Toys and Games - Reviews and News

We are faced with additional challenges compared to those that faced our parents. Back in  the days of our youth almost all play took place outside the walls and protection of our house where concerns about skinned knees and bruises ran rampant, at worst we might talk to a stranger. Those are all things that our parents would be forced deal with back in the day. All grown up with families of our own we have (on top of the same problems our parents had) we have additional strain on us in the form of online video games. Playing games online leads to two major concerns that todays parents should be aware of. One is that some online games, since they offer anonymity, can be accessed by pedophiles and can talk to your child. Secondly we need to be aware of “griefers” or in layman’s terms cyber bullies who can make children’s online experiences bad.

Online gaming usually has a chatting option wherein our little one can chat with others. Mainly in strategy or barter based games talking is a huge part of the gameplay, but often talk spills over into the personal sphere. Stick to the basics before you go out and find your kids used street fighter 4

To ensure your childrens safety online here are a few basic tips that I would suggest implementing in your house to protect them from grifers and pedophiles alike, just do these before you go and find halo wars or some other games:

1.    Ensure that your kids comprehend - If you are about to set rules or boundaries, make sure you set some time for you to explain why you are doing this. Explain that its not that you do not trust him, its just that you are not very trusting when it comes to other people.

2.    Move the gaming system - Make sure that the computer is in the kitchen or the living room area. It makes it a lot easier to oversee your kids gameplay when you ar earound them reglaurly. Also, if the computer is in a well trafficked area, your child will also be able to interact with people in the real world.

3.    Educate - Tell your child to never give out the following information to people online:
a. True name
b. Contact details like address and phone number
c. State
d. Passwords
e. Social security numbers

4.    Use a fake name while playing online as your login ID, not personal info.

5.    Turn The Other Cheek - Ignore both strangers and bullies online. Strangers like this are looking for easy prey, if you just don’t respond they will go away after a few seconds.

6.    Do not stoop to their level - Make sure your kids know two rights don’t make a wrong and should never retaliate to a bully. Things only get harder as you reply.

7.    Ask an adult - Tell your child that when in doubt, when they do not know what to do and when they are scared, to ask help from you. Let them know that you are never too busy for you and that they shouldn’t be afraid to come and ask or call you to discuss any complex issues.

Follow these tips before you allow your kids to go on the net and play games once you’ve gotten them used resident evil 5

The more graphic the effects, the better. All of the video game makers are now competing to get the most sales, and that forces them to use the newest technology. Sometimes characters come almost to life and the player is given so many details that most people would rather not see - like gory scenes. As fast as these stores empty their shelf-full of games is the rise of a question that are met with different reactions: Are video games too violent?

Naturally, there are two opposing sides on this question. On one hand are those who believe that the games aren’t, specifically the gamers and the developers themselves. Mainly people need to know how much discipline the gamer has, and that could affect the extent of the influence. It is a battle of self-control and putting things in the right perspective. If there are gamers who are reported to be violent after a couple of hours playing, then the assumption would be the lack of discipline, and not because of the game itself.

On the other hand however, this point is the same argument as those who believe that video games are too violent. The powerful emotional response is brought on by the action and effects that is so realistic that people cant detach themselves from it. Reality is depicted as it is, and sometimes even more exaggerated to an extent, to achieve the credits for full effects without realizing that a gamer might not be able to distinguish which is happening in “real life” from those that occur only in the game.

There is an argument to be made either way, but we still don’t know if it really causes gamers to turn violent. The debate could possibly go on forever, but there are many ways that games can do this without retaining any effects. To start our everyone should pick a upper limit for how much they will play games daily. Games like this target people who have a hard time drawing a line between reality and the game world. Sticking to a regement will help you learn discipline.

Secondly is to know when enough is enough. When you find yourself overly invested in the death of a in game character take a deep breath. Not only does it clear your mind, it helps your body normalize as well after the surge of adrenaline. Three is for the kids who have parents that let them play these games. From an early age in life, children need to be taught discipline and structure. Once a child has been affected then the effects are hard to remove, so parents need to be vigilant. If you want a game that is fun and not overly violent then you should think about buy legend of zelda namely buy oracle of seasons.

Objectivity may be hard when broaching the subject of violence and technology might be too diverse to understand. What can be said for certain is that you need to understand video games to determine if they are too violent.

All my kids talk about getting every year for Christmas is video games if they don’t go downstairs and find Gears of War 2 under our new flocked christmas tree I do not know how they will survive. This drives me a little crazy since I like to encourage my kids to go outside. I would prefer to get them something like new football equipment or bikes, really anything they can do outside. Oh well I guess you just learn that kids are kids. Arguing with the boys over “appropriate” lengths of time is just too much work.

That being said I’ve tried to find some tricks for my family and video games. I do a couple of things in an effort to force them outside. First off I limit their time every day to one hour (they can earn more). I find placing a limit is important because then they know that anything above that is a privilege. To be more fair I’ve allowed them some methods of earning more television time. That leads me into my second trick. They have a few options to earn more television time, either playing outside or doing some chores for me. I like the chores option because it is nice for me to have a few less things to do, and the reward for them isn’t bad either. I set it up so it ends with one hour of chores earning one hour of television time.

The number two way they get more television time is by spending some of their time outside. For every hour they spend outside they get fifteen minutes of video games. Like I say this isn’t a huge payoff, but I also don’t really think asking them to be outside is a huge thing to ask. This mostly pays off for them on weekends. They can play outdoors for the day on Saturday and then spend the night playing video games. I do not even mind if they play a night of video games after a good day outside.

That being said I’m ok with one or two ending up under artificial flocked christmas tree this year , that is if it allows for the positives of getting the boys outside and making them a little more obedient. They had better like the games they’re getting, because I know I’ll like my “gift” of one more thing to use “against” my boys.