjoy drawing, finger-paints, Lock Blocks, Exo-Bonz, and anything that you can do with a ball. We try to use moderation. Yet, Saturday mornings are an exception.

Long before I discovered that Saturday mornings were invented to sleep in after hanging out with your friends on Friday night, I used to relish the Saturday morning cartoon brigade. I have fond childhood memories of getting up as early as I could to watch Scooby Doo: Where Are You? Yes - the original. I’m that old. Well my son has his favorites and the commercials are just as devious now as they were when we were young. I had the opportunity of witnessing the impact this weekend.

Yesterday we were at a local soccer park for a birthday party. Kids were running as fast as they could in every direction (and occasionally toward the ball) and it was a workout for all. During the break when the kids got to replenish their energy with a the ever healthy mega dose of sugar (cupcakes with a layer of diabetic-shock inducing icing), my son saw another child playing with a Nintendo DS. He had never seen one in person, but thanks to the ever-so-helpful Saturday morning brainwashing, I heard the following comment erupt from his mouth, “Wow, that’s Pokemon! Pokemon is so cool! I love Pokemon!”

As it turned out, the child was, indeed, playing the current Pokemon title on the DS (Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time). It’s not that I have a problem with my children enjoying games. I don’t even mind them begging for them. I understand. Granted, it can be a bit trying at times, but it’s part of life. However, my son had never played a Pokemon game. He has never played a handheld game. He has never seen the Pokemon television series. Yet, thanks to the wonders of targeted marketing, he knows that he loves Pokemon and that it is cool.

Honestly, the Pokemon titles are a good choice for kids. They involve a sense of justice and fair play and provide opportunities to develop good problem-solving skills. I don’t have reservations about the franchise. But it is a bit unsettling to witness the power of the Saturday morning commercial in effect. As with all things, this provides an opportunity for discussion. I wish you all the best with this and I recommend practicing the fine art of diversion. I believe that my response yesterday was, “That’s pretty cool, son, and - HEY there goes the ball!”

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For those of you with a PlayStation 3, I have a wonderful recommendation. The PlayStation Network has a downloadable game entitled flOw and it is really quite pleasant. (For more information and to view some in-game footage, visit Sony’s site.) For those of you with a PSP, I have a similar recommendation. flOw for the PSP was released last week and it is every bit as beautiful as its PS3 cousin. However, there are some differences worth noting. Let’s begin with the PS3 version…

My son and I played flOw on the PS3 about a month ago and he really seemed to enjoy it. We can both play simultaneously so I can help him in some of the more overwhelming situations without him having to surrender his controller. The game takes advantage of the PS3’s six-axis controller to move your onscreen character. All you need to do is tilt the controller to determine the direction that you want to move. If you want to dart in a given direction, just press any button on the controller. That’s all there is to it!

The simplicity of the interface is really what made this accessible to my son. Combine that with the stunning visuals which he seems to think look like “skeleton-fish-bug-things” (a big plus for him on all accounts) and it’s hard not to have fun. But what is flOw?

It’s hard to describe but as an avid gamer I have found it a rather relaxing experience. There are occasional conflicts, but essentially you are an organism that is seemingly swimming around eating other organisms. As you eat more, you grow. Your shape evolves as you play through the game. After you go through all the levels, you return to the beginning and have the opportunity to grow a different organism through the same trials. Though similar, the experience offers enough variety in the gameplay that it is no chore to experience this growth process repeatedly. The visuals, the sound, and the simplicity of the interface makes it a very pleasant experience and one that I can highly recommend for a younger (or older) audience.

As for the recently released PSP version, there are two major differences that I have noted so far. First, since the PSP does not incorporate six-axis control, the player moves his/her creature around using the analog nub. This is fairly intuitive for the average PSP owner, but it does not convey the subtle nuances afforded to those who play the game on the PS3. Most moves on the PSP are more abrupt and less flowing. (Yes, I chose that word intentionally.) The second issue that I observed on the PSP version was that when you proceed from level to level, there seems to be a slight pause or stutter in between levels. This too detracts from the flowing experience.

