April 19, 2024 • 29 mins
Step into the world of video games with hosts Jessi, Erin, and special guest and gaming expert Brian Schwartz. They unravel the complex role of video games in parenting, offer advice on game ratings and recommendations, plus they discuss the cognitive benefits and potential risks of gaming.
Episode #12, April 2024
For more resources on this topic, check out our topic guide: Adventures in Parenting Episode #12 Resource Guide.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Hey, listeners, welcome to another episode of Adventures in Parenting.
I'm Jessi. And I'm Erin. We're librarians. We're busy moms. And we love podcasts.
Today, we're in Studio E at the Patchogue Medford Library with our guest,
Brian Schwartz, head of the Patchogue Medford Library's Public Services Department
and avid gamer. Welcome back, Brian.
Thank you so much for having me back again. I'm very excited to be here.
If you listened to Brian's last episode on board games, you already know that
(00:23):
he is our resident gaming expert.
So we're excited to have him back with us to talk about video games,
the good, the bad, and the fun.
If you haven't listened to Brian's previous episode, we definitely recommend
checking that out. So we know you're a big fan of board games.
So what is your experience with video games in your personal and professional
life? So should I start at the beginning?
Sure. Start at the beginning. So when I was a kid, this is going to make me age slightly.
(00:43):
I had a Commodore 64, and it was a very old computer that could play games,
and the games would take hours and hours to load, and the graphics were like Atari-style graphics.
Even I did have that. Is that with the floppy disk? It actually had a cassette drive.
You would put a game, it looked like a cassette tape, and it would actually
load the game onto the computer, but it would take two or three hours.
There was a game called Jumpman I used to play, and it was hours and hours just to load it.
(01:05):
But then I got a Nintendo when I was about five, and I've been playing video games ever since.
I did fall off the video game train for a while. I was kind of into the board
games, but I got back into it.
And I'm actually pretty up to date with systems. I have a PS5 and I have a Nintendo Switch.
I keep up with the video game world, perhaps as much as the board game world.
What do you like better, the PS5 or the Switch, or are they completely different experiences?
(01:26):
Totally different. I hate to say this, the Switch, and we can get into this
more, is very family-friendly.
But in terms of the capacity and the ability to play the games,
the PS5 just blows it out of the water.
Yeah, it's like the Disney of video gaming. Very cutesy, very non-threatening.
Even the scary games are really not.
So if you're trying to dip your toe into video gaming as a family,
maybe your kid has been bugging you about a video gaming system,
(01:48):
you would want to start with the Switch. Yeah, I think Switch is a family-friendly place to start.
I'm not sure what appeal it has for adults or serious gamers.
I was a huge Nintendo kid, so I still find it entertaining in a nostalgic way,
but it's not, like he said, it's not.
It can't compete yet now. What's the other one? Xbox? That's still a thing? Xbox is still around.
(02:10):
I hate to say it. I don't really buy a lot of those games for the library because
I feel like there's not as many coming out.
And I haven't gotten any demand for Xbox, but the Switch and the PS5 seem to
be leading the industry.
What do patrons ask for the most? Generally, I think Switch is the most popular
because I think most people have it. It's also the most affordable.
If you had to choose a system, I would definitely choose a Switch if you're
a family, if you have younger children, because the games are much better for multiplayer.
(02:31):
Player ps5 i know other libraries do own them for
the kids to play but i haven't considered buying one because most of
the time you could play like two or three but switch a lot of the
games just made for a lot of people so i would assume that buying games
video games for the library would be kind of similar to a family or parents
looking to buy games for their kids so obviously they want to know what the
(02:51):
reviews are and what the ratings mean so can you kind of clue us in some of
that stuff so the video games have ratings on them they're rated based on the
age group that they're I'm geared towards.
So E for everyone is going to be good for any age.
Then there's T for teen, which is for, I guess, anyone who's in the teenage range.
And then there's M for mature, which are the ones that have more mature content,
which is blood, violence.
(03:12):
The best thing about the video game rating system is that they have what's inside
the game, what kind of problem areas you might have.
I might say suggested violence or blood or alcohol, and they'll give you what
kind of content you'll see in the game.
I feel like with all things, the trickiest rating is probably teen.
Because like think about it, even here, our teen department is 6th to 12th grade.
So 13 and 17 are completely different developmentally. So I feel like that's
(03:35):
probably the hardest one to choose.
I buy games for the library. I've been doing it for probably about 18, 19 years.
And I've been buying the teen games for like for the Carnegie specifically.
I buy only the T for teen and below.
And for the main building, I buy all the different types. And they're all shelved
together along with some children's games too.
So as a parent coming in, I would suggest if you're looking with your teen or
(03:56):
your child, look at the rating before you let them take a game home because
it's not always apparent what the subject matter is going to be.
And then where could, if a parent wants to buy something, where can they get a.
Reviews? So I generally like to go to Metacritic, and I like to see they have
a composite of different websites and what the reviews are, and they'll have
an average score, but you can go into individual ones.
I like IGN, GameSpot, but there's a lot of other ones out there.
(04:17):
And generally, when I purchase a game for myself or for the library,
I like to look at the game and see how the reviews are.
Sometimes games are just universally going to be popular, even if they have
bad reviews, but I generally try to look at the reviews before I purchase a game.
Listeners, Brian mentioned earlier before we were on mic that the Bluey video game got bad reviews,
used and that's heartbreaking to me i don't remember why but
i got a pretty bad review unfortunately they probably just
(04:39):
rushed it they did it come out yeah did it
come out at the height of bluey i think it just came out recently i don't know
why it would get bad reviews i mean everything about bluey's so wonderful i
don't know brian did you ever see that documentary about the et game for atari
oh yes the one that got in the land that's it when you said the bluey game got
really bad reviews it reminded me of i don't recall the name of the documentary
(05:00):
but it was It was about this E.T.
Game that they made for, it was Atari, right? It was Atari.
Yeah, and it's like the worst game in history.
But it was, they were rushing to put it out to capitalize on the fame of the
film. So I thought maybe Bluey suffered the same fate.
I was going to mention that this is a pro tip for parents out there.
Generally, as a rule of thumb, any game based on intellectual property and IP is bad.
(05:22):
Usually, if there's a movie and a game that's based on it, 9 out of 10 times they're bad games. Why?
I think because they're trying to capitalize on the appeal of the movie and
they don't actually think through the gameplay itself.
I could probably name a lot of examples of games based on movies that are just
not good. You can also think of movies based on games that are pretty horrible. Yeah, true.
It goes both ways. I think it goes both ways. It goes the other way, too.
(05:44):
Just another random fact about video games. I remember reading that the Lion
King video game, this goes way back, was so difficult. Super hard.
I think even the people who created it couldn't beat it.
Because they want to make money on the movie, which makes sense because people are into the movie.
They want to play the video game, but I just think they don't think it through
enough to their audience. And they're not trying to make a good product.
(06:04):
There's actually one of the most infamous ones that's good is DuckTales,
which is based on the TV show. Yeah.
That game was supposed to be really good. That was for the regular Nintendo.
For the original DuckTales? Yeah. DuckTales Reboot. No, the original.
That's considered a good game. Well, back to reviews really quickly.
This is going to be my episodic plug for Common Sense Media.
The best website in the world.
Aside from the libraries, of course, offers reviews and ratings with specifics
(06:28):
for parents about what the game includes, kind of what Brian said.
The other review sites include, you know, this has violence, this has bad language.
