You do not claim to understand the video games and popular culture obsessions of today. In your day, you could play the
Atari and you surely did not have the blogs and constant online social types of interaction that kids do today. But, despite
not knowing about this online world, you would like to understand a little bit more about what your kids do when they play
video games online or on their video game consoles.
One of the games that have mystified parents for years is Artifacts, an online computer game. Artifacts was developed by
SAMU games back in the late 1990’s as a purely online game that could handle several players at once. Gamers who log on to
the site can play the Artifacts game or simply chat with the friends they have made on the site.
Because the game has been around for such a long time, gamers have tips and tricks to make the game more interesting that
it already is. People consistently develop “cheating” techniques for video games that allow certain things to happen only
when the gamer knows the secret cheating code.
You may not believe it, but online strategy games like Artifacts teaches young people about the importance of hand-eye
coordination, quick thinking and critical thinking. These are all important traits for kids to have as they grow older. It
will allow them to be more effective in school work and in future jobs because they are able to easily solve complex
problems and develop and maintain relationships that are complex.
Now, this is not meant to be an overall endorsement of constant video game playing. But, playing games like Artifacts can
help the young players in more ways than parents would like to believe. Experts believe that a generation of sharper kids
will develop from those kids who grew up playing video games.
On the other hand, kids who grow up with video games are less likely to search out more personal relationships with others
because they are able to go online and easily find people who share the same interests and values that they do.
The important thing for parents to do is create a balance of real and virtual life for their children. Limit internet and
game playing time to a certain amount of hours per week and require children to hang out with real-life friends and seek
out outside activities like hide and seek and sports.
Maintaining a balance will help your child continue to play his beloved games like Artifacts, but also be a socially
balanced person. Your child may not appreciate it that you are limiting his online time to a few hours a week. However,
he will thank you later on in life when he is successful because he got the gaming skills along with the important social
skills as well.
And then you can look back and smile when you remember your child’s favorite web site and video games.
