Joe

Beatboxtaun

It's kind of interesting to see her play, since she's better than me at it. I am more used to the 360, so I can shoot better, but she still handles it really well.

She also likes Super Mario Galaxy, even when she is player 2. She also likes Super Smash Bros Brawl.

It's interesting to see how a non-gamer can be attracted to a game like GTA IV and Wii games.

As a person who's played a LOT of games... GTA IV doesn't have anything really new. But the devil's in the details. It's so rich and alive, that you can't help but get drawn in. It's a lot of fun. It's a weird way to look at it.

SubKamran

Long live gamers!

Garonyldas

But you can't bust a hooker in the face with a pipe in Burnout. He's probably not ready for that anyway.

The Brain

yashichi8bit

TearsandScreams

Kricket

KroKan

Geeflex

hehehhehe

goldwings

Seiven

dowingba

GhaleonUnlimited

My roommate's not a huge gamer, but he played some GTA IV last night and was hooked instantly...I think he likes it when Niko goes flying out of windshields or off of the bikes.

DCSimian

underground_slacker

though I really really (really) want to make a smart allick remark here.. just read the first sentence of the article again :)

Smidget

Smidget

P.S. Crecente lives with his dad? Did he move in?

Fenris Wolf

koji

however GTA is the only game ive ever found them casually playing on their kids playstations when i visit. i think that says it all.

JPDyno

M. Kava

Keep the child with n alive, always. Be an Adult when you have to be, but never for get the child.

I will always be a gamer, and look fprward to retirement in 30+ years. Can you imagine all that time to play games...lol

pollmak

fudged71

Understatement of the fugging year.

Oh and my granpa bought himself and granma a wii. They love to invite over a gaggle of ethnicly diverse neighbourhood kids to their minimalist yet ultra-modern living room where they all pretend to play baseball and golf for hours on end...

cheeses

Enigma_20XX

Now, she's never been into video games. She's watched me play them from time to time, but she never cared for them, herself. She was over one day and asked what I was playing. "Ah, it's that game all the politicians are up in arms about."
"Oh, yeah, I've seen that one. What's it called? Car Thief Number One?"

I would like to point out as an aside that I love her guess at the title. It's like the crazy Japanese mistranslation of it. Anyways.

"Hah, Grand Theft Auto."
"Right. I want to see what all the idiots are going on about."

My grandmother is cool. She hates idiot politicians and spooky Christian conservatives and the like, who blame things that make no sense.

So I show her a bit, and she is immediately hypnotized by it. "It's like a good action movie," she said.

As we went on, she got to be worse than me. "No, make a stand. Shoot those cops! Shoot those pigs. Get 'em!"
And later, "Kill those bums. Damn bums."

Even later, "Run over that fat guy! Look how fat he is! Run, fatty, run!"

Seventy years-old, and she likes GTA as much as me... Maybe more, in a scary way. I love my grandma.

Uzumaki_Kiba

gstatty

urbanbuddha

slyzxx786

vamponymouse

UltimatePancakeSensation

Americo

Elbows_of_Fury

vgfanboy

Hedgeworth

thisbeatisbadass

mordennight

fecalchaos

spaz33

Cartman86

chipmunk12739

Xcite79

I've never known my dad, it was my mum (39) and grandma that got me into gaming. I got my mum to play GTA: SA when it first came out and she enjoyed it.

She enjoys the Wii more, but also plays the 360 and on the VERY rare occasion the PS3. I'm going to get her to play GTA:IV soon though. I'm sure she'll like it too. Its just a matter of time. :D

Mr.C

Wish my dad was this awesome, but all he talks about is beating the American sailors in Space Invaders whenever he brings up gaming, and calls people who make the "fantasy" levels like in Brawl "crazy," and that video games now are made by people with insane ideas.

Plan303e

neomerge

JudgeNutmeg

okenny :)

Vidril

B-Minus

elronathon

LucRichard

ajiezer

The_Saint

bigdonthedj

ChaoticLimbs

Eschguy

KM91

biznatch

It seems featury.

