Video gaming as a kid and dealing with religious parents....

[TheClash603]

My parents let me play anything.  They would sit in the arcade and watch me play Smash TV, and they bought me a Genesis 2 with Mortal Kombat when I was 10.

Only time that my mom ever complained was in high school I was into Marvel VS Capcom 2 and played it a lot.  I guess I had the TV too loud, because my mom came in and said "if I hear I'm gonna take you for a ride one more time, I'm throwing that game out."

[DragonmasterDan]

When you were a kid, did you ever have trouble with such an issue, stuff like they take a game away from you from what they saw in it or such?

Me being from a church going family, my selection of games was really repressed back then. I got a assload of stories.

- Back in 5th grade, I borrowed a copy of Simon's Quest from a friend and they held it hostage just because they saw Dracula on the cover, holy water and the cloaked figure that takes you across the river, which for the record, he ended up not getting it back.

- My mom made me return Double Dragon II to the video rental place..

- My dad threatened to ground me after going to the arcade after seeing me play Samurai Shodown. He would overreact at the slightest drop of blood. Hell he was so extreme with the issue about blood in games, that he once said that if he saw I rented a game that had blood, he would actually smash the cartridge into pieces and he would pay the video store for it! Similar thing happened if he caught me playing Tekken 2 he would ban me from going to the arcade for a month.

- Day after I got my SuperNES, I started to rent Contra III and Axelay....dad had the nerve to raise his voice at me in front of the whole store because he saw Red Falcon and the Sand Monster boss because he thought they were demons

- One Saturday morning, I taped the first episode of the Darkstalkers cartoon that came on during the mid 90's, the biggest disadvantage was that only place I could tape stuff was in my parents' room. As I was taping it, mom got really upset when Pyron came on the screen

that prolly explains why I wasn't so much into playing Mortal Kombat..

I had some similar problems, my mother was in the late 80s EXTREMELY religious. The good news is she generally didn't care much about video games.

Some years after I played through games like Zelda 1 and Zelda 2 she was given a list of "Satanic Nintendo Games" by her Church and made me literally give them away because they involved the use of magic, which she believed to be a power not of god. Thus apparently I was harnessing the power of Satan by using the "high jump" in Zelda 2.

And yes, she was serious about this.

As I got older my mom calmed down over her religious insanity and I got better at hiding the content of my games from her and it worked out in the end.

Added in edit: Just in case anyone is curious, I grew up to be agnostic/athiest, but having an overly religious parent forced me to find a lot of other ways to play games and get games.

Oh and also Clash603, "I'm Gonna Take you for a ride" still irritates the hell out of me just thinking of it. What Capcom was thinking with that terrible character select music I'll never know.

[Ninja Spirit]

Some years after I played through games like Zelda 1 and Zelda 2 she was given a list of "Satanic Nintendo Games" by her Church and made me literally give them away because they involved the use of magic, which she believed to be a power not of god. Thus apparently I was harnessing the power of Satan by using the "high jump" in Zelda 2.

That happened to someone else I knew, he had to give up Ninja Gaiden 2 because of Ashtar (pentagram on his chest) and Jaquio

[Vecanti]

I think my parents were more worried about me playing with myself too much rather than with video games, since I never had any girlfriends around (that and their water bill).  Or course the video games were probably the reason why I never had any girlfriends around.

Yeah, I never had any video game issues with my parents.  Heck, they bought a majority of the games.

[_joshuaTurbo]

My parents had issues with me and gaming when my grades slid.  They did ask for advice from our Baptist church in Central WI... ugh.. They gave them a list of Games/ Movies/ and TV shows that they should never show me as they are satanic or against the bible.  When my parents looked it over they realized that half of the TV shows mentioned were some of their favorites.. so they threw out the list...lol.  They did however threaten to throw out my D&D books once, again because of bad grades.

The only real issue my parents had with me gaming was the cost of the games/consoles.  I frequently got bargain price games for B-days and Xmas.  Not really a problem for me as that was how I discovered many awesome NES, Tandy, and TG games back in the day !!

