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

[Sinistron]

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.

Kool G. Rap had some racy stuff for the time- I remember a track called "Talk Like Sex"...  I used to subject my father to Easy E and N.W.A. too- I don't think he cared for it but he was always cool as hell with me and my friends- until that is I started raiding his liquor cabinet.  Lol.  We'd drink his Wild Turkey and fill the bottle with water. 

Such nostalgia for those old cassette days.  All the friends I wound up hanging out with later in life were into metal at the time I was into rap- and from rap I went into classic rock and folk of all things.  It's funny I think my father was a little more agitated at me playing Doors music 24/7 then me blasting Public Enemy and what not.  Gangsters with guns saying "f*ck the police" was okay but Jim Morrison started to make my parents a tic nervous.  Maybe it was the lyrics to "The End".  Actually that's probably exactly what it was.  My father told me years later that he always thought I hated him and wanted to kill him- I used to draw comic books about serial killers and my father always thought the victims represented him (they didn't).  Haha.  Anyway me and my pops grew very tight years later and by the time he passed away this year he was my favorite person in the world.  There's only one thing I don't miss about him- and that's his lasagna.  Hard boiled eggs has no business being in lasagna.  Other than that- I miss everything.

[SignOfZeta]

It's funny I think my father was a little more agitated at me playing Doors music 24/7 then me blasting Public Enemy and what not.  Gangsters with guns saying "f*ck the police" was okay but Jim Morrison started to make my parents a tic nervous. 

He knew best. PE aren't gangsters, and they're still alive. Jim Morrison is f*cking dead. Your dad was just looking out for you.

[Sinistron]

It's funny I think my father was a little more agitated at me playing Doors music 24/7 then me blasting Public Enemy and what not.  Gangsters with guns saying "f*ck the police" was okay but Jim Morrison started to make my parents a tic nervous. 

He knew best. PE aren't gangsters, and they're still alive. Jim Morrison is f*cking dead. Your dad was just looking out for you.

Yeah- that was definitely part of it- though my Mom fully supported my listening to Janis Joplin and she died young too

[ccovell]

Thanks a lot, Ninja Spirit.  You make a post with the word "religious" and now we get Scientology ads!  :-P

Sorry to say it, NS, but... your parents were fascists.  Religion and Christianity don't even enter into it.  Smashing or confiscating someone else's property because they disagree with its content is the epitome of fascism and intolerance.  Plus your parents' complete overreaction when they see anything that hints at the possibility of evil -- without even investigating further or learning about its context -- is knee-jerk ignorance.

Have you moved out of your house yet?  I hope so, 'cause you have my sympathies.

Can anyone else not stand it like me when people want to ban or suppress paintings, books, games, etc, that merely depict something evil?  Not support it, condone it, or glorify it, just show it.  Is there no room for art where a hero is fighting evil?  Isn't that what heroism is all about?

Would NS's parents suggest running away like scared villagers at the sight of something evil?

[Ninja Spirit]

Thanks a lot, Ninja Spirit.  You make a post with the word "religious" and now we get Scientology ads!  :-P

Sorry to say it, NS, but... your parents were fascists.  Religion and Christianity don't even enter into it.  Smashing or confiscating someone else's property because they disagree with its content is the epitome of fascism and intolerance.  Plus your parents' complete overreaction when they see anything that hints at the possibility of evil -- without even investigating further or learning about its context -- is knee-jerk ignorance.

Have you moved out of your house yet?  I hope so, 'cause you have my sympathies.

Can anyone else not stand it like me when people want to ban or suppress paintings, books, games, etc, that merely depict something evil?  Not support it, condone it, or glorify it, just show it.  Is there no room for art where a hero is fighting evil?  Isn't that what heroism is all about?

Would NS's parents suggest running away like scared villagers at the sight of something evil?

Nah seriously around 1998 or so, all that facism started dying down when my parents separated.

[Necromancer]

Can anyone else not stand it like me when people want to ban or suppress paintings, books, games, etc, that merely depict something evil?  Not support it, condone it, or glorify it, just show it.  Is there no room for art where a hero is fighting evil?  Isn't that what heroism is all about?

Agreed - such people are utter twats.  The sad thing is is that these overzealous weirdos far too often end up being the ones that use their wives as punching bags, molest their daughters, or bash homosexuality whilst secretly sucking wang at seedy, hourly-rate motels; but hey, at least they're keeping their evil hidden and not making books about it.

[termis]

This stuff is so out of my world, it seems strange, but I do recall one of my friend's mom driving me somewhere complaining about her son/my friend playing D&D back in the days and how Satanic it was all that.

I mean, there's definitely room for parents to watch over what their kids are playing/watching/listening to, but reading some of these experiences is definitely almost... surreal to think such things actually happen.   

I never realized just how religious the U.S. as a nation was until I left the country and looking back at it in retrospect.  In comparison, Aus or Canada seems to be less concerned with religion in their daily dealings with life.

