For my final blog post, I interviewed a long time friend about what he thinks about video games and how things have changed since he was a child. Adam W. was a professional gamer who has participated in video game competitions playing the PC shooter, Counter-Strike. He was game experience as a manager at a game store. Now, Adam is married and a father of a four-year-old and his priorities in life have shifted.
VGI: How often did you play games when you were a Professional Gamer?
AW: When I first started, I played around 4 hours on school days. On the weekends and during the summer I played for at least 8 hours a day. The summer I pretty much played all day. At first it started of as just for fun and then it quickly escalated into playing with the best players in the world for 5 years.
VGI: You played Counter-Strike as a teenager, would you let your son play the game?
AW: (Laughs) Well my son is four so I don't think he can grasp what would be going on in the game. He sometimes watches me play Halo and I have let him press buttons on the controller. I think that video game violence is not an issue as long as you teach your children values and that video games are not real. I think poor parenting is a greater issue than video game violence.
VGI: What games do you let your child play by himself?
AW: I let him play any E rated game. I follow the ESRB rating system unless I play with him. I know the games that I play with him are ok for him because I am right there with him the whole time. One game that I he plays with me is Castle Crashers, which has some blood but it is cartoon violence. He also really enjoys playing Skylanders. I would have played it if I was a kid.
VGI: I find it weird how some of the children that I work with play both Skylanders and then talk about how much they love to play Modern Warfare 3. What games did you play as a child?
AW: I did play Doom when I was younger but I really didn't like it. I actually did not like fighting and shooting games until I was much older. My mind was in a completely different place back then.
VGI: Do you think parents don't pay enough attention to what games their children are playing?
AW: Unfortunately, I think there is an issue were parents let games become their childs babysitter. Parents are not involved enough and should sit down and monitor what their children are doing, regardless of what media they are using. I think a big issue is children can play games like Modern Warfare 3 and hear inappropriate things.
VGI: So the issue isn't really with the games themselves, just with the other people who are playing these games?
AW: Yes, a child can be exposed to many dangerous things just by playing a competitive game online with voice chat. I have heard some horrible things and I don't think my child should hear that. There is a reason why it says online interaction cannot be rated on the box of a game.
VGI: I think that is understandable, I have heard some offensive things while playing online and I do not think it is a safe thing for children.
AW: When a child hears inappropriate things from adults, online or in person, children pick up on these things and they think it is okay unless someone tells them otherwise. I don't think kids should play online games that have voice chat at least until they are a teenager.
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