They'll break it down even to, like, what bad language it is and things like
that. Yeah, like direct quotes.
They tell it like it is, that website. I've used it in the past when I was picking
video games. Definitely, they tell you the content.
My children hate when I pull that website up. I'm like, hold on one second.
(06:50):
And I look it up, they're like, oh, we're not getting this game.
Jessie is just setting herself up for a post-library career working for Common Sense Media.
This podcast will just be my resume.
Let me ask you both. What kind of games do your kids like to play?
So I'll go first because mine will be short and sweet. What do you like to play?
And then I'll tell you what I like to play.
So I'm not a huge video game person, but we do now have a Switch and we'll play
(07:12):
Mario Kart as a family, which is super fun.
My oldest likes to play Kirby, she likes. Kirby's fun.
And then there's some gator, little gator man guy she likes to play. and Mario Party.
That's it. We're just dipping our toe in here. I grew up with Zelda.
That's like mommy's alone time. Like, leave me alone with my solo quest games.
But as a family, we do like Mario Party and Mario Kart, Just Dance,
(07:37):
the Smash Brothers, things like that.
It's nice when you have family that live in other states and you can all kind
of, everybody can game together. That's really cute.
My daughter loves the FNAF games. She's obsessed with those.
Five Nights at Freddy's. Oh, my gosh. Aren't they scary?
Well, I played them all first, so I knew what to expect.
(07:57):
I knew she could handle it. But she likes those and then Minecraft and Roblox.
Oh, yeah. We'll get to those. I think, to your point, I think what you said is, like, so important.
Like, we can tell you all the review sites, everything, but really it comes
down to knowing your kid.
You have to sit down and do it. Yeah. And playing the game and seeing it with
your own eyes and, you know, really spending that time because Five Nights at
Freddy's, just like the dolls that exist in the stores or whatever, scare my kids.
(08:22):
So like, you know, even if it said that my eight year old could play it, she wouldn't play it.
There's also a ton of social media around a lot of these games where you can
watch, even if you're not a gamer, like my husband's not a video gamer,
so he'll watch videos of people playing the games.
So he can see the content and he can hear people talking about what they like, what they don't like.
(08:42):
So even if you're not a gamer and you really don't want to spend time testing
these games, there's a million game podcasts and videos that you can watch or
listen to where you can get a sense of, yeah.
Yeah. I mean, he plays Minecraft with her and the two of them get a kick out of Roblox.
But Roblox, we kind of just leave on like we watch her play that because of
(09:03):
all the things that come with Roblox. So we're not really playing it,
but we're kind of. Yeah, you got your eye on it. We're there.
Yeah. What about you, Brian? I grew up playing a lot of Mario games.
I played a lot of those Mario Kart and I really love role playing games,
which is like the Japanese ones, specifically JRPGs is Japanese role playing
games and like Final Fantasy. I'm sure you've heard of Final Fantasy. Oh, yeah, sure.
(09:24):
I like them. And I think these are good for kids because they have a lot of
reading and a lot of text.
So I spent a lot of time reading the text. And now they read to you and the
characters are voice acted.
But back in the day, you had to read everything yourself. There was no acting and no audio.
So I did a lot of reading. I used to actually read with my sister,
almost like a play. And we would read out the different parts.
So I like those kind of games a lot. I'm actually playing a game right now,
(09:45):
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, which is like a remake of the Final Fantasy VII game
from like the early 2000s. And I'm currently at 68 hours in the game. and it's very long.
I started to think about how much time I actually spent. It's like I played
like two or three entire full days of my life just playing this game.
Over time, though. I try not to look at that because it's embarrassing.
I just admire the attention spans. Like, I'm having a hard time focusing on
(10:06):
anything for that long of a time. So good for you guys. Nice to have hobbies.
I was going to echo on one of your points earlier, Erin. I was going to tell
you that if you're interested in looking at reviews, you don't want to read them.
If you go on YouTube and you type in the name of a video game and the word review
after it, you'll find 10, 15, 20 different video reviews.
And you'll be able to see the game play and you'll be able to see what the game,
like how the game looks, you know, on the screen. I know for myself that when
(10:28):
my daughter started asking for a Switch, I was really against it.
Even though I played video games
as a kid, I was against it because I just didn't know enough about it.
So I know a lot of parents out there are probably also nervous to introduce video games.
So are we nervous for a reason? Are we overreacting?
Like, what do video games do for kids' social lives? You know,
their eyesight, their brain development, all the things.
(10:50):
Is it okay? I mean, I could say from my own personal experience that I think
a limit should definitely be set on how much time a kid plays games.
When I was younger, my parents were pretty strict. They would,
especially when I was doing bad in school, they didn't want me to play video games.
So they would be like, you can study for an hour and then you could play games
for an hour. So I had to spend time doing my homework and studies and I could play.
So I think setting time limits is important because I don't think it's good
(11:12):
for anyone to stare at a screen for that many hours.
I think that break should be encouraged. I also remember on the other hand,
when I was older, literally spending eight to 10 hours on the laying on my bedroom
floor with my brother watching me playing the video game, which is not healthy. Right.
I was older then, but I do remember that I was probably about 17, maybe 18.
So it goes from one extreme to another. I think that it's hard to have your
kids not play video games because their classmates are all playing them.
(11:35):
And even if you don't want to buy a system, if they have friends,
they're most likely going to be exposed to them. I feel like that's something
that's hard for modern parents.
Well, I'll speak for myself. I'm not going to speak for everyone.
But to wrap your head around is like because when we were growing up,
we're all around roughly the same age.
If you played video games, you were kind of seen as like a loner, right?
Like you sat in your room. No offense, Brian. I know you just told us that story.
But you were with your brother. It's fine.
(11:56):
But it kind of really had a negative connotation that you were playing video
games and you were not going outside and all these things.
But now it really is so social that it's your kid hanging out,
especially since COVID.
I feel like a lot of kids have figured out that that's a great way to connect.
You know, they don't have to deal with getting a ride or my mom is busy.
Yeah, you don't have to worry about hosting like seven kids at your house every
(12:17):
night when you just work. Yeah, for sure. Let me ask you a question. It has its benefits.
As parents, how do you feel about kids playing games virtually versus in person in the same room?
Because is it really socializing if they're playing in separate house? It depends on the game.
It depends on the type of game. I do think it has a really high degree of social
(12:37):
interaction because they are talking to each other. They can see each other.
They use their cameras, you know, and they're all kind of interacting virtually in the same world.
I think it just depends on the game and what kind of experience they're looking
for. I guess to Brian's point, is it considered?
I don't know. I don't know. I can't even speak on this because I honestly don't
know. One is more social than the other.
(12:57):
So in doing research about this for this episode, because I know so little about
video games, to Brian's point, limits, all the experts say that limits are important,
but it's only half the battle is limiting the time.
It's making sure that the other time is spent going outside.
Being social in a person-to-person way, reading.
And as long as you have the balance of those things, it's not that it's just
(13:19):
you're setting the time limit for an hour a day, but then they're still not
getting those other things.
You really have to make sure that their plate is filled with healthy food,
which is easier said than done. And that, you know, some of the research was
also saying that gaming now has more positive effects than anybody had thought.
There's cognitive benefits.
Video gamers outperform non-gamers in terms of attention, working memory, mental flexibility.
(13:42):
When I was a kid, edutainment was a thing. And nowadays, I feel like the educational
aspects of games are more embedded into the actual gameplay than they used to
be. It used to be. You have dysentery.
