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I've told my child, 7, that when he completes the original Super Mario Bros he can get a switch and play mario-kart. He consistently gets to the end of 8-2, so

I've told my child, 7, that when he completes the original Super Mario Bros he can get a switch and play mario-kart. He consistently gets to the end of 8-2, so he's damn close, and he loves the game! Though he has a slight preference for Kirby, also on the original NES. Most of his friends seem to be obsessed with Minecraft, and Ultimate Chicken Horse, to the extent that when he had a friend over I overheard him saying "Mario is old, but it's still fun!" in Finnish. So I guess there's hope for me yet :)

tstrimple 2y ago
> Most of his friends seem to be obsessed with Minecraft, and Ultimate Chicken Horse It's really difficult to compare creative multiplayer games like Minecraft with Super Mario Bros. I think it's perfectly natural for kids to prefer to play games they can actually play together. Especially sandbox games that allow people to play the same game with drastically different play styles. When I play Minecraft with my kids, I'll go hunting and scavenging with my son and we'll use the resources collected to build out and decorate a village with my daughters. They all have learned about redstone enough to start automating some of their own builds. This is all vastly more engaging than taking turns watching each other play a single player game.
- therein 2y ago
  I entirely agree, something special about multiplayer sandboxes that spark something that cannot be sparked otherwise. Next level would be to play Rust together. Organizing boxes at home while parents are out to gather resources when raiders arrive. Back to our roots.
- stevekemp 2y ago
  Agreed, completely different games. When he plays minecraft he alternates between trying to build things he knows, or just wandering around and placing dynamite everywhere to blow things up.
  - kQq9oHeAz6wLLS 2y ago
    Wait 'till he discovers beds in the nether...
    - Aeolun 2y ago
      I never knew this, until I thought to impress my son when fighting the ender dragon. Lesson learned xD
- deafpolygon 2y ago
  I've always likened Minecraft to a digital version of LEGO.
  - koolba 2y ago
    It’s not the same without the daily risk of your dad stepping barefoot on a pointy combo and nearly crashing into the TV.
    - Aeolun 2y ago
      I think there must be something similar in accidentally setting off that massive TNT bomb and exploding all the constructions on the shared server.
- snapcaster 2y ago
  Yeah, minecraft is more of a toy than a game in a lot of contexts
- Aeolun 2y ago
  > This is all vastly more engaging than taking turns watching each other play a single player game. I’m not sure about that. Taking turns playing Mario was just as engaging at the time. It’s only when you know you can be playing too, that the waiting and cheering loses its lustre.
cut3 2y ago
And I thought I could be harsh in enforcing silly rules. Let the kid play modern games with his friends you monster.
- Suppafly 2y ago
  >And I thought I could be harsh in enforcing silly rules. Let the kid play modern games with his friends you monster. This, so much of fitting in with your generational peers is having shared frames of reference to whatever media you grow up with.
  - stevekemp 2y ago
    I guess I should have explained more - he also plays minecraft on the xbox, he just chooses to play NES games with me. I think those two consoles are enough, but I've offered the switch when he finishes Mario. But I guess even outside the home he's been exposed to other consoles via his friends, and their parents. I'm certainly not holding him back and forcing him to play weird/old games alone!
    - jjulius 2y ago
      >I guess I should have explained more... Eh, I don't think you need to. The internet is crammed full of judgmental comments that people make based on a single sentence or two, often without any attempt at asking clarifying questions. People just generally need to take a breath and not assume the worst about someone just because they don't go immediately into a high level of detail about their personal lives in front of a bunch of strangers.
  - pfannkuchen 2y ago
    Does anyone have any advice to avoid this? I don’t believe it is healthy to have one’s cultural center oriented around arbitrary mass media. Do I need to join some kind of religious cult? Serious question (except for the cult part).
    - __s 2y ago
AtlasBarfed 2y ago
Psst, someone tell the poor kiddo about save states in emulators. Practice the hard parts as much as you want. It makes playing/experiencing all the ultrahard games a lot easier. Of course a lot of diehards hate that, but ultimately keeping old games relevant involves making them accessible and the save states help with that quite a lot. Ditto with faqs and maps and cheats. What is nice about the old games is that you can direct-hack the roms and memory spaces a lot more easily than modern games, so it is an early entry into computer architecture and education within the context of games.
aidenn0 2y ago
Are you going to give him a map of Bowser's castle or will he have to learn that maze himself?
throwaway84539 2y ago
The Switch has many modern Mario games that support 2 players that are essentially the old games with better graphics (side scrolling, not like the other full 3d Mario games). You should get a Switch so that you and your kids can play together. It's much more fun and social