All in all, each version of the game is under $10 and well worth it. I look forward to more games that seem so simple, yet convey such a deep sensory experience. I recall that someone on the PlayStation forums commented shortly after the original PS3 version of the game was released that it was the most cost effective therapy session money could buy.

For those interested in viewing the original Flash version of the game, you can check it out here.

Enjoy!

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As parents, we need all the tools we can get. A FAQ is an acronym for Frequently Asked Questions. These lists usually include the answers as well. (How helpful!) GameFAQs is a site that we’ve visited for years. It is a growing collection of reviews and “walk-throughs” for videogames for all of the consoles with some dating back as far as the 70s.

The majority of the content on this site is posted voluntarily by others and it has continued to be a free resource. I have often found that I don’t agree with all of the reviews, but they are the opinions of real people. The site now appears to be owned by GameSpot and I don’t know how that may or may not affect their content. Historically I have always found that they offer personal observations without fear of backlash from corporate sponsorship. If nothing else, it’s always nice to see a well-rounded view of a game.

As for the walk-throughs, there’s nothing like getting frustrated because you can’t figure out what your next step is in a game. At the risk of dating myself, my earliest memory of such a challenge was the original text adventure Colossal Cave. (In those days, no one on the ARPANET had posted hints. In fact, this predated CompuServe and America Online.) To have access to hints or step-by-step instructions on how to handle something that may be taking the fun out of your gaming experience (or your child’s) is very useful.

Another tool to handle such situations is a Strategy Guide. Many titles have strategy guides and these often provide in-depth analysis of storyline as well as impressive imagery and artwork from the game. However, if you just need a quick answer, GameFAQs is an excellent resource to keep the momentum going.

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Everyone has an agenda. We are not exempt from this. However, I believe that you’ll find ours less questionable because it probably aligns fairly closely to yours. We simply want what’s best for our children and we want to help others to make informed decisions.

There are countless studies that argue back and forth about the impact of videogames. We believe that all are valid. Rather than dismiss some studies over others, we encourage you to consider all sides. We believe that your decision is personal and it may be different from ours. That’s great! Read what we have to say and what the studies find and see what makes sense to you.

In an attempt to provide full disclosure, I believe that gaming is not inherently evil. It’s like fruit. Strawberries, for example, are an excellent source of vitamin C and provide dietary fiber. Eating a serving of these every day or a few times a week would be a healthy eating habit. However, strawberries are high in natural sugars and if you eat five servings a day, this would not be in your best interest (nor would it be kind to your intestines).

What I’m really trying to express here is that too much of even a good thing is still too much.

 Now is gaming always a good thing? Well, I’ve never been a big fan of absolutes so I would have to say, “No.” Let’s take my strawberry analogy further. (I just can’t let it go, can I?) Would you choose to give fresh strawberries to your child as his/her first solid food? Probably not until you had introduced other foods to identify possible food allergies. And you wouldn’t hand an infant a whole strawberry without running it through a food processor (or at least cutting it).

The fact is that different games are created for different audiences. I don’t recommend Pulp Fiction as a film choice for six-year-olds. Similarly, Gears of War would not be an appropriate videogame choice for that child either. In America, we have a ratings board for videogames called the ESRB (Entertainment Software Ratings Board). Much like film ratings (i.e., G, PG, PG, R, and X), the ESRB assigns ratings to videogames (E, T, M, AO). Because of the complexity of an interactive media experience, ESRB ratings also include qualifiers with the rating for each game to highlight issues that may be relevant to the buyer.

What I hope that we can do is raise an awareness of this medium so that we can help other parents to identify appropriate content for their families. In spite of some bad press and some over zealous politicians and lawyers, there are thousands of games that are not controversial and provide simple diversion.

As parents, we must simply remind ourselves that moderation is always the key!

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