So, a couple months ago my wife and my two year old son came down with a really bad cold. The kind that saps all your energy and hangs around for a couple weeks. To make matters worse, my wife was near the end of her second trimester and didn't have a lot of energy to start with (our unborn daughter hasn't been very nice to her mama). I stayed home from work one day to try and help out but we agreed I needed to save as many days as possible for when our daughter was born. So, to help them get through the day we decided to let our son play his mama's 3DS. He would be entertained while resting and she could rest next to him. It worked out well, perhaps too well.
Even after getting better my son continued to play the 3DS (not really surprising), he not only watched Netflix but loved playing Mario Kart 7. He loves cars and trains, so it makes sense. In Mario Kart he could drive a car that looked like a train and there was even a course with a train in it (Kalimari Desert, he he sometimes likes to just hang out and watch the train go by). He wasn't very good of course, can't say I know many toddlers who are. He drove into walls, off cliffs, drove backwards and even just sat in place. However, over the last month or so he really started picking up the concept. Occasionally when I checked his current race's progress he would be on lap number 2, and even though there was a LOT of driving the wrong way, he was able to finish a course for the first time a couple weeks ago (only took 25 minutes...). As a gamer and a father, I was pretty proud. But last night truly blew me away. I look over my son's shoulder and see that not only is he on lap number 2, but he is only 2 minutes into the race. As I watch him race the final lap, I see him expertly using the circle pad to move left and right and stay on the road. He hits a wall perhaps once, and finishes the race in just under 3 minutes. I of course cheer for him, call my wife over and we watch him do it again.
This time, upon completing the race he claps his hands and puts his arms in the air. He wasn't coming in first place by any means but he was completing races and showing high competency and control in his game play. My gamer father pride hit a new height. I know he may not completely understand the goal of Mario Kart yet (come in first) but that's not important. As he continued to play we had the opportunity to talk about how completing the race and doing our best job is worth celebrating (he even pumped his fist in the air and said "yay I finished!"). So, is this a sign he plays too much Mario Kart? Probably. But it has been great to have these fun experiences with my son through a medium I am so passionate about. Plus I look forward to when he can win against his mom, she is a much better kart racer that I am.
Sunday, February 22, 2015
Monday, February 16, 2015
Happy birthday blog! I hope your life is filled with happiness, success and excitement. However, since I'm your blogger, the odds for that are not in your favor. Try not to feel too depressed though for, while I too am new to the bloggersphere, I will do my very best to keep things interesting around here. Now, please excuse me while I go and blog......interestingly.
You ever have those days where something you hear slowly worms its way into the farthest reaches of your brain? To the point where, though you claim to just have a new interest in said topic, you are utterly obsessed and unable to think of anything else? That happens to me far more than I would like, most recently due to the announcement of the Nintendo Creators Program. I won't bore you with the details, but in a nutshell it allows for program participants to post YouTube videos with game footage from a Nintendo game (must be on the approved list) and they then share in the profit made from ads on the video (percentages vary). For more info on the program here is the official site: https://r.ncp.nintendo.net/guide/
The program really isn't the focus of my latest obsession but it was the catalyst for it. It got me thinking about how I too could make and post YouTube videos about video games, now with far less legal risk than before should I choose to sign up for the program (a definite plus). I love talking about games, and making YouTube videos would be a fun hobby that would let me do just that - while perhaps making some extra money on the side (yes, because I'm sure it's JUST that easy). Anyway, once that idea set in I couldn't get it out of my head. I spent hours looking at game capture equipment, looking for something that would fit my budget and still create a high quality product. When that failed I moved on to researching how people enable their 3DS handhelds to capture game footage. I soon found this was actually more expensive than the equipment I had looked at before. Recording PC games is perhaps a bit more plausible but it would still require a higher initial investment than my budget allows, particularly because my budget for this type of stuff is zero. I don't have that many PC games to begin with.
So, what do you do when your obsession is just too unrealistic? What helps you get over it and move on?
..............No, seriously, I'm asking what you do.
So far, for me, repeatedly looking at price tags has helped. But I've also found that substituting one obsession for a slightly more reasonable one, while not very healthy, is a pretty quick fix. Look at me right now. Started a blog and spent probably an hour and a half agonizing over my background image (which still didn't turn out the way I wanted). And in all that time I didn't think to look at game capture equipment once. So.....success?
You ever have those days where something you hear slowly worms its way into the farthest reaches of your brain? To the point where, though you claim to just have a new interest in said topic, you are utterly obsessed and unable to think of anything else? That happens to me far more than I would like, most recently due to the announcement of the Nintendo Creators Program. I won't bore you with the details, but in a nutshell it allows for program participants to post YouTube videos with game footage from a Nintendo game (must be on the approved list) and they then share in the profit made from ads on the video (percentages vary). For more info on the program here is the official site: https://r.ncp.nintendo.net/guide/
The program really isn't the focus of my latest obsession but it was the catalyst for it. It got me thinking about how I too could make and post YouTube videos about video games, now with far less legal risk than before should I choose to sign up for the program (a definite plus). I love talking about games, and making YouTube videos would be a fun hobby that would let me do just that - while perhaps making some extra money on the side (yes, because I'm sure it's JUST that easy). Anyway, once that idea set in I couldn't get it out of my head. I spent hours looking at game capture equipment, looking for something that would fit my budget and still create a high quality product. When that failed I moved on to researching how people enable their 3DS handhelds to capture game footage. I soon found this was actually more expensive than the equipment I had looked at before. Recording PC games is perhaps a bit more plausible but it would still require a higher initial investment than my budget allows, particularly because my budget for this type of stuff is zero. I don't have that many PC games to begin with.
So, what do you do when your obsession is just too unrealistic? What helps you get over it and move on?
..............No, seriously, I'm asking what you do.
So far, for me, repeatedly looking at price tags has helped. But I've also found that substituting one obsession for a slightly more reasonable one, while not very healthy, is a pretty quick fix. Look at me right now. Started a blog and spent probably an hour and a half agonizing over my background image (which still didn't turn out the way I wanted). And in all that time I didn't think to look at game capture equipment once. So.....success?
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