tstrimple 2y ago

> Most of his friends seem to be obsessed with Minecraft, and Ultimate Chicken Horse It's really difficult to compare creative multiplayer games like Minecraft with Super Mario Bros. I think it's perfectly natural for kids to prefer to play games they can actually play together. Especially sandbox games that allow people to play the same game with drastically different play styles. When I play Minecraft with my kids, I'll go hunting and scavenging with my son and we'll use the resources collected to build out and decorate a village with my daughters. They all have learned about redstone enough to start automating some of their own builds. This is all vastly more engaging than taking turns watching each other play a single player game.

therein 2y ago
I entirely agree, something special about multiplayer sandboxes that spark something that cannot be sparked otherwise. Next level would be to play Rust together. Organizing boxes at home while parents are out to gather resources when raiders arrive. Back to our roots.
stevekemp 2y ago
Agreed, completely different games. When he plays minecraft he alternates between trying to build things he knows, or just wandering around and placing dynamite everywhere to blow things up.
- kQq9oHeAz6wLLS 2y ago
  Wait 'till he discovers beds in the nether...
  - Aeolun 2y ago
    I never knew this, until I thought to impress my son when fighting the ender dragon. Lesson learned xD
deafpolygon 2y ago
I've always likened Minecraft to a digital version of LEGO.
- koolba 2y ago
  It’s not the same without the daily risk of your dad stepping barefoot on a pointy combo and nearly crashing into the TV.
  - Aeolun 2y ago
    I think there must be something similar in accidentally setting off that massive TNT bomb and exploding all the constructions on the shared server.
snapcaster 2y ago
Yeah, minecraft is more of a toy than a game in a lot of contexts
Aeolun 2y ago
> This is all vastly more engaging than taking turns watching each other play a single player game. I’m not sure about that. Taking turns playing Mario was just as engaging at the time. It’s only when you know you can be playing too, that the waiting and cheering loses its lustre.

cut3 2y ago

And I thought I could be harsh in enforcing silly rules. Let the kid play modern games with his friends you monster.

Suppafly 2y ago
>And I thought I could be harsh in enforcing silly rules. Let the kid play modern games with his friends you monster. This, so much of fitting in with your generational peers is having shared frames of reference to whatever media you grow up with.
- stevekemp 2y ago
  I guess I should have explained more - he also plays minecraft on the xbox, he just chooses to play NES games with me. I think those two consoles are enough, but I've offered the switch when he finishes Mario. But I guess even outside the home he's been exposed to other consoles via his friends, and their parents. I'm certainly not holding him back and forcing him to play weird/old games alone!
  - jjulius 2y ago
    >I guess I should have explained more... Eh, I don't think you need to. The internet is crammed full of judgmental comments that people make based on a single sentence or two, often without any attempt at asking clarifying questions. People just generally need to take a breath and not assume the worst about someone just because they don't go immediately into a high level of detail about their personal lives in front of a bunch of strangers.
- pfannkuchen 2y ago
  Does anyone have any advice to avoid this? I don’t believe it is healthy to have one’s cultural center oriented around arbitrary mass media. Do I need to join some kind of religious cult? Serious question (except for the cult part).
  - __s 2y ago

AtlasBarfed 2y ago

Psst, someone tell the poor kiddo about save states in emulators. Practice the hard parts as much as you want. It makes playing/experiencing all the ultrahard games a lot easier. Of course a lot of diehards hate that, but ultimately keeping old games relevant involves making them accessible and the save states help with that quite a lot. Ditto with faqs and maps and cheats. What is nice about the old games is that you can direct-hack the roms and memory spaces a lot more easily than modern games, so it is an early entry into computer architecture and education within the context of games.

aidenn0 2y ago

Are you going to give him a map of Bowser's castle or will he have to learn that maze himself?

throwaway84539 2y ago

The Switch has many modern Mario games that support 2 players that are essentially the old games with better graphics (side scrolling, not like the other full 3d Mario games). You should get a Switch so that you and your kids can play together. It's much more fun and social