I was once a young lad and when I was young I first started playing the original Nintendo Entertainment System. Among the plethora of games to choose from, the very first game I played was Super Mario Bros., which I enjoyed so much. I grew and played the Super Nintendo and the Genesis, grew some more and played the next generation, and the rest is history. Now as a full grown adult, I still play video games, I have friends who play video games, and my friends have kids who play video games – wee ones, at the age of eight.

I often visit my friend’s house and his kids are often there, playing on the Wii or playing outside like kids do. I decide to bring it upon myself to show them the games that I grew up on, and well, I thought to give them Super Mario Bros. to play. They started the game, I leave for a minute and come back to check on them. They already lost and said the game sucked. Well, I thought to myself, maybe the younger generation is just not use to the controls and such. So then I gave them Super Mario World to play, they got slightly farther, which to my surprise I always thought Super Mario World would be easier for them, instead they just quit just as fast.

Let’s step forward, same place, but now I got one of my younger buddies with me as all my friends tend to hang out at the same place. We were playing Altered Beast on the Genesis and all the kids gathered around and the questions of the fucking hour was “what’s that?”, “what’s going on”, “who’s that”, “why did you do that?” etc. I never asked what the hell was going on nor do I intend to, games like Altered Beast are something you play for the action and that’s it. But the kids were not satisfied with the reasons to us playing, but then let’s give them the controller and well the same result as above, they died quick and then hated the game. This scene continues on with several other old games that were just pure action.

Now what’s the point of this story? Well these are the same kids who are growing up thinking that Rayman Raving Rabbits and Guitar Hero are the apexes of gaming; now don’t get me wrong, I really have nothing against these particular games, it’s just I don’t see them as shining examples of what video games truly are. Their father, who doesn’t actually know much about video games, also tends to get them shovelware, which they tend to enjoy as well. Now I know, gaming is all about the fun and as long they have fun, it’s all good right? But then what happens when they grow up?

Indeed, that is the real question here. If kids are thinking that these are the best of the best, then they will grow up thinking that this is the best of the best. And what does that show to the industry? That the shovelware is actually good and therefore must continue to be made. But that’s not what I’m really worried about, it’s just that these kids are also going to grow and eventually become game developers themselves, oh not all kids but some of them will. And well, the generations below them might suffer from the video games they make.

But, maybe, I’m just blowing it all out of proportion and shouldn’t be worrying at all, but let’s take the example what the kids a few years older than them. There’s also a bit a problem, mainly that they think First Person Shooters are the only genre available and the Halo series is the greatest FPS ever – now don’t get me wrong, I may not actually like Halo but I will acknowledge it as a good game – it’s just that I think there are better FPSes out there. Now we’re getting into the mindset of mature games are the only good games and that’s a problem. When these prepubescent punks are filled with blood, guts, and testosterone; it’s going to make them bias toward other types of games.

So, what to do? Well, if you’re a family man or woman, then at least try to think about what you get for your kids, guide them away from just playing one type of game and help them explore the multiple genres and game types. The same could go if you have a little brother or sister, but don’t go around shoving your favorite game down their gullet, because it won’t work. Kids these days need to know there is something else out there, to expand on their taste for video games, because if they don’t, then the generation below them is going to see a grim outlook on video games.