A Qualitative Sociographic Study of Video Game Playing Habits Among the 7 and Under Demographic

Abstract: Previous studies have shown that American children of various age demographics in general elicit positive emotions from interactive participation in simulated, digitally rendered environments (i.e. "video games"). This case study is an in-depth qualitative examination of such interactions among the male segment of an Eastern United States family. 

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Thurman and Nico have been enjoying playing the Lego Star Wars video game for a little while now. It is essentially a tongue-in-cheek walk-through all all six episodes of the Star Wars saga, but everything (including the characters) are made out of Legos. It has a two-player mode but, not surprisingly, Nico really isn't very good at playing the game. We've tried and tried, but he just doesn't quite grasp the basics yet. Stuff like moving his character around and knowing what he's supposed to do (or following the instructions of his brother or father). (Though to be fair to Nico, Carma isn't very good at the game either.) Earlier this morning we tried again, and as Thurman's (Obi-wan) character charged into battle, Nico's (Anakin) went the other way. I asked, "Nico, what are you doing?" He said "I'm hiding."

Thankfully, the game has a setting in which one player can play, and another computer controlled character follows along. So, being the deceitful parents we are (for the greater good, of course) we allow Nico to believe he's actually playing along with Thurman. This works well, as long as he thinks he is playing the character he wants to be. I fear for the day when he finally discovers he hasn't been playing all this time. Hopefully we'll have moved on to a different game before then.

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Our family owns a Nintendo Dual Screen portable entertainment unit, more commonly referred to as the Nintendo DS (or simply "The DS"). Now, it may seem like it's Thurman's because he's essentially the only one using it. But it's not, really. 

However, Thurman has been patient with Nico while trying to let him do some of the easier games on the DS. He still pretty much fails, but it's often the thought that counts. Recently at aftercare however, Thurman was kind enough to make a DS for Nico built out of construction paper, complete with two screens, all the appropriate buttons drawn, and even a little paper stylus for him to use. Nico was elated to have such a prize, and played with it for a couple of days. One time while Nico was "playing his DS", I heard him making video-game sounds, and then he said, "Oh, dang it!" The poor kid has trouble even succeeding at his own imaginary games. 

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A few weeks ago, Thurman was playing baseball while I was working on the computer. I'd occasionally snatch a glance to see how he was doing. In this particular game, Thurman was trailing by a couple of runs late in the game, but had runners on first and second with nobody out. So, his batter promptly hit a sharp grounder right at third base where the computer got the force out at third, threw to second, and then threw to first for the triple play. I've never seen that before on a video game before. I think it must be rigged.

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One of Thurman's favorite computer games on the internet is Bloons Tower Defense, which involves a bunch of monkeys throwing darts at balloons. Trust me, it's more fun (and addictive) than it sounds. But beware, there are no left-handed monkeys.

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Amongst the older male demographic, I wish I had more time to play video games. :) I did get Rock Band 2 for my birthday, and I'm pretty excited about that. It now has a feature that makes it so you won't get booed off stage, so I can now rock out with Thurman and Nico without fear of failure. I'm sure we'll get better with practice. If Carma lets us, anyway.