Billkwando

Silverrain

Days later, he started kicking my ass, thats when I decided to play NBA Live 2004 lol...

and now he has his own computer, and he always buy the games every single year. 2004-2008, heck he even bought the pad so that he can use his own clubs and play using my PS2 (talk about not being able to play GH that I started sucking at it after beating expert).A nd yes he still kicks my ass at it.....Speaking of which, I gotta play GTA IV before he shows up and hogs my PS3 again!!

kingme

I'm not sold on the whole game but I do have a penchant for doing in the game, stuff I would love to do in real life but without having to get my cool cloths and hairdo on when I'm feeling tired after work.

RPGr

Your comment is Trollish, go back under your bridge and count your goats.

NerD!!!

Grey Gecko

decodergrizzly

VonDante

Er, I meant Crecente.

dunetiger : one of the naerds

dunetiger : one of the naerds

GwennBlackfeather

luffy27

Beatboxtaun

Brian, you are a top man.

DrMekon

Makes me wonder what I will or won't be doing with my little boy and girl down the line in terms of gaming.

Maluvin

This is by far the only game she will even consider watching me play.

sand0789

Snake726

toneroni

Seiven

karateka

wealthyman2

Blah8

mkernan

It reminded me of when I came home from school and my dad was so excited and told me how he had beaten Mario Bros. I have not even beat it yet and he was there with me telling me which pipe i need to go down ect....

Then later when he stopped playing the NES he got into the SNES playing pilot wings and he was super excited playing the Chopper level over and over. He finally beat it after finding each one of those sneaky hidden gun emplacements and was cheering only to realize that he only beat half the game.

good times.

::Sniffle::

good times.

Snowdaddy

KEELr

Heck, my dad's scared of computers and he's only going to be 55 in September. I have to update his web browser (Mozilla) and keep things running smooth on his computer, and really he should be able to do that stuff for himself.

DorkimusPrime

It'd also be frustratingly difficult for non-gamers. I mean, this game is even more hardcore than previous GTA games, which were always difficult to begin with.

dowingba

The Great Aussie Evil

It's always an interesting experience to see a family member get so caught up in a game.

My dad was a big influence on my introduction to gaming culture, showing me how to work the NES, using gaming mags to bribe me into doing well in school...

His last reintroduction to gaming was Gungriffon Blaze on the PS2.

It started with a simple breakdown of how to work the controls, what all the little power-ups meant and those simple things.

He's never been good on the reaction time or manuvers, but he tries his best and damn if he isn't the most entertaining person I know to see play a game.

By the end of the week, I see him come in the door from work, set down his bag and before doing anything else, pop on the console to try and get past where he was stuck... "It was like I could still see the display on the way home. All I could think about was how to get through that level."

He's still not beaten it, mostly due to the fact it just gets too fast for him and it's not like the game was that well made in the first place...

However, these days he's still sticking with the games he knows, perfecting his Link to The Past runs on vacations, getting every heartpiece without a single death, but each time aiming to shave seconds off his personal record...

KraZe

Dave Silva

Several systems came and went that I would play and he didn't show much interest, but a couple of years ago he started trying to solve those Sudoku puzzles, and I thought, what better way for him to do that, rather than carry around a big book of them for his lunch break or for trips, than to do it on the Nintendo DS, so I got him Brain Age.

Soon thereafter, Clubhouse Games came out and I was playing that a lot for awhile and he got interested in it, so I got him a cartridge of his own. So that he could play non-stop Billiards without interrupting my Rummy matches.

He's played, online, 9999 games TWICE and is going to be shortly restarting and going through the whole thing again. As a result he's got 1st and 2nd place tied up. BillyLivTN and Billy38570. Apparently the Wi-Fi Connection system stops counting your score, games played and wins when you get 9999. So he's gone through twice and will do it again. It was the biggest thrill for him to pass by watching me watch X-Play on G4 and to see his username on the screen.