[rag-time4]

Missed this thread on the first go-round... lots of good stuff here!

I do not come from a religious family, thus I didn't have any sort of thing along these lines happen to me when I was a kid. I guess I had it easy growing up.... or something.

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.

I've got a similar background and a similar Dad story... my parents weren't religious at all, the only impedements I ever had were my limited stash of games and occasional restrictions due to my preferance of video games over school in my teen years.

My Dad story comes in just as we got our first NES... I distinctly remember him showing off the hidden multi-coin block halfway through stage 1-2 of Super Mario Bros... you know the one, just after the second power-up.... Anyway, he was all proud about it. When my turn came up, I showed him where the extra life was,  how to get the mushroom, and I whizzed through a couple stages (I had seen the game previously). That pretty much put an end to his video gaming days, except for occasional attempts here and there over the years.

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..."

... there's a scripture where people were referred to as god's. 

Are you referring to Psalms 82:6 ?? Psalms 82 is a very interesting one...

It's funny I think my father was a little more agitated at me playing Doors music 24/7 then me blasting Public Enemy and what not.  Gangsters with guns saying "f*ck the police" was okay but Jim Morrison started to make my parents a tic nervous. 

He knew best. PE aren't gangsters, and they're still alive. Jim Morrison is f*cking dead. Your dad was just looking out for you.

Shaky rap knowledge at best Zeta: F___ the police was N.W.A., and of course Eazy E passed away 15+ years ago...

[esteban]

This stuff is so out of my world, it seems strange, but I do recall one of my friend's mom driving me somewhere complaining about her son/my friend playing D&D back in the days and how Satanic it was all that.

I mean, there's definitely room for parents to watch over what their kids are playing/watching/listening to, but reading some of these experiences is definitely almost... surreal to think such things actually happen.   

I never realized just how religious the U.S. as a nation was until I left the country and looking back at it in retrospect.  In comparison, Aus or Canada seems to be less concerned with religion in their daily dealings with life.

My parents, thankfully, were pretty progressive in most respects. I earned good grades and they trusted I wasn't watching snuff films.

Born Again

My grandmother became a "Born Again" Christian in the 80's and that is when she became concerned about D&D (old skool)--I suppose she likened it to a cult. She also was deeply concerned about music I listened to (the Iron Maiden and Dio cover art did not help me).

She gave me a short book to read about the dangers/demons/satanism associated with D&D. I was very respectful and assured her that D&D was not evil...she wanted to believe me, but I think she was truly worried for my safety. I suppose she secrectly hoped I would grow tired of D&D and move on to something less vile (I eventually did, but it took a few years longer than she would have liked).

[Duo_R]

My mom was pretty strict but she had reason. She didn't like street fighter because you could beat up a girl. I just promised not to do a Chun-Li match in front of my siblings. Lol

[Arkhan]

my parents never really stopped me from doing anything since my grades didn't suffer and I stayed out of trouble.

I got into trouble at school early on a lot, but then they (the school) realized I would finish the dumb work way too fast and be bored and find ways to amuse myself... usually by catapulting shit across the room off my ruler, or by seeing how far back I could tip my chair before I fell over.  I swear the chair makers made the little feet on the legs pivot just so we could amuse ourselves.

I wasn't turning into a lethargic shut in, I didn't walk around punching girls or talking about shooting people because of DOOM, and I was still sort of social.  I even gave sports a shot and finally said "these are all really boring".  Except for tennis and rollerskating.

So they were like "well whats the harm?".  Then I started building computers and programming stuff, and getting into boardgames that confused the hell out of everyone, and D&D.  They were like oh, hes really into math and puzzles and challenging crap.  OK!

Then I started wearing strange clothes and they went ARE YOU ON DRUGS? and i said "Why would I be on drugs, that'd just mean I spent my money on dope instead of on sega games.  I cant replay dope after I smoke it.  I just think these look neat so I wear them. Drugs are for fags"  << This is exactly what I said, at the age of 12, lol.

and they went ^_^ ok.

from my POV, you have to respect your kids interests, try to be involved (my dad played SF II and Doom too), and support what they get into unless it is clearly bad for them or having a negative impact on their life.  Trust them until they f*ck it all up.  THATS when you should start restricting crap.

My girlfriends mom used to take her anime and CDs and crap and throw them out BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT CHRISTIAN, and crap.  Yeah, cause Inuyasha is TOTALLY satanic.  Totally.

When parents take an ignorant approach to what their kids are getting into, thats when shit starts to get messy. The kid rebels, the parent is no longer informed about what they're doing.... then they could fall into the wrong crowd, start snorting coke, stealing shit, whatever.  Don't piss off your kids or push them away!  You'll regret it.

Though, everyone here is legit, so I don't think anyones going to raise retarded kids.

