I never had VD games in the house until they were in their teens.

We started ours on Reader Rabbit stuff as soon as they could click a mouse. Both score top of class and in the highest % nationally. I think some of that is because of Reader Rabbit/Math Blasters and such.

Of course as they got older they played for pure entertainment as well. On the Wii we mostly have the sports games to use the balance board.

We also have friends over for LAN parties now and then. Wings Over Europe and Battlefield with a local server, though we used to do a lot of SportsCar GT in the past.

That said, both love to shoot targets, hunt, fish, snowboard, ride bicycles and the eldest (girl) likes dirt bikes and now wants a dual purpose bike to ride instead of driving a car.

They are limited in time for computer/tablet/Wii and have to have homework done.

OP's kid already hates reading, so good luck with getting that going after he gets hooked on video games. In my experience, not having electronics actually made my kids turn to reading for entertainment, once they were at the level they could read a novel.

G

Depending on the game, reading can be a critical part to success.

When I was young most games were text based adventures. Maybe we need to bring those back!

I have two sons, now aged 23 and 21. The 21 year old has always been into video games and indoor activities. The older one is into horses, guns, fast cars and airplanes. Both are well adjusted, happy and successful. As far as I can tell, the time my younger son spends on video games hasn't hurt him at all and he has pretty good hand-eye coordination and good problem solving skills. Good kids don't just turn bad because they fall under the spell of evil videogames (or heavy metal music, comic books, or . . . fill in the blank).

My younger son has a Switch and likes it a lot. My suggestion is for your son to pick the platform and brand that most suits your son and let him build from there. If he picks a fairly current platform like the Switch it will stay current longer. Some reasonable restrictions on play time are fine, but there's no reason to get all worried because he's wasting time with a video game rather than wasting time with a book or whatever else.

Limit is right... Aside from that, the switch and all nintendo is known for platform type games more than the other big hitters, Xbox/playstation which have more depth IMO... I prefer that my kids enjoy the Xbox games than stick their eyeball 1ft away from an ipad or a handheld console... There are some cool games with motion detection that even exercise them.

We've had great times bonding while racing each other in Forza motorsport, me on the seat/wheel rig, him on the controller (too short for the wheel). The kid would sometimes punt me in the gravel traps and I made a big show of being fake-mad, and he'd laugh about it for days... He then graduated to the wheel and was so excited, and it's cool to watch a 10y old learn the proper lines and left foot braking...

The younger one plays start wars battle front exclusively (which I prefer as the shooting is somewhat SCIFI and not too real). The oldest now 11 played parts of WW2 recently (i toned down the gore and picked cool levels) and as a result developped an interest in WW2 history, where/how/who, which he otherwise might not have. It's like everything, good in moderation !

It's the ipad that worries me, and Apple is not helping set limits at all on time..

I will agree with this.

But there are different subsets within those that are better left as not an influence or part of their time.

I got 99 problems, but a Switch ain't one.

You know he was carrying a weapon cause all of them are. Plus he was doing 55 in a 54.

https://vimeopro.com/somesucharchive/mark-romanek-12-02-15/video/95947494

Hit me