Mario 2's typing or Mario's time machine. Yes. No.
But I know what you mean by saying that. Like, it was, the focus was education,
now it's a little bit more sly.
(14:02):
Yeah, the entire game of, like, the Mario's Time Machine was about learning
about history, and it was like a regular game, except you couldn't actually
get killed or get attacked in the game.
It was just basically, you run around, the enemies didn't hurt you,
and you were solving all these, like, kind of, like, problem-solving things
to learn about different parts of the world.
And the common scene in the San Diego games. Oh, yeah. But now I feel like there's
still education in the games.
But I think it's just a little more difficult to find from the naked eye.
(14:26):
You have to kind of look more deeply.
I think I think what you said is right. I think it's come a long way,
especially in the development of the games, but also in society's perception of the games.
Yeah, I just don't think it's I think parents are more willing to let their
kids. I think it's more the online factor that scares people.
I don't know if the home game things are threatening if you're just playing
with your family and friends in the room. Unless you're playing too much.
(14:47):
And then I think parents worry, even if you are playing at home and it's safe
and it's not online, I think if you're playing too much, that can be problematic, like Brian said.
One sign that I read about is that there's an issue with your kid and maybe
video game addiction would be if it's not easy to take them away from their game.
So we were talking about this earlier, but like with my kids and their tablets,
when I started noticing that when I would try and take the tablet,
(15:08):
they would have this huge emotional reaction that kind of clued me in that there was a problem.
So if you're trying to find this balance and you think that you are,
but then you're noticing that your kid is having a really hard time letting
these things go, I say they turn into Gollum from Lord of the Rings,
then that might be time to reevaluate how much time they're actually spending with video games.
Some games, they have built-in difficulty levels, so you can adjust the difficulty
(15:29):
if someone's having trouble in a game.
A lot of the games I have have difficulty, the RPGs, because some of them,
you can make them really hard, you can make them really easy if you just want
to enjoy the game. And it's supposed to be, like you said, Jesse,
it's supposed to be fun. At the end of the day, a video game is supposed to be fun.
To be something you enjoy doing. I guess that's something to pay attention to,
right? It's kind of like, what do they call it online?
It's like rage bait. If you're playing this video game and you're leaving every
(15:50):
single time from this game in a rage or you're frustrated or mad,
like, I think this is a good opportunity to point this out to your kid.
Like, every time you turn that game off, you're in a real foul mood. Why do we think that is?
Like, maybe we should take a break. Try a different game, something more fun.
Right. Try something else. And I guess that's just to the point,
just have to stay involved,
like, when it comes to picking out the games, watching the youtube videos and
(16:11):
then paying attention to your kid when they're done playing or
while they're playing and just asking questions a lot of work
guys but we can do it i agree what else you got for us brian i
could talk a little bit about what the library has to offer in terms of gaming
so besides our collection and we have all the major current platforms we even
have some older games we have some wii games still and wii u not many though
(16:31):
because they're not being made but we also have on the regular we have our twitch
stream which is every wednesday can you explain for For people who don't know
what Twitch is, what that is.
So Twitch is people playing video games and you get to watch them play.
And they'll talk about, like in our example, our staff members,
I was on the Twitch stream.
We talk about a specific topic, video game related, and you watch the people
(16:52):
playing a game. Okay. So they have those videos on YouTube, but this is like live. This is live.
You can watch them after the fact, usually, but this is like a live stream and
hours occurs every Wednesday.
Is the content more for teenagers to watch? It's all ages.
It's family friendly. So your family can watch it. Do you play along and interact
with library staff? People can ask questions.
(17:13):
It's like, there's a chat. I personally, this is going to sound awful because
I'm promoting a Twitch stream.
I never was a fan of watching people play games, but I do find it to be useful
if I'm stuck in a game to watch someone playing a specific part to see how to
get past it. That's something for your parents as well.
If your kid is stuck in a part, go on YouTube, type in the name of the game,
try to type in the level, and there'll be a video of someone playing through
it if you need a hint. I do that all the time.
(17:33):
Some people enjoy it. Some people don't. I'm one of those people where I'm someone
who likes to play. I don't like to watch.
So we do have the Twitch stream. And we also have monthly video game tournaments.
I know the children's department has some for tweens. And the teen department
has monthly video game mystery tournaments.
So it's a mystery game. It's usually a retro game, not always.
And we have the subscription to the Nintendo, the service where you get old games from Nintendo 64.
(17:56):
I love that. So we are always open to new ideas for programs too,
though. So if anyone has any suggestions, just, you know, email us and we'll consider doing them.
Yeah. The tween program that Brian just mentioned is we offer a Minecraft club.
Is that what you're talking about? The Minecraft program?
No, this is separate. No, this is like kids playing.
I had the opportunity to watch. I was covering at Carnegie one night and those
(18:17):
kids just were having like the most amazing time.
Cool. I think it was they had a Smash Brothers one and then they had another
one that was I don't think it was an online game.
But but yeah, they had like a crazy awesome time. I was like,
wow, this was not the library of my childhood, but it was awesome.
I've been here for almost 20 years, and the only game that has everlasting staying
power was Smash Brothers.
It's gone over system to system to system, and it's never died in popularity.
(18:40):
The kids always love it. And that is a very family-friendly game.
It's a fighting game, but there's zero blood.
Cool. It's so fun. It has characters from all different franchises.
In addition to the Mario characters, there's characters from Sonic the Hedgehog
is in it, and the kids love it. Very, very popular.
Maybe that'll be the next one for my house. Maybe like a family game.
But yes, in addition to that, we do also have the Minecraft Club.
We offer it once a month. I think it's grades three to six.
(19:02):
But if you're looking to get your kid out and about and they love video games,
it's a great place for them to come and be together and to play in the library in a safe space.
What else do we offer here for video games? Oh, we do. We were saying just so
parents know, as far as Roblox goes in the building here at the library,
we don't limit kids from playing Roblox. They are able to access it on our computers
(19:23):
here, but we're not going to help kids create accounts.
So I just feel like that needs to be said. So if your child wants to play Roblox
at the library, they're more than welcome to, but they just need an account with your permission.
We're not really comfortable making Roblox accounts for children.
Yeah, you got to watch. That's definitely one of those ones that you have to watch.
So should we get into a little bit quickly Roblox and Minecraft?
Because I feel like especially for younger kids, those are the most important games.
(19:46):
Well, I am by no means an expert on Roblox, but it is a constant topic of conversation
in my house. I don't know if either of you have experience with Roblox,
but my daughter and her friends are completely obsessed with it.
They're like 10, 11 and 12.
It literally is one of the most popular games. Just doing some research into
the platform itself. There's like 80 million daily users.
(20:09):
If you don't know what it is, players can create and publish their own games, which is cool.
You know, it's teaching kids coding skills. But, you know, unfortunately,
there are a lot of users that build games with adult or inappropriate content
kind of hidden in there that you might not notice at first that your child might get to eventually,
which is why I really try to make an effort to go through the game beforehand.
(20:32):
Sometimes I don't have that opportunity, so I'll have to look it up online or
we'll just make her like screenshot it so we can all kind of watch it like on
the TV or something so that screen share it so that we can all go through it
together. But again, sometimes you have to have those uncomfortable conversations.
You have to be prepared to make sure that your child knows how to report inappropriate
content when you come across it or if you come across it, how to get out of
(20:53):
uncomfortable situations and just how to choose appropriate games.