While he's still a big proponent of moderation, he's also done a one-eighty when discussing with other parents in regards to "look, sometimes you can't just drop it when you're in the middle of something" and has encouraged people to have patience in that area.

Sometimes he even uses it while in the jacuzzi. Which I think is hardcore.

xanderphydeaux

You guys so rock.

hogarth1

Video games for better or worse give us an excuse to spend time together. They also provide a framework and context for sharing ideas and values. Just like the past generation passed along their wisdom cleverly packaged as a discussion about the merits of various baseball pitching strategies, games are rich with situations and metaphors that can be used to illustrate a moral principle or nugget of wisdom.

I'll stop myself before I get too esoteric (too late probably) but let me finish by asking how many times you've caught yourself making a reference to a video game to prove a point or to clarify an ambiguous concept?

I use World of Warcraft references all the time when I talk to my brother, i.e. "sometimes you just need to be the tank, draw aggro so that your damage dealers can do their job..." when he asked for advice on how to handle a situation at work.

Good article and discussion, Brian. Thanks for making it possible.

rawg

Itri

My dad's never really experienced the next gen gaming consoles but one day my parents paid me a visit and he saw Burnout Revenge on the 360. We put him on it and he loved it. Especially the crash mode. The game itself isn't all that difficult and it was great to be able to race my dad. It was a flashback to almost 30 years ago playing Auto Racing on the Intellivision.

When I have kids one day they're in for it, as I'll be playing well into my 70's ;D I'll take them down in GTA XX :)

MerlynNY

zgrowler2

As I continued console and PC gaming alike, dad fell more and more into PC games. He was especially fond of Madden and its ilk, A few racing games, and eventually Medal of Honor etc. I admit multiple occasions hiding in my room to escape the terrible drone of *yet another* full run of the Indy 500. It also felt weird when he would join my Call of Duty server. We were mostly quake-trained and he was far more patient; More apt to camp and take you out when you least expect it. He never won a round but it was fun when he played. It was interesting to work on his computers as well, never anything fancy but certainly an arms race with myself and my brothers (we're all gamers to varying degrees).

Since he passed last year, his gaming pc lives in my basement on my network. A few times guests have played on it, and I use it for Guitar Hero mods occasionally, but I built my own box for gaming instead of using his. It just wouldn't feel right. It's not my box.

So the moral of the story I guess is I'm also a 2nd generation gamer and I'm proud of it.

Chucklestyle

On a recent visit to see him, I told him about GT5:P and that I picked up the wheel for it as well. Needless to say he is looking forward to his next visit with me to try it out. I think it's very cool that you have gotten the honor and privilege of sharing something you love with you dad, very cool indeed.

Not that anyone asked, but I thought I'd share.

-EDGE-

The thought police descend with batons bared?

Mohican

He really did love that Worm War 1 though...

Pezdispenser

badmoogle

My mom, on the other hand, isn't a gamer per say, but she'd like to play every once in a while. She'd be playing Super Mario Bros on the NES with us, yelling at the screen like it was voice controlled. There's even a picture of her with an old Sears Pong game on her lap as she was trying to play it on the TV. It was her brother who bought us our Atari 2600 and Nintendo NES when we were kids.

Beelzebozo

AsWater

dolo54

LucRichard

Zeuxis

Voyevoda

It's really hard to sell the concept of GTA to my Dad without getting into a full-blown debate about why people find it fun to kill

Sandbox_Emperor

The We <3 Katamari box is mocked to this day.

markusdragon

swift_tiger

PissedPS3Fan

Turael

My father stopped playing games after Alex Kidd on Genesis...he was ADDICTED to that game.

I think I may buy him a PS3.