[PunkicCyborg]

My parents got me the NES game "Exodus" as an alternative to regular games. Man that game sucks but I'm drawn to it and am looking for another copy. It had bible trivia in between levels and told the story of exodus while Moses blasts away at baddies. Oh and the "father abraham" song repeats over and over and over and over.
Other than that they didn't care other than limiting my play time by only letting me rent games every so often so I played what repetedly.
I now have a baby and think about how I want to handle games with him when he gets older because I have a good size collection. On one hand I want to play games with him but on the other I might be turning into my parents. Maybe I'll make him play Exodus and keep my good stuff off limits.

[rag-time4]

My parents got me the NES game "Exodus" as an alternative to regular games. Man that game sucks but I'm drawn to it and am looking for another copy. It had bible trivia in between levels and told the story of exodus while Moses blasts away at baddies. Oh and the "father abraham" song repeats over and over and over and over.
Other than that they didn't care other than limiting my play time by only letting me rent games every so often so I played what repetedly.
I now have a baby and think about how I want to handle games with him when he gets older because I have a good size collection. On one hand I want to play games with him but on the other I might be turning into my parents. Maybe I'll make him play Exodus and keep my good stuff off limits.

If I were you I would let him choose  between "Exodus" and "Ultima:Exodus" ... Gotta give him a fighting chance at least!

[Arkhan]

I think limiting a kids play time is a really stupid idea unless the kid has:

1) poor hygiene, sleeping, or socializing habits.  If he smells because he didn't want to shower since he had to beat a game, or he sleeps 45 seconds a day, or he never visits when family shows up...... limit him til he learns better

2) bad grades.  If hes bailing on homework to play games and is doing shitty, limit him

3) anger issues.  If hes smashing controllers, etc. 

Other than that, wtfs the point?  I had a friend whos parents would let us play Sega for an hour, and then let us go outside and flail around like jackasses for as long as we wanted.

I don't know about you guys, but skateboarding down sloped streets and crashing into stuff on bikes, and other acts of young-kid stupidity, are pretty bad.  I'd rather my kid be playing Sega all day than have him be outside smacking his face on parked cars at 20 mph on a skateboard. >_>

Theres this kid I went to school with.  his parents were severely religious.  They went to my church.  I used to show up with KISS tshirts on, bright red hair, D&D books to read if I got bored... shit like that.  They would point at me and make remarks and whatever else, and tell the kid not to be like me.  They even had one of the pastor-dudes lecture me about the dangers of playing Magic the Gathering:

"Son, your card here has Defender of Chaos.  Chaos is a satanic group of men and women (I was all like "Citation needed").  This game could corrupt you and make you do evil things".  I said "what about the white cards.  They're all holy.  Theres angels, and paladins.  They destroy evil." 

He goes "Well, which do you prefer" and I said "Neither really!  Check out these blue cards.  This dragons pretty cool.  He kills angels really easy, and these elves in the green section usually demolish the pansy evil guys.  But really, the goblins are awesome." and I took out all the goblin cards to show him.  Then he was like completely irritated and started in about D&D next.

"Well now, D&D you take the role of cultists and witches and invoke satanic spells" and I was like whoaa hohohhhh wait a second now, there is no Satan in D&D, and started naming all the demons/devils, lol.  Then I was like yeah man, and you got cthulu, hes a real douche.  I like Bards.  They get all the sluts because they're flamboyant and tell stories and serenade them. 

He said some other crap and then I finally said look dickhead have you ever played any of these games?

His response: No but I do play Pokemon.

*facepalm*

Anyway, me and the sheltered tard went to the same college.  I got a free ride, had a higher GPA, and slept thru classes he struggled in (he went for engineering, I went for puter skyints).  Proof that religious bullshit has no real impact on your schooling/education.  If it was so much better, he should have done way better, right?  His pure, corruption free upbringing should've made his life way better, yeah?

He was allowed to view screens for 2 hours per day.  This includes TV, computer, and video games.  2 hours.  That is all.  Not being allowed to rot his brain on the internet at 3am on the weekends really paid off.   So did all the religious sheltering.  Not being allowed to watch PG-13 movies when you're 17 is pretty frigging retarded.  OH THEY SAID SHIT.  ITS THE DEVIL. STOP IT.

Now hes out in the real world, socially awkward, clueless about so many things, and wears sweatpants with polo shirts.  Tucked in.

[PunkicCyborg]

Now hes out in the real world, socially awkward, clueless about so many things, and wears sweatpants with polo shirts.  Tucked in.

LOL my wifes uncle wears polos tucked into sweat pants pulled up to between his belly button and nipples, with suspenders and orthopedic WalMart Velcro shoes. Its the goofiest thing I've ever seen. Doesn't help he's shaped like humpty dumpty.

Yeah I agree, there's no problem with games as long as it doesn't interfere with real life. My friend across the streets mom owned a game shop in 1994 and we could play any game that was opened whenever we wanted but we still spent more time playing outside.