Did you / do you ever play video games with your relatives?

[Dionysos]

Inspired by a conversation I scrolled up to find on our Discord channel.


Did you or do you ever play video games with your parents or grandparents, or other family members?

I guess you can include siblings here too, but I really wanted to know about your interactions with relatives from previous generations rather than your contemporaries.


What did they think about gaming? Were they new to it and you introduced them to it? Did they introduce you to it and it is them that were familiar beforehand?

Do they / did they like the sort of games that you do?


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When I was a kid my dad used to play quite a handful of multiplayer games with me (back in the days when couch co-op and social interaction was encouraged). I particular memories of him playing Crash Team Racing with me, but he used to fall asleep in the middle of a race. I’d suddenly see that his car had crashed into the wall, but it was continuing to drive forward because his fingers were still on the buttons. I’d try to wake him up but in the end I’d give up and lap him several times…

My granda used to play Tekken 2 with me and seemed to enjoy it. Without fail he used to always say “Ooooo! The Devil!!” whenever I selected to play as Devil. I can't remember how good he was at the game, but it was fun to play a game with my granda as he was someone who would otherwise never have played a game in his life.

 

[ZaXo Ken'Ichi]

My uncle lived really far away when I was young. So when he would come over, we loved to spend hours playing Driver 1 with codes on. We would do infinite health and 'stilts', which raised the car way off of the wheels, giving it a super springy suspension. There's a glitch where if cars run into the bottom of other cars, they go absolutely FLYING! So we would get a full Felony meter so that the cops were all over us, use the springy suspension to flip the car, and watch the ensuing chaos.

My dad plays games on very, very rare occasion. But he's really bad with modern controls, so he doesn't do too well. Funny, because there was a point in his life where he was calling in sick to work so that he could stay home to play the original Castlevania.

 

[charmy]

My Dad was the one who introduced me to gaming. He first got me a Super Nintendo for my birthday when I was younger and would play them himself overnight to "make sure they weren't too hard for me" We started with games such as Mario and Donkey Kong. It was actually a while before I got another console. PS2 was the next one and we both played Kingdom Hearts. Then I got into Final Fantasy

My Dad actually isn't much of a Final Fantasy fan because he doesn't like the turn-based system (I'm trying to get him to play FFXV though). He prefers first person shooters or games where he can control an individual character more.

We do have some game franchises in common (e.g., Assassin's Creed and Mass Effect), but I suck at first person shooters so that's where our main differences lie.

I just find it amusing that when I was a kid I used to ask for his help to pass levels. Now he sometimes asks me because the controls are a bit harder for him to manage.

 

[LovingOfLightning]

Not with them playing together.
My older sister had a PSOne which got me into it.
Younger sister hardly bothers and let's her kids play on XBox.
My Mum used to play Crash Bandicoot games but these days seems happy to play the Bingo sites uauausu.

 

[Jake]

Hmmm my family was never really into gaming. I used to play Halo with my sister's boyfriend when I was a teenager. So maybe that counts? They're still together. But aside from that eeeh. I once made my sister cry because I made her sit there watching me play games (I was a child okay shhh). That's how much they enjoy them, haha.

I don't think my parents ever really bothered either.

 

[shivas]

I keep thinking I already posted a reply on this thread before huh.. guess not

but yeah, having 8 older siblings meant I spent a while watching them play when I was a child haha, most of them enjoyed horror games and uhh it caused lots of nightmares

but yeah! I remember playing Crash Team Racing with them and we took turns and stuff, it was fun!

none of them are really into RPGs though which is sad

 

[Rey]

My brother and I always play every entry of Tales together. We each pick a character we like and by the time they join we start playing together in the battles and bosses. I move in the field. It's neat and more JRPG and rpgs in general should have a co op feature for more fun times like this. My dad and I played Soul Calibur together a lot when I was younger. Right now I still have my relatives playing together with me in smash brothers. My brother is also really interested in the stories of JRPGS so he likes to come watch me most of the time. So yes in general I do play video games with my relatives.

 

[Ilyena]

I used to play Contra with my dad when I was a kid. I also used to play games with my brothers often. Some of our favorites to play were Champions of Norrath, Tekken and Tales of Symphonia. And now I play Mario Kart with my kids.

 

[Miko]

I don't have vivid memories of playing games with my dad, but I do have one in particular of us sitting in the living room with him while he played A Bug's Life for the Playstation. Oh, I take that back, he also played Stonekeep on the computer that I would also watch him play. I miss that game! However, I'm not sure how much I 'played' with him than I just watched. I was probably 6 or 7.

My brother and I played the most games together, and still do. Final Fantasy, Pokemon, racing games, fighting games, the whole kit and caboodle. It's funny, I have fond memories of him reading FF dialog to me but he claims he doesn't remember doing that! I would read all the girl parts

My sister doesn't really play games, but there was one year where we just played Animal Crossing for the GameCube nonstop. She mostly just watched but she would play her character now & then as well. That was fun!

I mostly replied because of my mom I've very close to her, and every once in a while she slips some video game knowledge in. I was talking about something with her a few months ago (I think we were talking about Pot Pies ) and she was like "Oh, like the Chocobos?" - And, like, we did play games around my mom, especially in our crammed little apartment for a year, but I didn't think she was actually paying attention! With the exception of Mario and Bubble Bobble she hadn't really expressed much interest in what we were playing. She did enjoy Jigglypuff from Pokemon though Mostly when we watched it on the television.


I play a lot of Pokemon Go when we're out and about, it's probably the only app I've consistently played on my phone for as long as I have. Every now & then my brother & I get together with a local group from the Facebook Community and do raid-trains and community events. Almost always there's someone there with their kids - which I think is awesome! I wish my parents were as involved with the games we were playing back in the day! I've heard of stories of adult kids recalling when their parents would take their games and level their characters up for them, or get super rare items, or even advance pass a hard level for them. I think about how precious that is I guess that's just what I want for my kids, to be involved with whatever it is they are involved with. Even if it is.... sports

My toddler, who is going to be 3 soon, just started asking my husband to play 'football' I'm loosing my baby! I need to start playing Pokemon with him or something!

 

[Galadín]

My parents are really the ones who introduced myself and my siblings to gaming in the first place. Since we didn't have much in lines of disposable income growing up, one of the things we would do as a family in the evening time was to play a video game together. So myself and my siblings would sit down each evening and watch our parents play, giving our suggestions and sometimes getting a turn to play through a level, or in the case of an RPG, do some monster fights or explain where we think a secret was. This is how we got introduced to franchises like The Legend of Zelda (Ocarina of Time having one of the biggest impacts on my creative life even to this day), Final Fantasy, Suikoden, Tomb Raider, Breath of Fire, and so many more. My father preferred more action adventure and platform games, whereas my mother loved fantasy and RPG style games, and both were avid completionists - a trait they passed on to me which is why I blame them for every second I spend doing optional side quests in Final Fantasy XIV and getting withered by the mundane tasks NPCs feel completely justified asking the saviour of Eorzea and beyond to do).

Whenever I get the chance to visit the family home, I still spend time playing video games with my father as it's one of the easiest ways to spend time together. I also play FFXIV with my sister, brother and fiance a lot, it's been a way for us all to bond as friends and give my siblings a natural space to get to know my husband to be.