Tkat

mahi

lilaliendog

Acute Gamer

So basically, your dad likes games for the same reasons I do. I hope I can share my hobby with my son the way your father did with you, Mr. Crecente. That would make it all worthwhile.

p_hon

TrojanMan88

My wife abhors realistically violent games, though, so I had to turn it off pretty fast.

tk.

jp182

All I can say is I wish I had that kind of relationship with my father (I haven't spoken to him in a couple of years).

I can say this. I use video games to help me stay in touch with my three sons (I'm regularly playing with my oldest on XBox Live). The only downside to GTA IV has been that I won't let him play it, so it has taken a bit from our gaming, though we do still fire up a chat session and talk as we play our separate games.

I would like it very much if games would help me avoid the mistakes my father made.

rhacer

My dad is nearing 57 now and never was much into games, apart from the Myst-series. All I could do was get him impressed with the technological advances now and then and he had this strange ability to solve puzzles in games I was stuck in with absolutely zero background information, like way back in one of the first Zelda games, he just walked into the room, suggested something and it turned out to be right. I have no idea how he does it.

To this day he still taunts me, asking me if I'm stuck in some game and need his expertise.

fire ze missiles

Slatz_Grobnik

ghostgirl

Meanwhile my grandparents (his parents) are running wi-fi at their place, playing online solitaire, and printing digital photos.

Go figure.

argh

LucRichard

They really don't buy that whole "It's like a movie!" argument.

Garrison Dean, King Awesome

Al Bino

Much like movies a compelling story is oftentimes more than enough to get someone to sit down and give the game a real try, and a story this good is a great reward for that. I also applaud your ability to hand over the controller and walk out, I'm a bit more pushy and like to sit nearby and answer control questions which can sometimes get annoying and doesn't really give the player the chance to experiment with the controls.

Either way, great post!

Comont54

usaevo8

My dad's 54 and is the one who introduced me to games (he got the family an NES when I was 3). He disappeared from the gaming scene when the controllers started getting more complex (SNES/Genesis time), but has recently become addicted to Wii Sports. We sit for hours bowling and bonding like the old days.

It's great you two could connect again.

edb87

Nex Antonius

LucRichard

Video Games wern't his thing at all but I do appreciate that he tried.

He'd be 56 this year.

Rask

Every time he comes for a visit, he mostly plays Halo 2.

He's not interested in consoles, though. PC only.

mind in rewind

Gospel X

Orionsaint

Maybe I should show him GTA 4...

Great story, thanks!

Legion329

mcrproductions

Oh and the first game we played together was duck hunt on NES. Also does anyone remember Photon lasertag? Fun times in our backyard. Ahhh gaming dads, we should all post pics of our gaming sperm donators as a sign of appreciation :)

ichiban1081

Maybe I should see about getting him a new console and GTAIV . . .

Tubatic

..Fun times though, walking into a gamestop and watching mr counter nerd drool over my girl.

Eville1

gnudna

So to each his own.

Daymonster

It's not a new comment, but since I have little experience of a similar nature (although my parents really enjoyed Katamari on the PS2 and Wii Sports), it's all I can say. Nice to see game storylines bringing generations together and building the art.

ego531

MaxS

Strange times indeed.

fatheadwilson

That was a just a summer though. His love for the game wained as we finished the house and we moved back to our regular lives. School for me and 15 hour workdays for him. Still, it is one of my fondest memories from my childhood.

symeon6

He never fails to fail to ever follow through.

Cola82

Anyway.

I have a similar story. I got a PS2 last year, and a few months later, I got Metal Gear Solid 2. I was playing it in the living room when my brother and mother dropped in and started to watch me play. I'd just gotten the game so I was at the start, in the Tanker scenario.

Both of 'em were really amazed at the way the game looked, and the amount of acting and conversations in the game. They were hooked on the story. My brother hasn't really played games in a long time, and mom's not interested in 'em at all, so it was rather surprising to see them react like that.

Dave Silva

artofwar420

Because really, it's the unholy child of GTAIII and second life.

Fnor

DigiMish

Has your father tried the Wii at all?

