Poll: Your Parents on Gaming.

[Mike Laserbeam]

Inspired by the "Stupid things said about video games" thread, not 100% original, but oh well!

Here's my question Escapologists:
Have your parents ever had an enthusiasm for gaming? (Or are they beyond hope...?)

Basically, having read the above thread, there seem to be a lot of people on this here forum that have parents who are anywhere from slightly, up to completely, ignorant of gaming.

My parents aren't perfect in this department. My mother (I've used that word so as to not create a divide in British/Non-British Escapzorz: "Mum/Mom") is almost entirely game-dyslexic. She understands very little about games and gaming as a whole, over the years - living with me as her son - she has grown to understand a little more. But she's still pretty clueless! I don't hold that against her, I completely understand, I really don't expect her to know ANYTHING about gaming. When she does show a sign of game-centric knowledge it really amazes me, it makes me feel I've made a difference...

My Dad on the other hand, used to be kind of a dab hand in the gaming field. At least when it came to older puzzle/point-and-click or RTS games. He introduced me to the wonderful world of gaming way back when, with the Monkey Island series. He knew the tricks and set me loose on 'em, I beat them (eventually, and with a little help from him) and my love for games only grew from there.
He also showed me Age of Empires, Warhammer: Dark Omen, Warcraft, Alone in the Dark and Grim Fandango. Actually, thinking back, my Dad was pretty cool back then...
To this day I can't beat my Dad in an RTS that he knows how to play.

However, my father has sadly fallen behind on the times. He's pretty knowledgeable on games from the 90s and before, but he's not brilliant on the stuff since. (Unless they were sequels)
He tries his best - which I admire, I really do - but he knows that it's no longer his forte.

SO! TL;DR (Which I imagine that probably was for a lot of people)

The question's at the top! What are YOUR parents like with games???


P.s. My dad also bought me Tombi! (That's what "Tomba!" was called over here) for the PlayStation, I've seen a lot of love for those games recently and I thought I'd chip in.

 

[Revolutionary]

My dad plays the latest COD and Halo instalments (or at least attempts to) online. My mum tried Guitar hero once but failed in two seconds flat also I think she tried Wii bowling but wasn't much better at that.

 

[Wuggy]

Time after time a game comes around that graps either one or both of my parents. I remember fondly how we together completed Super Mario Bros. for the NES. More recently, they both play a lot of Angry Birds with their iPad. Their attitude concerning gaming is pretty positive overall.

 

[smithy_2045]

My dad isn't opposed to playing games. He doesn't really play any newer games though.

 

[ToastiestZombie]

My mum played through a few cases in L.A. Noire with me, helping out in finding clues and interrogations. I think she likes it because she also likes murder/crime thrillers.

 

[jakko12345]

My parents are the type of people who are instantly dismissive of gaming, calling it a "pointless waste of time".

 

[Tharwen]

I think you mean 'my parents on 'pointless baby games''. That's what they are to my Dad.

It's weird because I have distinct memories of him playing Tomb Raider III on his laptop when I was a lot smaller. I think it's just because I spend so much time on them.

My Mum used to spend a lot of time playing the Microsoft Solitaire and Minesweeper and a breakout game I put on the computer once, but that's about it. Beyond that, I try to keep my parents and games fairly separate to avoid the opinions on how brutal and sadistic they all are.

(Strange how he can call them both 'babyish' and 'brutal' at the same time).

 

[Jordi]

When I was little my father played Prince of Persia 1 and 2, but if I recall correctly he didn't really like 2. He also played Battle Chess (which is so awesome that I don't understand why no other chess games have followed this concept[footnote]to my knowledge[/footnote]). Now he just plays the several variants of solitaire that come with Windows and online chess, and very rarely he plays with my little brother on the Wii.

He is definitely not a "gamer" though, and I think that he thinks that the youth nowadays is using computers too much for "silly" games.

 

[Bobbity]

Not so much anymore, but my parents used to play around a bit on the original Xbox and PS2 - Max Payne, Halo: CE, Ico, Jak and Daxter, all that stuff.

Now though, my dad hasn't played in ages. Recently, however, we've gotten into the habit of sitting around at nights and watching me play new games. I know. Awesome, right?

We did Heavy Rain first, then Red Dead, and now we're halfway through LA Noire. It's actually kind of annoying, because they won't let me finish it unless they're there, and not everyone is going to be free until next week end. :S

 

[Lectori Salutem]

They're not enthusiastic, but fortunately they don't mind me gaming either.

 

[Hungry Donner]

My father introduced me to Doom and Doom editing, I think he was more interested in the programming aspect of it rather than an enthusiastic gamer but I think it still counts.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

My parents are gamers themselves. We used to play games of Timesplitters together.

 

[schizow]

My mom plays some braintraining on the DS if you can call that gaming. And my dad just doesnt care.

 

[J-dog42]

My Mum used to play rally games. Rallisport on the original xbox and Dirt 2 on the 360. However she gave up after she pulled a muscle in her shoulder. Turns out that she was steering with her arms as well as the control. My Dad isn't a fan of shooting games, being a minister, but he is an avid FIFA player.

 

[Look-a-Hill]

My mum used to be mint back in the days of the SNES and Megadrive. In fact she is way better than me on all of those games. I can't beat any of the Sonic games or Streets of Rages' to save my life. Yet she can do them with her eyes closed.

Sadly she's now fallen for those piss easy games where you just find objects in the background. She's selling herself short. I've tried to get her into Portal but she's not having any of it .

My dad on the other hand doesn't get technology at all. Doesn't even try to. I get the impressive he takes all news at face value too, so I wouldn't be suprised if secretly he thinks I'm one step away from a massacre. You know, cause of that one time he saw me looking Little Big Planet or something.

 

[Secret world leader (shhh)]

My mum used to like the first tomb raider when i was little and while he was alive my dad played some terracon now and then. I think it was out of curiosity as, if i remember correctly, they won a Playstation and some FF9 goodies in a competition.

EDIT: Also, when my sister got a wii my mum was the undisputed champion of the world on wii bowling.

 

[MidnightCat]

I wish. My parents both think games are a waste of time. Dad's a technophobe, and Mum can use a computer but doesn't see any point in it beyond using the internet to find teaching resources. We bought a Wii for Christmas, which I was hoping might help them accept gaming more, but Dad messed around with Link's Crossbow Training for a couple of hours and then lost interest. Mum still thinks it's all stupid.