Chapter 9 - Gaming - Who would have thought..

Who would have thought thirty years ago Pac Man would have lead to the gaming community that exists today. Pac Man was created to entice women into playing video games where males primarily dominated the video game world. The little ghost creatures who look like scoops of ice cream and are still fun to watch move around. Before smart phone and iPads, gaming was thought to be a time consuming ordeal where kids would start playing right after school and wouldn’t finish until bedtime. Homework, what it that?

For the last thirty plus years, games and gaming applications have gone from gaming rooms to home computers to smart phones. The games created are huge online games to mini games. Who would have thought.. I watch my son play the piano on my smart phone and play a full band on my iPad for hours. He can play music without the demand of lessons and practice time. It is so natural, makes him very happy and is brain is taking it all in. I am hoping it will lead to an instrument. He is also learning Spanish words from an app I downloaded onto my smart phone. We spend a lot of time in the car driving to swim meets and practice and it is so easy to pickup my phone that I have on me all the time and play. My daughter creates flash cards using my phone and googles facts whenever they pop into her brain. With the advent of mini-games, kids can have fun for short periods without interfering with homework.

I checked out the ”Quiz Your Noodle: Games Around The World” game from the National Geographic for kids site. It is fun, easy to play and the music is engaging. These games can be played from any browser even a smart phone browser.

I do not know if Pac man enticed more female game players but I still cannot figure out how my husband can play “Angry Birds” on his smart phone for long periods.