Huh. Gaming > Playing Outside?

As a kid who grew up in the late 90s and early 21st century, sure, I was surrounded by video games. However, my parents never really saw the value of them, and consequentially I was one of the few kids in the area without an Nintendo 64 or Playstation. Would I complain about it today? Heck no. I've never really truly been into the whole gaming thing, with the exception of a few Harry Potter or Lego Racers computer and Game Boy games back in my day.

Instead, I was a kid who grew up outside, playing kick the cone or cops and robbers with the neighbor kids. Looking back on it, I do remember spending a few days or evenings on a friend's couch, playing Donkey Kong or Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4 (or whatever it was). It wasn't a common occurrence though. I was more often found goofing around, blowing off steam with friends or family outside in backyards.

After reading Henry Jenkin's "Artform for the Digital Age," I was slightly upset with what he said in the last few paragraphs. He described games of today as being a big part of children's lives, since they "no longer have access to the real world." This upset me. How can it be that today's younger generations are growing up without being actual kids and getting outside to goof around with neighbors or friends? Are they really sitting on their little butts, staring at screens like Jenkins suggests?

After considering the difference in digital technologies and medias from today's world and the world I grew up in, I guess I could see that. Video games do in some way spark creativity or imagination as Jenkins says. Will Wright got at the same points of how children learn and channel their inner creativity through gaming in his article "Dream Machines."But simply playing "house" in a backyard on a bright summer day can achieve the same thing in my eyes.



Because of how I grew up, I still don't have a great interest or passion for video games. They're fun every once and a while, but not on a regular basis for me. I will say that I played my roommate in the latest COD game last week at our guy friends' house. I don't think I've ever seen those guys laugh so hard as they did when I couldn't figure out how to not shoot the ground or the sky. And hey, I got a good laugh too, but I'm definitely still not a gamer. And sorry to say, but my kids will be growing up outside, not behind a screen.