Did your parents play video games with you?

[ddaniels]

Back in the Xmas of '81 or '82 I was lucky enough (I say lucky because of the $250 price tag) to receive an Intellivision for Xmas. I think back how I played countless hours of video games with my friends and it hits me, I can hardly recall a time within this period where I actually played a game with my parents. My mom never showed an interest in this stuff (still doesn't). My dad, I recall him watching us play video games and getting a laugh or two or making suggestions on how to win. The only game I remember him playing was golf for the Intv. I'd try to get him to play me in Baseball but he shrugged me off. I think for him the controllers were too difficult, he'd rather watch my brother and I play. I can also say the same about my friends parents, none of them ever picked up a joystick.

 

My parents may not have played video games but I look back and was glad that they allowed me the opportunity (within limits) to enjoy those systems/games throughout the 80's.

 

Anyone here have parents that enjoyed playing those classic systems from the 80's?

[Atarimania75]

I remember my parents playing lots of Atari with me when i was a kid. My father was mostly into Bowling, Trick Shot, and his favorite was Super Breakout which i would hear him playing when I had gone to bed.

[accousticguitar]

My dad thought video games were nonsense. My mom would occasionally play Space Invaders or Asteroids with me. She didn't play very much, but she had good hand-eye coordination so she was fairly good at them.

[cvga]

My mom would play sometimes but I think that was just to spend time with me and my brother. Other than a handful of breakout games when I first got the atari, I don't think my dad ever played it. He did, however, get me a tv for my bedroom because he didn't want it hooked up to the tv in our living room. All of the games I played were in black and white for the first year and a half.

[yuppicide]

I would say most of my family has played video games.

 

My father purchased the Atari 2600 when it first came out. He liked racing or truck driving games, but we owned Space Invaders, Indy 500, and a bunch of others over the years.

 

My "Uncle" (I put that in quotes because he was my Aunt's Boyfriend's Brother) worked for something to do with Atari so he had 40 or 50 games.. the most I had seen anyone have back then.

 

I can recall spending many hours playing with my Dad. We used to play Space Invaders together. I think I remember when we picked up some games in a store. I vaguely remember us in a big department store around Christmas and I vaguely remember going to Crazy Eddie. I remember he had Custer's Revenge. I wasn't allowed to touch that one.

 

My Grandmother/father had a 2600 in their house as well, so did my Uncle, and my house too. So, everywhere I went you had a system to play.

 

At my Grandmother's I remember we had Bowling, Enduro, and some others. I hated Enduro, but all the adults liked it since they liked racing games.

 

At my house I remember us playing a lot of Stampede and Grand Prix, both games I hate.

 

Years later my Dad got me a Nintendo at his house. I recall we had Rad Racer, another game I hate, because my Dad would play it over and over and over and over. Drove me crazy.

 

One year for his birthday I talked my Mom into buying him Donkey Kong Jr. for his birthday. He didn't want that.

[Prodos8]

My dad played a few with us like Breakout, Missle Command, Casino & Video Chess that I can recall. My mom never played at all except maybe Casino once or twice.

[nathanallan]

My parents never liked games that much, and never played with me. I think I got my Dad to play Combat with me once or twice but he was too ticked about paying over $100 for an Atari 2600 for my brother and I.

[Gregory DG]

I remember my step-dad playing Asteroids with me fairly regularly. When I'd visit my dad he had an Atari 2600 and a bunch of games, so we'd play China Syndrome, Tapeworm, King Kong, and Space Shuttle (which I brought for us to play.) He had a weird collection of games like that, or maybe I had already played his commons so I gravitated towards the weird ones, I dunno.

 

Anyway, it's already MUCH different with my 5 year old son. We play together all the time. He will definitely remember his daddy playing games with him!

Edited December 15, 2008 by Gregory DG

[ddaniels]

I wonder if the parents of today vs. the parents from the early 80's play more or less with video games systems? The majority of todays parents probablly grew up with the Atari 2600/Nes systems so playing a Wii or Xbox 360 isn't something that strange. Those early systems (2600, intv, odyssey) from the late 70's/early 80's were so new and different, you either loved them or hated them. From what I recall most parents didn't want anything to do with them.

 

To answer my own question, I think todays parents are playing or at least trying out todays systems.

 

What do you guys think?

[+remowilliams]

My sister and I couldn't get enough of our 2600 back in the day. Parents had zero interest in it and the systems to follow.

[Almost Rice]

Parents did not, but my uncle did. He was the one that bought the 400 and Intv 2 for us. Made living with my grand parents great.

[Corby]

my dad and I would play video games, all the time. we would play outlaw, activsion hockey, for atari 2600. dk jr. for colecvision zaxxon, just to see how far we could go. anything with two players mode. Yup those were the days.