So we have some rules with it. She's only allowed to play.
Play with people that she knows in real life. Sometimes that's hard because
if you're in a certain game, I guess there's other people that can join the server or whatever.
But then in those circumstances will limit the conversation that can happen.
(21:16):
There are a lot of settings that automatically come into play if you create
an account for your child for 13 and under.
But you still have to be really careful about checking those settings to make
sure that your kid's not turning anything on and off or creating additional accounts.
Once they see how you set up an account, I'm sure they're going to want to create
like 50 of them that you're not aware of. But you really just have to pay attention to their device.
(21:39):
You have to look at the game history to see what they're playing.
It's a lot of work, but they're all playing it and no kid wants to be left out.
And some of it is really fun and really funny.
I feel like any game, because Minecraft is the same. They both have like social content to them.
You know, like their kids are able to interact with other people.
They can interact with strangers. They can interact with friends.
I think Minecraft, you can play solo.
(22:00):
But so anytime it's that aspect gets involved, it is going to be more work because
you're dealing kind of with unknown. You can play solo, I think,
on... In Roblox, too? Yeah, you definitely can play on your own.
So just as far as like, because my, even though I said my daughter played Minecraft
once and didn't really care, now she just watches it.
But we have had many conversations about Roblox. So just in looking it up and
trying to figure it out, it looks like Minecraft might be better for a little bit younger.
(22:23):
And Roblox is better for more around like your daughter's age,
you know, like 10. And so my daughter is only eight at this point.
She started with Minecraft.
Right. That's what it seems to be. It seems to be like Minecraft is the gateway
drug. I like Minecraft better.
Yeah. I feel like Minecraft has a different vibe to it. Again.
They're both games you just really have to.
(22:43):
Be on top of. So one of the things that I just learned about Roblox just from
doing my job here is people who are in the world can monetize their world.
So they're actually creating, I guess, like part of the game that they can then
sell for real world money.
So that kind of brings up another whole host of conversations that you would
need to have with your kid about, first of all, you don't want them spending
(23:04):
your money on Roblox, real money, not the Robux.
You can earn Robux in the game. Right. You do every five minutes.
These kids are asking for Robux gift cards.
So you have to make sure that what you're spending this money on,
you know, if they want like game add ons or privileges or certain things like
(23:25):
I can understand paying for certain things in the game. Right.
This just bums me out a little bit. Like I know I know we're supposed to be
pro video game here, but like that is I don't.
It's very common in video games nowadays, especially
the games you play on your mobile phone yeah right i used to
play a game disney magic kingdoms have you heard
of it it was a game where you get to build your own disney theme park
(23:45):
so i loved it but there was a bunch of free content
and then there were certain characters you could only get unless you spend money
on that's right everything's monetized i think that's what really bums me out
yeah all these expansion packs upgrades they would have like an aladdin con
aladdin expansion you can get aladdin jasmine and you know abu but then if you
wanted the genie you had to buy them with the in-game currency.
(24:06):
Right. And like you said, you can earn the in-game currency,
but it's very, very few and far between.
And most of the time you have to spend your own money. I think I actually spend
money, my own money, which is not smart, on Mrs. Potts.
I want Mrs. Potts in my park. And guess what? I don't have the game anymore on my phone.
Yeah. Or the money. That's what it is. You invest so much in these games and
then it's very stressful and aggravating, especially with some of these like digital gift cards.
(24:30):
Yeah. They all want the upgrades, outfits and characters and like places that
you can play. But yeah, they are heavily monetized.
I don't know. I just don't like that. Like, I got to keep up with the Roblox
Joneses. You know what I mean? Like, that's true.
It's already the Fortnite skins are like the bane of my existence.
These are all games that are supposedly free.
(24:51):
Exactly. They're not free. So when you see something, parents,
when you see something that says it's free, it's usually too much. Never free.
I had an economics teacher in high school tell us, you know,
such thing as a free lunch. And he's right.
Yeah. I mean, the games are really fun and some of the expansion packs are really cool and stuff.
Again, it's about setting limits. Like how much financially do you want to invest in this game?
(25:12):
Is it something that you're going to use for a long time? Like it's a needs and wants. Yes.
Conversation. Listen to our financial literacy podcast. Is it an appropriate use of money?
But also, are you leaving yourself open to get hacked or scammed or,
you know, taken advantage of?
So it's a good conversation starter.
A lot of these things. You know, sometimes it adds to the gaming experience
(25:34):
and it's fun. Yeah. And other times it's just a complete waste of time.
Or other times your kid is just hitting buy, buy, buy, buy, buy and $125 later.
Yeah. Well, that's why you got to check those settings.
To make sure that they can't just purchase anything without your approval and
tell you what. Yeah. It just adds up real quick.
But it's a lot, you know, it's a lot of work. So it can be worth it if it makes
(25:58):
your kid really happy and if they are getting benefits like coding skills or,
you know, whatever it is that they're getting out of it, even if it's just stress,
you know, stress relieving or having fun with your friends.
So weighing benefits and pros and cons.
That's right. And like all things, yeah, communicating with your kid will make
it easier to figure these things out. True.
Anything else for us, Brian, about video games? I can recommend a few quick games.
(26:22):
Oh, please. I would say mostly for Switch. The new Sumario Wonder game is excellent.
Very family friendly. Lots of interesting puzzles and hidden objects in the
game. I really enjoyed that one.
And Mario Kart, of course, is good. Mario Party. For older teens, not for kids.
Kids, I would say anyone over 15, Jackbox games are fun. Have any of you played Jackbox games?
No. No, what is it? They're like games that you could play on your TV.
(26:45):
They have them for Switch. They have them for PC. And they're like interactive
party games that you use on your phone. So everyone looks at the screen and
they play on their phones and there's trivia.
There's a lot of them are not for children, though. But it's a good party game
for if you have some older teens. I would say 15, 16 is probably OK.
I get to something like this in school. So is it an app that everybody has to
use on their phone or is it through a gaming system?
(27:06):
You can just go on a web so you don't have to download an app.
And I'm also going to talk very quickly about Kahoot. Yeah.
Kahoot, we use it all the time at the library, not just for staff,
but also for the public. And the kids use it in school.
It's a great way to do trivia with your phones. You don't need to download anything.
Go to our website and you can answer questions using a phone.
Multiple choice questions. A lot of fun. Yeah, Kahoot is fun.
I love it when we do it here at work. Me too. It's like my favorite thing. I know.
(27:29):
It's timed, so there's like a lot of stress and pressure in a good way. Okay.
Okay. I know. There's so much to talk about and then... I know.
But we are here if you have questions or just need to vent about what's going
on in your house gaming-wise.
Or if you have suggestions for games. Yeah, if you need help researching a game,
if you want us to buy some games. We're here. That's right. Thank you again to Brian for joining us.
(27:51):
If you want to hear more from Brian, make sure to check out our podcast all
about family gaming with board games.
If you liked our podcast today, please let your friends and family know.
And us. We would love to hear from you with your thoughts on upcoming topics
or just general feedback.
You can email us at podcast at pmlib.org. You can also visit us at our website,
adventuresinparentingpml.podbean.com.
(28:12):
And on that website, you can find tons of resource guides, guides for today's
episode and all our previous episodes.
Just in case you need a reminder of a website or you want to dig a little deeper
into any of our covered topics.
You can also find our podcast on most podcast platforms.
So Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts. So like and subscribe. Right?
(28:34):
That's what the kids say. There you go.
