The "General Games Chat" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
Every now and then I come across articles in the newspaper about how much time kids waste away playing computer games. I’ve often had arguments with my parents about the amount of time I’ve sat in front of the television or P.C. and how it wasn’t going to be any benefit to me when I was “older and in the real world”. I’d like to think that now at the age of 20, I have perhaps proved to my parents that playing computer games aren’t always a waste of time.
Without ever realising it at the time, I gained a great deal of knowledge from playing games such as the SimCity, Settlers, and Zoo Tycoon series’. My favourite subjects when I was in secondary school were geography and biology, and next year I am going on to college to study zoology. My strong point in geography exams was the Ordnance Survey maps, where the questions were always about where it was best to build settlements and why, and I am in no doubt that years of playing “The Settlers” gave me a keen eye for picking a good location, and that playing “SimCity 2000 and 3000 gave me a firm grasp of how a city works and of a city’s’ needs so that I could develop my answers in an exam.
I was never much good at geography in primary school, but ever since my brother bought me “The Settlers” when I was 11 I fell in love with all things geographic, and grew to love geography as an exam subject, feeling I could relate to the subject easily from playing games whose basis were the topics I was learning in school.
When “Zoo Tycoon” came out I have to say I was beside myself with joy and excitement. I’ve always had a passion for animals, and living only fifteen minutes from Dublin Zoo, I have been a regular visitor there and have applied for work experience in the zoo. So “Zoo Tycoon” was my idea of the perfect game for me. I personally think it is a game that should perhaps be integrated in some way into science or geography classes in schools, because aside from the fact that it is an enjoyable game, it also offers a fun way to learn about many different animals and their habitats, and would invariably help children to become familiar with animals that perhaps they would never hear of or see otherwise. I came across animals in “Zoo Tycoon” that I had never heard of before but would probably recognise in a zoo now, and I hope to see some of these animals and learn more about them through my college course. The game very definitely sparked my interest in them.
So I argue that parents like mine should not be so firm as to dismiss computer games altogether, but perhaps try to encourage their child by adding a game or two of some educational value to their collection, without taking away any of the fun of a well developed game. You never know, one day your child might just appreciate the gesture as much as I appreciate my brother’s purchase.
Without ever realising it at the time, I gained a great deal of knowledge from playing games such as the SimCity, Settlers, and Zoo Tycoon series’. My favourite subjects when I was in secondary school were geography and biology, and next year I am going on to college to study zoology. My strong point in geography exams was the Ordnance Survey maps, where the questions were always about where it was best to build settlements and why, and I am in no doubt that years of playing “The Settlers” gave me a keen eye for picking a good location, and that playing “SimCity 2000 and 3000 gave me a firm grasp of how a city works and of a city’s’ needs so that I could develop my answers in an exam.
I was never much good at geography in primary school, but ever since my brother bought me “The Settlers” when I was 11 I fell in love with all things geographic, and grew to love geography as an exam subject, feeling I could relate to the subject easily from playing games whose basis were the topics I was learning in school.
When “Zoo Tycoon” came out I have to say I was beside myself with joy and excitement. I’ve always had a passion for animals, and living only fifteen minutes from Dublin Zoo, I have been a regular visitor there and have applied for work experience in the zoo. So “Zoo Tycoon” was my idea of the perfect game for me. I personally think it is a game that should perhaps be integrated in some way into science or geography classes in schools, because aside from the fact that it is an enjoyable game, it also offers a fun way to learn about many different animals and their habitats, and would invariably help children to become familiar with animals that perhaps they would never hear of or see otherwise. I came across animals in “Zoo Tycoon” that I had never heard of before but would probably recognise in a zoo now, and I hope to see some of these animals and learn more about them through my college course. The game very definitely sparked my interest in them.
So I argue that parents like mine should not be so firm as to dismiss computer games altogether, but perhaps try to encourage their child by adding a game or two of some educational value to their collection, without taking away any of the fun of a well developed game. You never know, one day your child might just appreciate the gesture as much as I appreciate my brother’s purchase.
Page:
My parents have to read this...
oooooh get her.
I thought you weren't allowe dto do this. Especially when it has already won a GAD.
*fishes out "gangs of old york" and "Danny the champion of the world" for another go*
I thought you weren't allowe dto do this. Especially when it has already won a GAD.
*fishes out "gangs of old york" and "Danny the champion of the world" for another go*
Wouldn't work expirence for games be game testing?
King Kong wrote:
> I think Cub thinks SR are stupid, and knowing he won for the same
> post, he (stupidly) posted it again!
>
> Genius
I do not think SR are stupid. It would be easy to check if it had been posted before as BEARDS has done because someone disputed if it was mine or not. I'm just trying to get a bit of discussion going because there's not much of it about on the forum lately. Is that such a crime????
> I think Cub thinks SR are stupid, and knowing he won for the same
> post, he (stupidly) posted it again!
>
> Genius
I do not think SR are stupid. It would be easy to check if it had been posted before as BEARDS has done because someone disputed if it was mine or not. I'm just trying to get a bit of discussion going because there's not much of it about on the forum lately. Is that such a crime????
DeltaJava wrote:
> Wasn't a GAD a good enough response?
I mean a response as in someone posting a reply debating my point-after all it is what forums are there for, right?!
> Wasn't a GAD a good enough response?
I mean a response as in someone posting a reply debating my point-after all it is what forums are there for, right?!
I think Cub thinks SR are stupid, and knowing he won for the same post, he (stupidly) posted it again!
Genius
Genius
Wasn't a GAD a good enough response?
BEARDS. wrote:
> Hrm, you won a GAD for it too.
>
> I'm not entirely sure why you reposted this.
As I said below, I want to get some responses because I didn't really get any last time.
> Hrm, you won a GAD for it too.
>
> I'm not entirely sure why you reposted this.
As I said below, I want to get some responses because I didn't really get any last time.
Hrm, you won a GAD for it too.
I'm not entirely sure why you reposted this.
I'm not entirely sure why you reposted this.
It's his, posted at 20 past 6 on the 12th of November last year.
Page: