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Evolution of a Gamer: Version 2.0

Welcome back to the Evolution of a Gamer series. Back at the start of my online writing career, I enjoyed writing articles from a gamer's perspective, as he teaches his son about his hobby. Quite often, I end up learning something in the process. These articles are some of my favorite to write. They may not share the most vital information, but they hold a history to me.
When GoozerNation went down, my biggest concern was saving these articles. I quicksaved all of them, because I knew that one day I would love to share them with my son. The Gamer's Lounge has decided to let me repost them over here, so be on the lookout for my archive to show up in the next few weeks. But first, on with a new edition.

I started the Evolution of a Gamer articles when my firstborn was about two to three years old. This is the age that kids really start to "get it." Well, now my second son is getting to that age. On top of that, he idolizes his brother, so whatever Big Brother wants to do, he wants to be a part of. Imagine my laughter as I see my oldest start to exhibit some of the traits I showed at the beginning of this series. The hard part, though, is while I was trying to share gaming with an iron fist, only giving him specifics and trying to show him the "right way" to play, my oldest son is allowing my youngest to be a part of every game he plays. Whether it's Nintendogs, Super Mario 3D World, or Lego City Undercover, if he's in a sharing mood, he wants our youngest to play along. But he wants him to play along "right". We had a difficult time with this at first. When Lego City Undercover is handed over to a two year old, with the expectation that he will drive down the road and turn right, the frustration that erupted from my oldest when all that happened was Chase McCain jumping in and out and in and out of the car was palpable. If my wife or I weren't in the room, you could guarantee this turned into a full-on argument as my oldest pushed harder and harder for him to do it right, when all he wanted to do was join in.

My big lesson this time around: just because I learn something doesn't necessarily mean that the problem is forever gone. I had to have a sit-down with my son, and for the first time, rewind back to my first article, where all he wanted to do was make Woody jump and squat on Toy Story. He remembered it, and laughed. He was just like that! The next time he sat down with his brother, he put in a game he didn't have a goal on, or wasn't too worried about progresison at least. He plugged in a second Wiimote, and let him have at it. I had to referree a few times, particularly when my youngest found the Home button, but by and large I saw a change in my oldest son, recognizing the joy of sharing the hobby. My youngest, who seems more understanding of the word "share" (I think this is a default for all non-first-born children) can comprehend "this is a one player game" and will snuggle in next to his brother and watch him play. This evening, he even ran in on my wife and oldest playing Super Mario 3D World, and saw the oldest taking every power up and knocking her into the holes. He gave a stern look at his brother and said, "hey, that's not fair." I guess some just get it quicker. As the youngest shares his wisdom, I do my best to educate on fun, and my oldest shows us new ways to enjoy our games, maybe we can all teach each other a thing or two.

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