That's what they say. All right. Thanks, Brian.
Music.
Special thanks to Soundstripe.com and Avocado Junkie for providing the music used in this podcast.
(28:54):
Soundstripe has the perfect music for your project. Visit Soundstripe.com today
for the best in royalty-free music.
Hey, listeners, welcome to another episode of Adventures in Parenting.
I'm Jessi. And I'm Erin. We're librarians. We're busy moms. And we love podcasts.
Today, we're in Studio E at the Patchogue Medford Library with our guest,
Brian Schwartz, head of the Patchogue Medford Library's Public Services Department
and avid gamer. Welcome back, Brian.
Thank you so much for having me back again. I'm very excited to be here.
If you listened to Brian's last episode on board games, you already know that
(00:23):
he is our resident gaming expert.
So we're excited to have him back with us to talk about video games,
the good, the bad, and the fun.
If you haven't listened to Brian's previous episode, we definitely recommend
checking that out. So we know you're a big fan of board games.
So what is your experience with video games in your personal and professional
life? So should I start at the beginning?
Sure. Start at the beginning. So when I was a kid, this is going to make me age slightly.
(00:43):
I had a Commodore 64, and it was a very old computer that could play games,
and the games would take hours and hours to load, and the graphics were like Atari-style graphics.
Even I did have that. Is that with the floppy disk? It actually had a cassette drive.
You would put a game, it looked like a cassette tape, and it would actually
load the game onto the computer, but it would take two or three hours.
There was a game called Jumpman I used to play, and it was hours and hours just to load it.
(01:05):
But then I got a Nintendo when I was about five, and I've been playing video games ever since.
I did fall off the video game train for a while. I was kind of into the board
games, but I got back into it.
And I'm actually pretty up to date with systems. I have a PS5 and I have a Nintendo Switch.
I keep up with the video game world, perhaps as much as the board game world.
What do you like better, the PS5 or the Switch, or are they completely different experiences?
(01:26):
Totally different. I hate to say this, the Switch, and we can get into this
more, is very family-friendly.
But in terms of the capacity and the ability to play the games,
the PS5 just blows it out of the water.
Yeah, it's like the Disney of video gaming. Very cutesy, very non-threatening.
Even the scary games are really not.
So if you're trying to dip your toe into video gaming as a family,
maybe your kid has been bugging you about a video gaming system,
(01:48):
you would want to start with the Switch. Yeah, I think Switch is a family-friendly place to start.
I'm not sure what appeal it has for adults or serious gamers.
I was a huge Nintendo kid, so I still find it entertaining in a nostalgic way,
but it's not, like he said, it's not.
It can't compete yet now. What's the other one? Xbox? That's still a thing? Xbox is still around.
(02:10):
I hate to say it. I don't really buy a lot of those games for the library because
I feel like there's not as many coming out.
And I haven't gotten any demand for Xbox, but the Switch and the PS5 seem to
be leading the industry.
What do patrons ask for the most? Generally, I think Switch is the most popular
because I think most people have it. It's also the most affordable.
If you had to choose a system, I would definitely choose a Switch if you're
a family, if you have younger children, because the games are much better for multiplayer.
(02:31):
Player ps5 i know other libraries do own them for
the kids to play but i haven't considered buying one because most of
the time you could play like two or three but switch a lot of the
games just made for a lot of people so i would assume that buying games
video games for the library would be kind of similar to a family or parents
looking to buy games for their kids so obviously they want to know what the
(02:51):
reviews are and what the ratings mean so can you kind of clue us in some of
that stuff so the video games have ratings on them they're rated based on the
age group that they're I'm geared towards.
So E for everyone is going to be good for any age.
Then there's T for teen, which is for, I guess, anyone who's in the teenage range.
And then there's M for mature, which are the ones that have more mature content,
which is blood, violence.
(03:12):
The best thing about the video game rating system is that they have what's inside
the game, what kind of problem areas you might have.
I might say suggested violence or blood or alcohol, and they'll give you what
kind of content you'll see in the game.
I feel like with all things, the trickiest rating is probably teen.
Because like think about it, even here, our teen department is 6th to 12th grade.
So 13 and 17 are completely different developmentally. So I feel like that's
(03:35):
probably the hardest one to choose.
I buy games for the library. I've been doing it for probably about 18, 19 years.
And I've been buying the teen games for like for the Carnegie specifically.
I buy only the T for teen and below.
And for the main building, I buy all the different types. And they're all shelved
together along with some children's games too.
So as a parent coming in, I would suggest if you're looking with your teen or
(03:56):
your child, look at the rating before you let them take a game home because
it's not always apparent what the subject matter is going to be.
And then where could, if a parent wants to buy something, where can they get a.
Reviews? So I generally like to go to Metacritic, and I like to see they have
a composite of different websites and what the reviews are, and they'll have
an average score, but you can go into individual ones.
I like IGN, GameSpot, but there's a lot of other ones out there.
(04:17):
And generally, when I purchase a game for myself or for the library,
I like to look at the game and see how the reviews are.
Sometimes games are just universally going to be popular, even if they have
bad reviews, but I generally try to look at the reviews before I purchase a game.
Listeners, Brian mentioned earlier before we were on mic that the Bluey video game got bad reviews,
used and that's heartbreaking to me i don't remember why but
i got a pretty bad review unfortunately they probably just
(04:39):
rushed it they did it come out yeah did it
come out at the height of bluey i think it just came out recently i don't know
why it would get bad reviews i mean everything about bluey's so wonderful i
don't know brian did you ever see that documentary about the et game for atari
oh yes the one that got in the land that's it when you said the bluey game got
really bad reviews it reminded me of i don't recall the name of the documentary
(05:00):
but it was It was about this E.T.
Game that they made for, it was Atari, right? It was Atari.
Yeah, and it's like the worst game in history.
But it was, they were rushing to put it out to capitalize on the fame of the
film. So I thought maybe Bluey suffered the same fate.
I was going to mention that this is a pro tip for parents out there.
Generally, as a rule of thumb, any game based on intellectual property and IP is bad.
(05:22):
Usually, if there's a movie and a game that's based on it, 9 out of 10 times they're bad games. Why?
I think because they're trying to capitalize on the appeal of the movie and
they don't actually think through the gameplay itself.
I could probably name a lot of examples of games based on movies that are just
not good. You can also think of movies based on games that are pretty horrible. Yeah, true.
It goes both ways. I think it goes both ways. It goes the other way, too.
(05:44):
Just another random fact about video games. I remember reading that the Lion
King video game, this goes way back, was so difficult. Super hard.
I think even the people who created it couldn't beat it.
Because they want to make money on the movie, which makes sense because people are into the movie.
They want to play the video game, but I just think they don't think it through
enough to their audience. And they're not trying to make a good product.
(06:04):
There's actually one of the most infamous ones that's good is DuckTales,
which is based on the TV show. Yeah.
That game was supposed to be really good. That was for the regular Nintendo.
For the original DuckTales? Yeah. DuckTales Reboot. No, the original.
That's considered a good game. Well, back to reviews really quickly.
This is going to be my episodic plug for Common Sense Media.
The best website in the world.
Aside from the libraries, of course, offers reviews and ratings with specifics
(06:28):
for parents about what the game includes, kind of what Brian said.
The other review sites include, you know, this has violence, this has bad language.
They'll break it down even to, like, what bad language it is and things like
that. Yeah, like direct quotes.
They tell it like it is, that website. I've used it in the past when I was picking
video games. Definitely, they tell you the content.