[blueraven]

Ninja Spirit, I had a similar, less religious but more strict in terms of video games experience. It was an uphill battle to even get a gaming system when I was younger. My parents were strict, but it was never an issue with "The Devil" per-se. In fact, I can't ever recall my folks using that term. They came at it from the intellectual angle that my grades would drop, I would read less, I would spend less time on my other hobbies; that I would stop learning if I played Super Mario, etc. They were really anti-cable and anti-Atari/Nintendo.

After getting good grades I was allowed to buy a GameBoy, in third grade. I promptly dropped it in a swimming pool, destroying the screen, and spent the following summer playing Tetris, Solar Striker, Double Dragon, and "Baseball" with the center burnt out. Fun Fun. At the end of the summer I saved enough money to have it repaired. 

When I was in 4th grade, my folks finally let me buy a Genesis with the money from my summer job, but lack of funding never really allowed me to buy any cool games, or fighters in the vein of MK and such. I had Kid Chameleon, Greendog, Outrun, Quackshot, Sonic 1.

When I started taking my friends broken Nintendos apart in middle school (red flash of death, bad connector, etc.) however, It became a valuable learning experience, and my folks completely relented.

[Sinistron]

My father was a deacon in the Catholic Church- but my parents never censored anything I was into.  I was watching horror movies as a kid, listening to rap when rap first exploded (I'd even have my father play the tapes in his car when he'd drive me and my friends around- stuff like Schooly D and Kool G Rap), playing, reading and watching practically whatever I wanted.  I even went through this corny witchcraft phase at one point (I was smitten with a friend's mother who was a priestess) and my parents would actually buy me the Raymond Buckley books I told them I wanted.  In the later years they knew I was smoking pot at home too- but I was honest about it all- unlike my brother.  I guess they figured- correctly- that A) If you tell your kid he can't watch something or read something or whatever- it's gonna make him want to do it even more- especially in his teen years, B) that if it's just one of those teenage "cool" things that I would eventually outgrow it and C) that what I really liked I would wind up liking no matter what.  I'd say their policies worked.  Most of the boys from my grammar school that were getting better grades than me and weren't allowed to do anything wound up being serious drug addicts.  I turned out alright. 

This should be a lesson to parents- don't overprotect your kids.  I talked to one of my sisters about this the other day.  I told her to expect that her son WILL go through his drug/alcohol phase (especially since he lives in Long Island lol)-  it's how she handles it that will help determine where he winds up from there.  She already did a pretty bad job by not letting him and his sister watch movies that all their friends were watching.

[SignOfZeta]

Oh and also Clash603, "I'm Gonna Take you for a ride" still irritates the hell out of me just thinking of it. What Capcom was thinking with that terrible character select music I'll never know.

This is what happens when you stop testing games in the arcade.

[Joe Redifer]

Only "story" I can recall at all is my dad actually playing Space Harrier a few times. I believe it's the only time in his life he's ever played a video game.

Hell, at least it was Space Harrier!

I guess I had the TV too loud, because my mom came in and said "if I hear I'm gonna take you for a ride one more time, I'm throwing that game out."

That entire game had awful music.  What were they thinking???



I agree that kids need breathing room when growing up.  The more restricted kids feel, the more they'll feel the need to rebel.  Still, there should be some level of discipline or the little bastards will never learn respect.

[guyjin]

My parents didn't really care what games we were playing, though they did occasionally care how we played them. (my older brother, ferinstance, would throw a fit whenever the game wouldn't let him win.)

We had neighbors who did, though: they were really religious and never did get their kids a Nintendo. The oldest one even saved up his own money for one, but they forbade him from buying it regardless. They would come over to our house and play ours. Sometimes when we weren't even home. 0_0

[TR0N]

My parents didn't really care what games we were playing, though they did occasionally care how we played them. (my older brother, ferinstance, would throw a fit whenever the game wouldn't let him win.)

We had neighbors who did, though: they were really religious and never did get their kids a Nintendo. The oldest one even saved up his own money for one, but they forbade him from buying it regardless. They would come over to our house and play ours. Sometimes when we weren't even home. 0_0

The same here my parents were pretty liberal it didn't matter to them,what kind of videos games i played.Though when i was a kid if the grades dropped then the (console&games) would be taken away.

