Bad for Kids ?????? (Nintendo Gameboy (GB))

Member Name: AnnieK

Product:	Nintendo Gameboy (GB)
Date:	03/07/01 (227 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: portable, easily available, games available 2nd hand

Disadvantages: games can be expensive new

My mother In law bought my son (now 7 years old) a Gameboy colour when he was 5 years old.

At the time I groaned inwardly thinking that it was not a 'good' toy for a 5 year old, albeit that he was already heavily into computers and was easily capable of playing with the games. I thought that it would do him no good whatsoever - but.....

With the gameboy came pokemon blue - anyone that has played this game will realise that an integral part of the game is to read and remember the instructions on the screen. At 5 years, this was a problem for him as he couldn't read - the game didn't get played with - until 2 months later when he aquired a magazine that showed him how to play the game - I used this magazine to get him interested in reading - it is now completely dog-eared !!!

Gameboy & pokemon are responsible for my son aquiring an interest in reading (he is now way ahead with his reading)

Whilst on holiday he played his gameboy if we were relaxing in the restaurant/bar - because of this he discovered that he had a mutual interest with a number of other little boys - they quickly became friends and were arranging to meet night after night.Quite the opposite of the anti-social hobby that is normally portrayed!!!

If you happen to walk past a playground - have a listen to the conversations - I will be very surprised if at least one of them doesn't revolve around what levels have been reached or what characters they are playing.
Kids enjoy role playing and sharing experiences.

So what are the downsides?

I wouldn't recommend that kids are allowed to play one game (no matter what) to the exclusion of all others - but in moderation - where's the harm - I certainly haven't come across any - unless you count persuading them to switch the gameboy off when they need to get to that certain level...

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