[cvga]

I wonder if the parents of today vs. the parents from the early 80's play more or less with video games systems? The majority of todays parents probablly grew up with the Atari 2600/Nes systems so playing a Wii or Xbox 360 isn't something that strange. Those early systems (2600, intv, odyssey) from the late 70's/early 80's were so new and different, you either loved them or hated them. From what I recall most parents didn't want anything to do with them.

 

To answer my own question, I think todays parents are playing or at least trying out todays systems.

 

What do you guys think?

 

I think today's parents play way more video games than parents from the 80s. We're much more comfortable with games than our parents were.

[nester]

Ah I have so many fond memories of playing video games with my dad. He especially loves racing games, and I can't even count the hours we've spent racing each other. I still enjoy gaming with him, and we play every chance we get. All the original gaming systems I played were actually gifts given to him. I remember how amazed I was when he first got to world 4 in Super Mario Brothers. Those sure were the good ol' days.

[Eltigro]

Back in the proverbial day, my dad won a 2600 as a door prize at a supermarket's grand opening. It came with five games. Since we already had a 2600, my dad put this one up in the closet with the games. I got to pick one of the games from the prize to keep as my own. I chose Yar's Revenge. I don't think I ever saw that 2600 again.

 

That's about the only video game related memory that involves both my dad and I... unless you count him being in the room while my step-brother and I were playing 2600 football.

 

He plays a lot of solitaire on their computer though.

 

My mom has even less interest in video games. My step-dad had a stroke a long time ago and lost the use of much of his right side. But for some reason, after the stroke, he got a PS2 slim at a garage sale or something. It came with about 4 games, all sports titles. I didn't learn about it until after he died and my mom mentioned that he had one. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why a man who couldn't use his right hand would want a video game system with controllers and games that used/needed both hands. He never seemed interested in video games before that, either.

 

But anyway, that's how I ended up with two PS2's. I have a fat that I bought when they came out and the slim that my step-dad bought at a garage sale.

[AtariLeaf]

The only game I can remember playing with my father was Outlaw and that was because we used to play Gun Fight in the arcade occasionally.

[aftermac]

My parents loved Super Breakout... sometimes it was hard for me to get a game in. They would also play Air-Sea Battle and Outlaw.

[darthkur]

I was raised by my grandparents and even though they bought me a 2600 for x-mass and several games throughout the following years, they never were interested in playing any of them. On top of that they were never too keen of having guests in the house so I never have, even to this date since I've become a hermit myself, had much time with games that required two players.

[STGuy1040]

I have fond memories of playing videogames with my father.

 

We would sit in front of the TV for hours playing games like Asteroids and Missile Command. Heck, we had all three major game systems in our home at one point (i.e. Atari 2600, Intellivision, and Colecovision), and we spent our weekends alternating between them.

 

I also remember the day my father brought home our first home computer; the Commodore Vic 20. Oh yes, my father is responsible for my computer / gaming addiction today.

 

Today my father owns an Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and he also plays PC games on his AMD gaming rig. The family legacy lives on!

[BydoEmpire]

When we got our first console (an Intellivision) the whole family played Poker & Blackjack and Horse Racing. I think my dad would play some baseball and basketball as well, but not a lot.

[Ghost Soldier]

My step-dad would play videogames with me occasionally. Now that I'm a dad I play games with my son and daughter. I usually get my butt handed to me by my 5 year old in racing games.

[Pixelboy]

My parents were proud members of the "totally uninterested" club. I could never get them to touch a computer even if I offered them money for it.

[Lord Helmet]

My parents never played...at least not that I can remember. However, my uncle played a ton of Defender in the arcades.

 

Funny though, my mom plays games now on her iPhone and Wii.

Edited December 15, 2008 by Lord Helmet

[pinball22]

My Dad has never been interested in video games... he played a little bit of Target Fun with me when we first got the 2600, but that's about it. My Mom, on the other hand, spent a ton of time playing games, as I've mentioned in some other threads... she didn't play that many different ones, but when she got into one she really got into it. Bridge, Pac-Man, Dark Cavern, and Othello were the 2600 games she played the most (and could kick anyone's butt at). She helped me and my friends the summer we wasted playing In Search of the Most Amazing Thing on the C64, and actually went so far as to make a little book with all the different races' antenna-communication and exchange rates for quick reference. (Too bad the C64 version is apparently unwinnable... our copy, at least, crashed with a Return without Gosub error when we went back to the town after finding where the thing was supposed to be. Anyone else ever play it to the end?) And, once my parents got internet access at home, she got really into Pogo and played there for at least an hour a day.

[monzamess]

Got a 2600 in '82 or '83. Mom never played beyond maybe trying it out once. Dad played some--he really liked River Raid, and was disappointed in Frogger. Soon the novelty wore off, the 2600 went to my sister's room (she had a B&W tv), and that was the end of super happy family gaming fun time.