Ehardergardens

Brian Crecente

Driving not really realistic but you deal with it.

My dad lost a game on the atari 2600 to my older brother and hasn't played a game since. He does like how current games look but for some reason I cannot get him to pickup a controller.

JakeDunn

functioningbadly

Braking actually *increases* traction on the front tires in real life, because it forces the weight of the front end of the car down onto the wheels. That means that turning while braking is actually *more effective* than turning while not braking. 99% of real racing games get this right - it's a fundamental thing, and it's racing 101. You start braking just before a turn (or well before, if you need to), continue braking as you enter the turn, the lift off and accelerate through the apex.

In GTAIV, and other GTA games, braking basically nullifies your steering completely. You hit the brakes and you just cannot turn. You either have to brake in advance, lift off and then turn, or you need to use the emergency brake that itself is unrealistically tuned (too strong) in GTAIV. You can't drive the way you would either in real life or in other racing games.

I've gotten a little better at it now that I remember this from the other GTA's, but it's still so non-intuitive to me - it breaks the laws of physics that your car would actually lose traction at the front with more weight on the front wheels.

So I totally understand what Brian's father means about this.

badasscat

Ra is on Arrested Development!

Mister Adequate

riskbreaker

Garrison Dean, King Awesome

derFeef

megaStryke

parasiteartist

UFO

Duoae

My brother and I and another pair of brothers we were friends with tried to get our moms to play Thunderstrike on the Sega CD. They were extremely hesitant to take the controls... they felt scared they would crash and stuff. We kept telling them, "it's only a video game! It's not like if you die you REALLY die... just try it!"

So, finally, my mom worked up enough courage to try it. She was playing through the canyon level, banging into the walls and stuff, and then she finally started to get the hang of the directional controls, but altitude was another story. I think she wound up being shot down... can't really remember.

All I do remember is that it was the only time I remember my mother playing a video game. My dad, as far as I know, has never played any.

Oh, well. At least they were good enough to buy my brother that first NES when we were kids. Despite their reluctance to play video games themselves, they started us on what has been a life-long love story with little plastic boxes.

PlayerX

photoboy

Chewbenator

After about 20 minutes she gave up, citing the frustrating driving mechanics and the 'fact' the game only had two speeds: "slow and fast." She's the type of person you don't want to give direction to, either - because it'll frustrate her more and then blame it all on you. Needless to say I have the game all to my self while she sits next to me with Brain Age.

Yay for exclusionary complex technology!

zovietsquid

However if you're in it purely for gta, I'd look at the 360.

JakeDunn

RandomHero48

The only people I know that play SL are the ones that couldn't play a "game MMO" because they were too terrible.

WingZero987

So this settles it, I'm going out and buying a ps3.

Great article!

mirolator

NerD!!!

Ironically, it was my mom that got me into video games, when she purchased an Atari 2600 on my 5th B-day.

Nowadays, she really likes the Wii (She borrowed mine so she could play Trauma Center and Cooking Mama lol)
but also watches me play CoD4 on the PS3.I've been meaning to show her GTA4, since I get the feeling she might like it for the story.

Megatenist

Spoony Bard

That made me giggle

Puck

My girlfriend is a casual gamer (loves Peggle, Bejeweled, etc) but would never play something like GTA IV.... until I discovered the QUB3D minigame.

I couldn't beat the high-score to get the 360 achievement, so I turned to her and asked her to give it a spin.

She took the controller, loved it right away and within an hour or so, I had the achievement in my pocket and she had a big grin on her face.

She appreciates the depth of detail and the complex story, but having blazing shootouts with police or delivering drugs for Little Jacob holds no appeal for her at all.

Maybe I'll have better luck in converting her when Fable 2 comes out.

DaPress

Violater

I can see they're older men, but me personally, I think I would be a bit bothered.

keyrat

D-Lish

Good story, man.

mackincheese

Rabidsquirrel

slomo788

Isomeri

Mommar