My children hate when I pull that website up. I'm like, hold on one second.
(06:50):
And I look it up, they're like, oh, we're not getting this game.
Jessie is just setting herself up for a post-library career working for Common Sense Media.
This podcast will just be my resume.
Let me ask you both. What kind of games do your kids like to play?
So I'll go first because mine will be short and sweet. What do you like to play?
And then I'll tell you what I like to play.
So I'm not a huge video game person, but we do now have a Switch and we'll play
(07:12):
Mario Kart as a family, which is super fun.
My oldest likes to play Kirby, she likes. Kirby's fun.
And then there's some gator, little gator man guy she likes to play. and Mario Party.
That's it. We're just dipping our toe in here. I grew up with Zelda.
That's like mommy's alone time. Like, leave me alone with my solo quest games.
But as a family, we do like Mario Party and Mario Kart, Just Dance,
(07:37):
the Smash Brothers, things like that.
It's nice when you have family that live in other states and you can all kind
of, everybody can game together. That's really cute.
My daughter loves the FNAF games. She's obsessed with those.
Five Nights at Freddy's. Oh, my gosh. Aren't they scary?
Well, I played them all first, so I knew what to expect.
(07:57):
I knew she could handle it. But she likes those and then Minecraft and Roblox.
Oh, yeah. We'll get to those. I think, to your point, I think what you said is, like, so important.
Like, we can tell you all the review sites, everything, but really it comes
down to knowing your kid.
You have to sit down and do it. Yeah. And playing the game and seeing it with
your own eyes and, you know, really spending that time because Five Nights at
Freddy's, just like the dolls that exist in the stores or whatever, scare my kids.
(08:22):
So like, you know, even if it said that my eight year old could play it, she wouldn't play it.
There's also a ton of social media around a lot of these games where you can
watch, even if you're not a gamer, like my husband's not a video gamer,
so he'll watch videos of people playing the games.
So he can see the content and he can hear people talking about what they like, what they don't like.
(08:42):
So even if you're not a gamer and you really don't want to spend time testing
these games, there's a million game podcasts and videos that you can watch or
listen to where you can get a sense of, yeah.
Yeah. I mean, he plays Minecraft with her and the two of them get a kick out of Roblox.
But Roblox, we kind of just leave on like we watch her play that because of
(09:03):
all the things that come with Roblox. So we're not really playing it,
but we're kind of. Yeah, you got your eye on it. We're there.
Yeah. What about you, Brian? I grew up playing a lot of Mario games.
I played a lot of those Mario Kart and I really love role playing games,
which is like the Japanese ones, specifically JRPGs is Japanese role playing
games and like Final Fantasy. I'm sure you've heard of Final Fantasy. Oh, yeah, sure.
(09:24):
I like them. And I think these are good for kids because they have a lot of
reading and a lot of text.
So I spent a lot of time reading the text. And now they read to you and the
characters are voice acted.
But back in the day, you had to read everything yourself. There was no acting and no audio.
So I did a lot of reading. I used to actually read with my sister,
almost like a play. And we would read out the different parts.
So I like those kind of games a lot. I'm actually playing a game right now,
(09:45):
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, which is like a remake of the Final Fantasy VII game
from like the early 2000s. And I'm currently at 68 hours in the game. and it's very long.
I started to think about how much time I actually spent. It's like I played
like two or three entire full days of my life just playing this game.
Over time, though. I try not to look at that because it's embarrassing.
I just admire the attention spans. Like, I'm having a hard time focusing on
(10:06):
anything for that long of a time. So good for you guys. Nice to have hobbies.
I was going to echo on one of your points earlier, Erin. I was going to tell
you that if you're interested in looking at reviews, you don't want to read them.
If you go on YouTube and you type in the name of a video game and the word review
after it, you'll find 10, 15, 20 different video reviews.
And you'll be able to see the game play and you'll be able to see what the game,
like how the game looks, you know, on the screen. I know for myself that when
(10:28):
my daughter started asking for a Switch, I was really against it.
Even though I played video games
as a kid, I was against it because I just didn't know enough about it.
So I know a lot of parents out there are probably also nervous to introduce video games.
So are we nervous for a reason? Are we overreacting?
Like, what do video games do for kids' social lives? You know,
their eyesight, their brain development, all the things.
(10:50):
Is it okay? I mean, I could say from my own personal experience that I think
a limit should definitely be set on how much time a kid plays games.
When I was younger, my parents were pretty strict. They would,
especially when I was doing bad in school, they didn't want me to play video games.
So they would be like, you can study for an hour and then you could play games
for an hour. So I had to spend time doing my homework and studies and I could play.
So I think setting time limits is important because I don't think it's good
(11:12):
for anyone to stare at a screen for that many hours.
I think that break should be encouraged. I also remember on the other hand,
when I was older, literally spending eight to 10 hours on the laying on my bedroom
floor with my brother watching me playing the video game, which is not healthy. Right.
I was older then, but I do remember that I was probably about 17, maybe 18.
So it goes from one extreme to another. I think that it's hard to have your
kids not play video games because their classmates are all playing them.
(11:35):
And even if you don't want to buy a system, if they have friends,
they're most likely going to be exposed to them. I feel like that's something
that's hard for modern parents.
Well, I'll speak for myself. I'm not going to speak for everyone.
But to wrap your head around is like because when we were growing up,
we're all around roughly the same age.
If you played video games, you were kind of seen as like a loner, right?
Like you sat in your room. No offense, Brian. I know you just told us that story.
But you were with your brother. It's fine.
(11:56):
But it kind of really had a negative connotation that you were playing video
games and you were not going outside and all these things.
But now it really is so social that it's your kid hanging out,
especially since COVID.
I feel like a lot of kids have figured out that that's a great way to connect.
You know, they don't have to deal with getting a ride or my mom is busy.
Yeah, you don't have to worry about hosting like seven kids at your house every
(12:17):
night when you just work. Yeah, for sure. Let me ask you a question. It has its benefits.
As parents, how do you feel about kids playing games virtually versus in person in the same room?
Because is it really socializing if they're playing in separate house? It depends on the game.
It depends on the type of game. I do think it has a really high degree of social
(12:37):
interaction because they are talking to each other. They can see each other.
They use their cameras, you know, and they're all kind of interacting virtually in the same world.
I think it just depends on the game and what kind of experience they're looking
for. I guess to Brian's point, is it considered?
I don't know. I don't know. I can't even speak on this because I honestly don't
know. One is more social than the other.
(12:57):
So in doing research about this for this episode, because I know so little about
video games, to Brian's point, limits, all the experts say that limits are important,
but it's only half the battle is limiting the time.
It's making sure that the other time is spent going outside.
Being social in a person-to-person way, reading.
And as long as you have the balance of those things, it's not that it's just
(13:19):
you're setting the time limit for an hour a day, but then they're still not
getting those other things.
You really have to make sure that their plate is filled with healthy food,
which is easier said than done. And that, you know, some of the research was
also saying that gaming now has more positive effects than anybody had thought.
There's cognitive benefits.
Video gamers outperform non-gamers in terms of attention, working memory, mental flexibility.
(13:42):
When I was a kid, edutainment was a thing. And nowadays, I feel like the educational
aspects of games are more embedded into the actual gameplay than they used to
be. It used to be. You have dysentery.
Mario 2's typing or Mario's time machine. Yes. No.
But I know what you mean by saying that. Like, it was, the focus was education,
now it's a little bit more sly.
