well I've gone and done it

[Flam]

I introduced my 5 year old to my NES a few weeks back with Bubble Bobble (which he liked but was a little to complex for him); so I bought him Rampage which he absolutely loves and now wants to play my NES all the time. Just yesterday my wife let him play ‘Battletoads & Double Dragon’ which I think he likes even more than Rampage. Needless to say he’s hooked and I’m trying my best to limit playing time to 30 min a day when I get home from work.

I will say that watching him discover the NES for the first time is awesome and brings back great memories for me when I was a child. The NES is the first system he’s seen so the graphics are a non-factor, it’s purely about the enjoyment and playability of the game to him. He giggles and laughs uncontrollably when we are fighting robots or smashing buildings together. He loves playing two player co-op with me and always tells me “Daddy you are so good at this game”. It’s just a joy to see my child discover something I loved back in the day with the exact same enthusiasm I had some 28 years ago.

[JakeM]

Cool. Hope you help him figure out Zelda.

[Gamevet]

My nephew started out with the NES about that age. My brother said: he's just like his uncle, always playing videogames.

[Melf]

Mine started with Sonic and Castle of Illusion (I'm a Sega guy), but both she and her little sister really enjoy playing all my games. They have no concept of retro or modern, and it's so nice to see them jump between consoles without caring about who made them or when they came out. They are absorbed with Minecraft right now (they just sit in creative/peaceful mode and build houses), but they love the NES Mario games and even Punch-Out!. It's awesome.

[JakeM]

When are you going to introduce him to 16 bit games? Its better to introduce PS1/PS2 games as he is also playing 16 and 8 bit games. Makes kids not care about graphics, and just gameplay.

Oh yeah, I have a good friend who uploaded her son playing super mario bros the other week on the wii. it was heartwarming.

[TheRetroVideoGameAddict]

Nice! I always love to hear about people who grew up with the NES introducing the system to their offspring, I hope you guys really enjoy your time together while playing. :)

[Guyra]

Very cool! I'm a father myself, and introduced my son to the NES about a year ago. Took him no time at all to become pretty good at it - and other Mario games for the SNES and Wii, as well. He's almost four years now, and he knows about the secret 1UP in the first level, and the warp zone, and these are things he's figured out himself. It's so much fun! :D

But yeah, got to restrict playing time. We're trying to keep it to weekends only, and not for too long at a time. :)

I've introduced him to some other games as well, including Sonic, but it's Mario he loves. Though he'll be introduced to a lot of different games in the future. ^^

[Flam]

it's his laughing and giggling of pure joy that warm my heart (regardless it being from an NES). I do need to restrict play more, he was really into basketball so I don't want the NES to take away from that; it's all about balance.


I was thinking about another console to buy down the road and I was thinking about the Wii. I've never played one extensively but his cousins seem to love theirs and it looks like the most kid friendly/family oriented system available.

[XYXZYZ]

Punish him by making him play Taboo until he finishes it.

[Ro-J]

Bubble Bobble was a good game to start with as there are none of those frustrating pits that little kids hate, you just fall through to the top. If you have a Power Pad, I'd recommend picking up Eggsplode\Short Order, my eldest at that age loved it.

[Guyra]

I was thinking about another console to buy down the road and I was thinking about the Wii. I've never played one extensively but his cousins seem to love theirs and it looks like the most kid friendly/family oriented system available.

I think the Wii is a very good choice. Especially if you buy the older version, then you can have him play Gamecube games as well on it. Loads of great, family oriented games on the Wii, for sure! :)

[Captain_N77]

That's great to hear. I'm glad the little guy is enjoying it and props to his pops for starting him out the right way.

I've always said that if I am blessed enough to have kids one day that they will start as I did, on the 2600 and NES. No junky, generic flash games or cell phone games. I also thought it would be kinda cool to reward my (possible) kids with weekend marathons. Like, if they are good and are making good grades do something like "Ok since you've been doing so well, here is Mario. Beat it, and you can play Mario 2. Finish it, you can start 3." Of course there would still be time for family, eating dinner together, playing outside, etc. But that would be a cool challenge, and as we all know and remember from our childhoods, sometimes kids can do incredible things when they are so motivated. I still can't believe I was able to beat Castlevania as a kid. It about gave me a stroke when I beat it as an adult a few years back.

[wiggyx]

Awesome! I can't wait til my kid is old enough for me to shove an NES controller in his hands! :D

[JakeM]

Punish him by making him play Taboo until he finishes it.

Or LJN games XD

[Tanooki]

I gave my 19 month old girl my gb micro with super mario advance in it and turned it on. Fun lasted maybe 15minutes, but she did get it as far as into the game and down that big drop to the door below. Not too bad for someone with no coordination for such things. To her credit she kept going at it for awhile on that bouncy platform.

[PreZZ]

Sonic is easy for little kids too, just left-right-jump. Beat em ups are also very easy and fun like streets of rage.

[BlastProcessing402]

You guys are spoiling your kids. You should make them start with Pong & its clones. Make them earn their way up to 2600 then NES. LOL