Why my kids gave up on Roblox and started playing real console games – Reader’s Feature

Not every kid plays Fortnite all the time (Epic Games) Fortnite and Roblox dominate the gaming world for most youngsters, but a reader describes how his children found an unexpected preference for the Nintendo 3DS and cosy games. Thought I’d change the mood by not mentioning GTA 6, darn it… I’ve written a couple of Inbox letters about the issues around my kids getting into video games and it not being the same as when I did in the Sinclar ZX81 days. The prevalence of Fortnite and Roblox, and the struggles to get my now 13 and 10-year-old to play traditional games has been a constant battle. I’ve had some shocks recently, my daughter had veered completely away from Animal Crossing due to all her friends playing Roblox and that being a system of communication for her, her friends, and indeed my 10 year son and his friends. Grow A Garden and 99 Nights were staples and every now and again there is a change in terms of what they all play. In January, my son reported to me that Fortnite was done and none of his friends were playing it anymore. Apart from our bouts of Mario Kart and Wii Sports, my son being desperate to drive in Gran Turismo 7 (I have a great wheel set-up), and them watching me play Final Fantasy 7, Donkey Kong Bananza, and F-Zero 99 (a truly underrated experience) there was little traction on the consoles at all. I started to feel bereft, that the chirrups of Animal Crossing couldn’t be heard or the constant firing of weaponry in Fortnite. I realised that Fortnite, whilst not my ideal from a gamer’s perspective, is at least better than the slop (my view) on Roblox. I’ll say now that the kids have limited time on Roblox, it’s locked down and I refuse to download it to a console. Expert, exclusive gaming analysis Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. In the last couple of months however, things have taken a dramatic change, and I can’t really explain why. Firstly, just as the holidays started the new season of Fortnite commenced and it’s apparently ‘sick’. I’m now battling again about PlayStation screen time, but when both kids are on, communicating with each other and their friends, it is much more the gaming I want them to be doing, and it’s better than TikTok or YouTube (again, meanest parents award for the short time limits that we allow, particularly for our daughter – can’t wait for the social media ban). I bought Pokémon Pokopia, in the hope that it might reignite my daughter’s interest in Animal Crossing cosy type games. My son adores Pokémon, but doesn’t play the games, just collects cards (which are pretty much impossible to obtain). Neither of them has played it, but me, I’ve never really bought into the cosy game lark, but I’m now 20 hours in and love it. My daughter asked me about Tomodachi Life, so with a biggish holiday journey coming up, I purchased it. She loves it and I must admit that the ability to create such a wacky environment and characters is awesome. Then on our return from holiday the single biggest surprise occurred. My son asked me if he could use my 3DS, because he was interested in having a Game Boy. I don’t know where this came from… but can I get him off the 3DS? Can he stop playing Mario Kart 7? Is he slightly obsessed with Pocket Jockey (I had forgotten about that game, and it is ridiculous and awesome at the same time)? Does he have some wonder in terms of the dual screen? Has he now said twice that he thinks it is the best gaming system ever? Yes. Yes, to all of it. So what? (reference there to Reggie Fils-Aime and his book which ends each chapter with those two words and an explanation – deep Easter egg cut for you folks). The 3DS is 15 years old now (Nintendo) Well, firstly, there have been some letters about whether Fortnite would continue. It’s clearly very mature now, but somehow it continues to attract new waves of players but in my experience, grabs players who have got bored and folds them back in with new seasons and characters. The experience is then quite fresh for a while. I suppose it’s like a great HBO series; you keep watching even if at times in Season 5 it appears just to be treading water. Secondly, cosy games, I think my issue has always been the fact that they are never-ending and I like to complete things, but Pokémon Pokopia and the way it tells its story is very clever and whilst sometimes I feel slightly stressed about needing to make sure everyone is happy, exploring and building is great. Issue is that I’m stuck on Donkey Kong Bananza and halfway through Final Fantasy 7 and need to get back to them! For my daughter though, it also shows how video games can allow her to explore her own imagination and create a world that she is proud of and shows off. Her friends and her also interact, giggle and chat as they develop new characters, something they do together despite the lack of multiplayer. Third, it is clear that as graphical fidelity improves that is not the be all and end all to our younger contingent. As my son stated about the form of the console, you can close it and put it in your pocket, the graphics are as decent as Roblox, and the games are way cooler. So, as we swing back towards console gaming rather than the infernal and dangerous place to be which is Roblox, there is a huge sigh of contentment and hope for the future of gaming. By reader Catcave Everyone loves Mario Kart (Nintendo) The reader’s features do not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro. 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