Spreading to a new generation...

So both my kids have started to seriously play games now.  A (the 3 year old) definitely prefers classic games, with Mario and PacMan being his favorites at the moment.  My mom insists that A is better at PacMan than her, although I have not seen her play so I don't know if that is just grandmother speak for being impressed.  Frankly I am impressed that A not only dodged a few goombas, but navigated over pipes and chasams, killed a goomba or two, and managed to make it to the half way spawn point.  I really need to go through my NES collection to see if I can find something that isn't "Nintendo hard."

G (the 5 year old) on the other hand seems to prefer the 3D games.  This is odd to me, since I feel like there is a huge leap in the ability to understand using a controller when you shift from 2D to 3D.  I originally started her off way back when Skyward Sword came out, and she certainly had trouble with going where she wanted to go (in fact, both of them were shouting out the solutions to the puzzles when I was playing, sometimes faster than I could figure it out).  Fast forward to today (just two and a half years later) and G is playing Super Mario 3D World right along side me. Once she even beat my score and got the crown (which she promptly lost on the next stage).

It's awesome to see the unashamed movements when G is trying to get Peach to do her bidding.  The classic "tilt the controller to steer" that we watched our parents attempt to do is amplified in this new world where the control stick is no longer attached to the control buttons, and the Wii-mote nunchuck slowly grows closer to G's mothers face as G tries to get Peach to move a little faster to the right.  I swear she would turn backwards if her head would still be able to still face the TV.

It has been a while since I last posted, and since then we have played through Zelda: Skyward Sword, Pikmin 3, Sonic Generations, and New Super Mario Brothers Wii U (I can't wait until they make that name even longer with New Super Mario Brothers Wii U Two).  In terms of starting we are going through Super Mario 3D World (which is just as good as they say), Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch (which is beautiful in art and story if not lacking a bit in gameplay), and Zelda: Windwaker HD.  Each of those is worthy of a post in itself and I hope to get into that in the coming weeks.

I will say G and A have started their own games of Pikmin 3 which they love (although they play with a different flavor).  G plays all on her own which is really impressive to see, except when there are enemies at which point she thrusts the controller into my hands and I get to save the day.  A on the other hand just loves sitting in my lap and occasionally pressing the "throw" and "call" buttons.  I can't say I mind.