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Posts tagged ‘Nintendo 64’

Mar 30

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Creativity and Nintendo

The popularity of the several Nintendo game systems that were released in the 1990s had profound effects on my creative mind.  I used to draw pictures of superheroes fighting villains and dinosaurs attacking cities whenever TV seemed unappealing.  These ideas I used for my doodles were mostly a result of the amount of Nintendo 64 I played at a young age.  Games like Star Fox, Rampage, and Super Smash Brothers, as their titles may suggest, are packed with colorful and unique characters and environments that would captivate any seven-year-old American boy.  My relationship with these games was so intimate that I began drawing pictures of my favorite characters at school and eventually in my room while doing homework.  Consistently practicing my artwork every day (out of sheer enjoyment, I might add) so that I could draw the characters just right, my skills developed to a point where I could draw Donkey Kong, Star Fox, and Mario better than the the older kids.

As a result of this newly developed talent, doodling became a hobby in which I indulged whenever I was not watching TV or playing video games.  I’m still pretty good at drawing Spider-man and Medieval Dragons, and I owe this to Nintendo.  Countless hours of flying through space and battling giant turtles inspired me to start drawing and opened my creative mind.  In my last two Archives of Childhood, I’ve asserted the importance parents taking the time to observe what electronic media their kids are indulging in and then determining how often they should indulge.  Now, I have proved how important it is for parents to think about the positive effects of at least some exposure to video games.  Some children may have creativity hidden within them, and video games may help bring them out.

Feb 12

Reading Rewards

Recently in class I read an article about the culture around parents buying toys for their children.  The article pointed out that the mother of a child tends to buy them more toys and gifts, however the father tends to buy more expensive items.  The mother always had the sacred mother-child bond, as most women were stay at home mothers (the article was written in the early 1900’s), while, the article argued, the fathers bought their children gifts as a way to create a similar bond.

Although this is not always the case now, as many more women are in the work force, I really see a parallel in my life.  Before reading this article I never really thought about it, however my father was always the one that got me my more expensive toys.  He bought me Nintendo 64 games, overpriced paraphernalia, and other such expensive items.

My dad would reward me for reading with video games.  Every 5 or so books that I read, I would get a new Nintendo 64 game.  Looking back on it, this reward system may have had a two-pronged outcome.  It helped create the father-son bond, while furthering my knowledge and education.  I read books and novels just for fun so much more when I was younger than I do now.

Some schools now reward their students for reading, giving them prizes, parties, and playing games.  I really think that rewarding young students for reading helps motivate them to read more and more.  While they are thinking about the short term rewards, they will really be benefiting from the long term one of broadening their education.

Nintendo 64 Game Console

Nintendo 64 Game Console. Photo Credit: Scott Peak