(14:02):
Yeah, the entire game of, like, the Mario's Time Machine was about learning
about history, and it was like a regular game, except you couldn't actually
get killed or get attacked in the game.
It was just basically, you run around, the enemies didn't hurt you,
and you were solving all these, like, kind of, like, problem-solving things
to learn about different parts of the world.
And the common scene in the San Diego games. Oh, yeah. But now I feel like there's
still education in the games.
But I think it's just a little more difficult to find from the naked eye.
(14:26):
You have to kind of look more deeply.
I think I think what you said is right. I think it's come a long way,
especially in the development of the games, but also in society's perception of the games.
Yeah, I just don't think it's I think parents are more willing to let their
kids. I think it's more the online factor that scares people.
I don't know if the home game things are threatening if you're just playing
with your family and friends in the room. Unless you're playing too much.
(14:47):
And then I think parents worry, even if you are playing at home and it's safe
and it's not online, I think if you're playing too much, that can be problematic, like Brian said.
One sign that I read about is that there's an issue with your kid and maybe
video game addiction would be if it's not easy to take them away from their game.
So we were talking about this earlier, but like with my kids and their tablets,
when I started noticing that when I would try and take the tablet,
(15:08):
they would have this huge emotional reaction that kind of clued me in that there was a problem.
So if you're trying to find this balance and you think that you are,
but then you're noticing that your kid is having a really hard time letting
these things go, I say they turn into Gollum from Lord of the Rings,
then that might be time to reevaluate how much time they're actually spending with video games.
Some games, they have built-in difficulty levels, so you can adjust the difficulty
(15:29):
if someone's having trouble in a game.
A lot of the games I have have difficulty, the RPGs, because some of them,
you can make them really hard, you can make them really easy if you just want
to enjoy the game. And it's supposed to be, like you said, Jesse,
it's supposed to be fun. At the end of the day, a video game is supposed to be fun.
To be something you enjoy doing. I guess that's something to pay attention to,
right? It's kind of like, what do they call it online?
It's like rage bait. If you're playing this video game and you're leaving every
(15:50):
single time from this game in a rage or you're frustrated or mad,
like, I think this is a good opportunity to point this out to your kid.
Like, every time you turn that game off, you're in a real foul mood. Why do we think that is?
Like, maybe we should take a break. Try a different game, something more fun.
Right. Try something else. And I guess that's just to the point,
just have to stay involved,
like, when it comes to picking out the games, watching the youtube videos and
(16:11):
then paying attention to your kid when they're done playing or
while they're playing and just asking questions a lot of work
guys but we can do it i agree what else you got for us brian i
could talk a little bit about what the library has to offer in terms of gaming
so besides our collection and we have all the major current platforms we even
have some older games we have some wii games still and wii u not many though
(16:31):
because they're not being made but we also have on the regular we have our twitch
stream which is every wednesday can you explain for For people who don't know
what Twitch is, what that is.
So Twitch is people playing video games and you get to watch them play.
And they'll talk about, like in our example, our staff members,
I was on the Twitch stream.
We talk about a specific topic, video game related, and you watch the people
(16:52):
playing a game. Okay. So they have those videos on YouTube, but this is like live. This is live.
You can watch them after the fact, usually, but this is like a live stream and
hours occurs every Wednesday.
Is the content more for teenagers to watch? It's all ages.
It's family friendly. So your family can watch it. Do you play along and interact
with library staff? People can ask questions.
(17:13):
It's like, there's a chat. I personally, this is going to sound awful because
I'm promoting a Twitch stream.
I never was a fan of watching people play games, but I do find it to be useful
if I'm stuck in a game to watch someone playing a specific part to see how to
get past it. That's something for your parents as well.
If your kid is stuck in a part, go on YouTube, type in the name of the game,
try to type in the level, and there'll be a video of someone playing through
it if you need a hint. I do that all the time.
(17:33):
Some people enjoy it. Some people don't. I'm one of those people where I'm someone
who likes to play. I don't like to watch.
So we do have the Twitch stream. And we also have monthly video game tournaments.
I know the children's department has some for tweens. And the teen department
has monthly video game mystery tournaments.
So it's a mystery game. It's usually a retro game, not always.
And we have the subscription to the Nintendo, the service where you get old games from Nintendo 64.
(17:56):
I love that. So we are always open to new ideas for programs too,
though. So if anyone has any suggestions, just, you know, email us and we'll consider doing them.
Yeah. The tween program that Brian just mentioned is we offer a Minecraft club.
Is that what you're talking about? The Minecraft program?
No, this is separate. No, this is like kids playing.
I had the opportunity to watch. I was covering at Carnegie one night and those
(18:17):
kids just were having like the most amazing time.
Cool. I think it was they had a Smash Brothers one and then they had another
one that was I don't think it was an online game.
But but yeah, they had like a crazy awesome time. I was like,
wow, this was not the library of my childhood, but it was awesome.
I've been here for almost 20 years, and the only game that has everlasting staying
power was Smash Brothers.
It's gone over system to system to system, and it's never died in popularity.
(18:40):
The kids always love it. And that is a very family-friendly game.
It's a fighting game, but there's zero blood.
Cool. It's so fun. It has characters from all different franchises.
In addition to the Mario characters, there's characters from Sonic the Hedgehog
is in it, and the kids love it. Very, very popular.
Maybe that'll be the next one for my house. Maybe like a family game.
But yes, in addition to that, we do also have the Minecraft Club.
We offer it once a month. I think it's grades three to six.
(19:02):
But if you're looking to get your kid out and about and they love video games,
it's a great place for them to come and be together and to play in the library in a safe space.
What else do we offer here for video games? Oh, we do. We were saying just so
parents know, as far as Roblox goes in the building here at the library,
we don't limit kids from playing Roblox. They are able to access it on our computers
(19:23):
here, but we're not going to help kids create accounts.
So I just feel like that needs to be said. So if your child wants to play Roblox
at the library, they're more than welcome to, but they just need an account with your permission.
We're not really comfortable making Roblox accounts for children.
Yeah, you got to watch. That's definitely one of those ones that you have to watch.
So should we get into a little bit quickly Roblox and Minecraft?
Because I feel like especially for younger kids, those are the most important games.
(19:46):
Well, I am by no means an expert on Roblox, but it is a constant topic of conversation
in my house. I don't know if either of you have experience with Roblox,
but my daughter and her friends are completely obsessed with it.
They're like 10, 11 and 12.
It literally is one of the most popular games. Just doing some research into
the platform itself. There's like 80 million daily users.
(20:09):
If you don't know what it is, players can create and publish their own games, which is cool.
You know, it's teaching kids coding skills. But, you know, unfortunately,
there are a lot of users that build games with adult or inappropriate content
kind of hidden in there that you might not notice at first that your child might get to eventually,
which is why I really try to make an effort to go through the game beforehand.
(20:32):
Sometimes I don't have that opportunity, so I'll have to look it up online or
we'll just make her like screenshot it so we can all kind of watch it like on
the TV or something so that screen share it so that we can all go through it
together. But again, sometimes you have to have those uncomfortable conversations.
You have to be prepared to make sure that your child knows how to report inappropriate
content when you come across it or if you come across it, how to get out of
(20:53):
uncomfortable situations and just how to choose appropriate games.
So we have some rules with it. She's only allowed to play.
Play with people that she knows in real life. Sometimes that's hard because
if you're in a certain game, I guess there's other people that can join the server or whatever.