[Necromancer]

My parents go to church but they're not bible thumpin' weirdos, so they don't really care what games I play, what I read, etc.  Had my behavior changed, though, I'm sure they would've clamped down on the games/movies/books if they thought they were partially to blame.

I turned out alright. 

Says who?!? 

[Ninja Spirit]

A) If you tell your kid he can't watch something or read something or whatever- it's gonna make him want to do it even more- especially in his teen years

Hehe the "Cat String Theory" approach,

That's exactly what happened in my Simon's Quest case!

[TheClash603]

The same here my parents were pretty liberal it didn't matter to them,what kind of videos games i played.Though when i was a kid if the grades dropped then the (console&games) would be taken away.

Same here Tron.  My parents entire philosophy was "do good in school, and you can do whatever you want."

Needless to say, I did very well in school, and was a degenerate a$$hole outside of school. 

[ParanoiaDragon]

Gods can't be a christian game, since there is only one GOD described. your parents should have known that and instantly moved away the whole collection of evil games from you.

Actually, if you have a Bible laying around read Genesis 1:26

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish...."

Interesting isn't it.  Us and Our,  Meaning their is more than one god.  Of course most "Christians" I know have never actually read the bible and believe it says "Man was created in gods image." Because that is what they have been told since they were in Sunday school.


BAM!  Gods baby!! 


Genesis 3:22 also says, And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and..."

Most Christians don't realise that other gods are mentioned in the Bible.  Besides Jehovah/the Father/God, Jesus is a god, Satan is a god, Baal is a god, Zeus is a god(there was one other Greek god mentioned in the Bible, I forget which one), there's a scripture where people were referred to as god's.  People thought Apostle Paul was a god cuz(IIRC) he was bit by a snake but didn't die.  There is a plethora of pagan god's mentioned in the Bible.  Ofcoarse, when man was made in "our" likeness, that is atleast referring to Jehovah & Jesus, if not also the angel's.  Ofcoarse, most Christian's believe in the Trinity, so they believe Jesus IS God, rather then "a" god, even though Jesus repeatedly say the Father is greater then him, he is acsending to the Father, & he would pray to the Father(was he praying to himself then??).  Very confusing.  They even use scriptures to try to prove the Trinity, that say the Father & I are one, but, in the same scripture, Jesus says he doesn't speak of his own originality, but the Father's.  People think to litteraly, so, in that case, when a husband & wife become one flesh....do they mutate into one creature?  When he prayed for his disciples to be one just as he & the Father are one, does that mean he want's them to become some kind of 12 headed monster?   Well, this is off topic so....

Anyhoo, one instance I recall is when my friend bought Rastan Saga 2 for the Genny, & I showed it to my dad for some wierd reason.  He immediatly had us return the game!  Probably because that game is poo!

Ninja Spirit, that chick on the multi headed beast does resemble Babylon the Great, though, the beast in the Bible has 7 heads, not 6.  Wierd.  Is the game any good, I never even heard of it!  If anything, my dad might've actually found that boss interesting.

Sinistron, Schooly D?  Really?  Wow, I would've never been able to get away with that!  Based off of memory for the late 80's, for his time atleast, he was pretty foul compared to alot of other MC's, I don't recall Kool G Rap being all that bad though.

Oh, another thing I remembered, I had a friend who had a GB but wasn't allowed to get Super Mario Land, because the parents thought the fireball was demonic or something to that effect!  I love his parents, but, obviously to me that felt like crazy overkill!  He was only allowed to play games like Home Alone, stuff like that!  I did have to be careful about playing my games around my dad all in all.  Mainly violentish stuff, & probably anything that put emphasis on magic, like, stuff like Super Mario was ok, but I'm sure stuff like Cosmic Fantasy or Ys wouldn't of been.  But, they didn't look over my shoulder constantly & make me feel bad, so I was able to have various games without them really knowing.  Some game names worried me, like Bloody Wolf!