Taming Gaming in Your Home

A ForaTV.com streaming video presentation from April 19, 2007 at the Common Wealth Club in Mountain View, CA. The discussion centers on how to parents should control gaming (MMO and stand alone computer and console) with the children in their homes. This event was sponsored by the Common Wealth Club, The Computer History Museum, and Microsoft. The panel consists of Peter Moore (Microsoft), Lucy Bradshaw (EA, The Sims2), Linda Birch (SyStemix), and Gerard Jones (Comic Book Writer).

Taming Gaming in Your Home (title page) (video stream)

“Parents should play an important role in guiding their children’s video game playing habits, and playing computer and video games can be a positive family experience. Our expert panel covers issues of content rating systems, parental controls in consoles and PCs, advice for checking in and better understanding your family’s gaming habits, and how to participate
- The Commonwealth Club”

World of Spoiled Children: Here’s an audio clip posted of two parents trying to get their son to get off World of Warcraft. These parents are far more patient than I would ever be in telling their son to get off the computer.  This link is one of the top links on Digg.com today.  

At least from the conversation, it would appear that this kid gets some activity outside of MMO’s, as the dad references a lacrosse match the next day that they are getting ready for.  I get the “One more minute, I’m in the middle of a battle” excuse all the time with my kids (who am I kidding, I use it with my wife from time to time).  I always follow through and make sure that they are off when they finish, or have hit a save point.  These parents drag the discussion out until the dad loses it and terminates the gaming session.  The audio is a bit crackly at points, but interesting as an example of how some kids can’t walk away from a game when asked, and get emotional when forced to stop.