But then in those circumstances will limit the conversation that can happen.
(21:16):
There are a lot of settings that automatically come into play if you create
an account for your child for 13 and under.
But you still have to be really careful about checking those settings to make
sure that your kid's not turning anything on and off or creating additional accounts.
Once they see how you set up an account, I'm sure they're going to want to create
like 50 of them that you're not aware of. But you really just have to pay attention to their device.
(21:39):
You have to look at the game history to see what they're playing.
It's a lot of work, but they're all playing it and no kid wants to be left out.
And some of it is really fun and really funny.
I feel like any game, because Minecraft is the same. They both have like social content to them.
You know, like their kids are able to interact with other people.
They can interact with strangers. They can interact with friends.
I think Minecraft, you can play solo.
(22:00):
But so anytime it's that aspect gets involved, it is going to be more work because
you're dealing kind of with unknown. You can play solo, I think,
on... In Roblox, too? Yeah, you definitely can play on your own.
So just as far as like, because my, even though I said my daughter played Minecraft
once and didn't really care, now she just watches it.
But we have had many conversations about Roblox. So just in looking it up and
trying to figure it out, it looks like Minecraft might be better for a little bit younger.
(22:23):
And Roblox is better for more around like your daughter's age,
you know, like 10. And so my daughter is only eight at this point.
She started with Minecraft.
Right. That's what it seems to be. It seems to be like Minecraft is the gateway
drug. I like Minecraft better.
Yeah. I feel like Minecraft has a different vibe to it. Again.
They're both games you just really have to.
(22:43):
Be on top of. So one of the things that I just learned about Roblox just from
doing my job here is people who are in the world can monetize their world.
So they're actually creating, I guess, like part of the game that they can then
sell for real world money.
So that kind of brings up another whole host of conversations that you would
need to have with your kid about, first of all, you don't want them spending
(23:04):
your money on Roblox, real money, not the Robux.
You can earn Robux in the game. Right. You do every five minutes.
These kids are asking for Robux gift cards.
So you have to make sure that what you're spending this money on,
you know, if they want like game add ons or privileges or certain things like
(23:25):
I can understand paying for certain things in the game. Right.
This just bums me out a little bit. Like I know I know we're supposed to be
pro video game here, but like that is I don't.
It's very common in video games nowadays, especially
the games you play on your mobile phone yeah right i used to
play a game disney magic kingdoms have you heard
of it it was a game where you get to build your own disney theme park
(23:45):
so i loved it but there was a bunch of free content
and then there were certain characters you could only get unless you spend money
on that's right everything's monetized i think that's what really bums me out
yeah all these expansion packs upgrades they would have like an aladdin con
aladdin expansion you can get aladdin jasmine and you know abu but then if you
wanted the genie you had to buy them with the in-game currency.
(24:06):
Right. And like you said, you can earn the in-game currency,
but it's very, very few and far between.
And most of the time you have to spend your own money. I think I actually spend
money, my own money, which is not smart, on Mrs. Potts.
I want Mrs. Potts in my park. And guess what? I don't have the game anymore on my phone.
Yeah. Or the money. That's what it is. You invest so much in these games and
then it's very stressful and aggravating, especially with some of these like digital gift cards.
(24:30):
Yeah. They all want the upgrades, outfits and characters and like places that
you can play. But yeah, they are heavily monetized.
I don't know. I just don't like that. Like, I got to keep up with the Roblox
Joneses. You know what I mean? Like, that's true.
It's already the Fortnite skins are like the bane of my existence.
These are all games that are supposedly free.
(24:51):
Exactly. They're not free. So when you see something, parents,
when you see something that says it's free, it's usually too much. Never free.
I had an economics teacher in high school tell us, you know,
such thing as a free lunch. And he's right.
Yeah. I mean, the games are really fun and some of the expansion packs are really cool and stuff.
Again, it's about setting limits. Like how much financially do you want to invest in this game?
(25:12):
Is it something that you're going to use for a long time? Like it's a needs and wants. Yes.
Conversation. Listen to our financial literacy podcast. Is it an appropriate use of money?
But also, are you leaving yourself open to get hacked or scammed or,
you know, taken advantage of?
So it's a good conversation starter.
A lot of these things. You know, sometimes it adds to the gaming experience
(25:34):
and it's fun. Yeah. And other times it's just a complete waste of time.
Or other times your kid is just hitting buy, buy, buy, buy, buy and $125 later.
Yeah. Well, that's why you got to check those settings.
To make sure that they can't just purchase anything without your approval and
tell you what. Yeah. It just adds up real quick.
But it's a lot, you know, it's a lot of work. So it can be worth it if it makes
(25:58):
your kid really happy and if they are getting benefits like coding skills or,
you know, whatever it is that they're getting out of it, even if it's just stress,
you know, stress relieving or having fun with your friends.
So weighing benefits and pros and cons.
That's right. And like all things, yeah, communicating with your kid will make
it easier to figure these things out. True.
Anything else for us, Brian, about video games? I can recommend a few quick games.
(26:22):
Oh, please. I would say mostly for Switch. The new Sumario Wonder game is excellent.
Very family friendly. Lots of interesting puzzles and hidden objects in the
game. I really enjoyed that one.
And Mario Kart, of course, is good. Mario Party. For older teens, not for kids.
Kids, I would say anyone over 15, Jackbox games are fun. Have any of you played Jackbox games?
No. No, what is it? They're like games that you could play on your TV.
(26:45):
They have them for Switch. They have them for PC. And they're like interactive
party games that you use on your phone. So everyone looks at the screen and
they play on their phones and there's trivia.
There's a lot of them are not for children, though. But it's a good party game
for if you have some older teens. I would say 15, 16 is probably OK.
I get to something like this in school. So is it an app that everybody has to
use on their phone or is it through a gaming system?
(27:06):
You can just go on a web so you don't have to download an app.
And I'm also going to talk very quickly about Kahoot. Yeah.
Kahoot, we use it all the time at the library, not just for staff,
but also for the public. And the kids use it in school.
It's a great way to do trivia with your phones. You don't need to download anything.
Go to our website and you can answer questions using a phone.
Multiple choice questions. A lot of fun. Yeah, Kahoot is fun.
I love it when we do it here at work. Me too. It's like my favorite thing. I know.
(27:29):
It's timed, so there's like a lot of stress and pressure in a good way. Okay.
Okay. I know. There's so much to talk about and then... I know.
But we are here if you have questions or just need to vent about what's going
on in your house gaming-wise.
Or if you have suggestions for games. Yeah, if you need help researching a game,
if you want us to buy some games. We're here. That's right. Thank you again to Brian for joining us.
(27:51):
If you want to hear more from Brian, make sure to check out our podcast all
about family gaming with board games.
If you liked our podcast today, please let your friends and family know.
And us. We would love to hear from you with your thoughts on upcoming topics
or just general feedback.
You can email us at podcast at pmlib.org. You can also visit us at our website,
adventuresinparentingpml.podbean.com.
(28:12):
And on that website, you can find tons of resource guides, guides for today's
episode and all our previous episodes.
Just in case you need a reminder of a website or you want to dig a little deeper
into any of our covered topics.
You can also find our podcast on most podcast platforms.
So Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts. So like and subscribe. Right?
(28:34):
That's what the kids say. There you go.
That's what they say. All right. Thanks, Brian.
Music.
Special thanks to Soundstripe.com and Avocado Junkie for providing the music used in this podcast.
(28:54):
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