Games and Gaming #38: Console Gaming

Visited the "nostalgic" game site and spent about... okay, I'm not telling how long I spent playing Pacman and the other games from my youth. I'll never forget our first video game - PONG from Radio Shack I think. Then we got an Atari, not so much because my sister and I were into gaming but probably more so because my Dad loved gaming. We all played but it was he who would stay up till all hours of the night playing Breakout. I guess sharing was one of the skills we learned as we had to take turns playing though not a skill unique to video games, we would have learned to share in many other ways as well. Maybe losing gracefully? Well if your Secret Asian Girl and your losing to your son maybe but if you are me losing to my older and wiser sister, NOT, but the potential to learn to loss gracefully is there. In my high school days we would hang out at Putt-Putt Golf playing the arcade games including Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Burger Time, Galaxian, Frogger, Q*bert, Centipede, Space Invaders and my personal favorite Joust.

I think the best console game system for library purposes is the one you can borrow for free. In our case we've had Guitar Hero programs 3 times and DanceDanceRevolution twice and every time I bring the equipment from home, set it up, take it down at the end of the program and take it back home. It seems to have worked out very well. We have spoken with our Friends group about getting a gaming system and they hold the final decision based on what they are willing to pay though my suggessted console would be a refurbished Playstation 2 so then we would just have to borrow our games which would be compatible resulting in additional savings. Like everything, as long as there is a balance, gaming can be a learning tool when it is just an aspect of an overall program. I've had to limit Playstation time in my own house to make sure homework and chores were still completed just as you might limit TV viewing.

In my experience with the gaming programs we've had, I've made a point to look around for participants in the library to see if they are staying around, coming back, using computers or checking out books. I still cannot definitively provide an answer to that question. It would seem to be a family affair because our advertising for the game program was done in the library so someone either the participant or a family member must have already been in the library to even know about the program. So even if I do see participants again are they coming back because of the game program or they would have come back anyway? Who's to say.