GrandSon and his knowledge

[Junk Yard Dog]

I always get funny looks from the youngsters when I tell them that the last video game I played was Atari, and that was back in '78. A friend had the game hooked to his TV, didn't find it all that entertaining, never played it again. First question is usually "what's Atari"? I say it's that game the kids were playing on the airplane in the movie Airport 1977 I never knew videogames to teach much of anything, but then I know nothing of them, I spent my formative years outdoors in the woods camping, fishing, hunting, shooting, hiking, and sitting around the campfire talking about camping, fishing, hunting, shooting, and the next days trails. All of it done in a world that never heard of video games, or home computers. I got interested in firearms by watching the older men in the family handle guns, and of course watching John Wayne handle them in the movies, I didn't learn firearms safety, it was taught to me by the crusty old timers as they showed me their " huntin' rifles" had I told one of them that I learned all about this rifle from video games they would have looked at me funny and said " what the f*&# is a video game? "

[bunkysdad]

I have a little experience here. As a 49 year old father of a 18 year old that is an expert at xbox 360 I have had to retrain my mind. The newest video games are more lifelike than us older guys ever dreamed. I too remember Atari and before that was the tennis game Pong. During my dating years my wife and I loved to play Ms. Pacman and Donkey Kong. These computer fast games now play live action over the net against opponents from all over the world. Like our Forum. They form combats teams. Strike teams. They fight with martial arts, knives, every kind of pistol. Black powder arms. Military arms of all types from all wars. They can be Minutemen, Seal Team 6 members HALO jumping into a combat zone to rescue kidnapped hostages. Heck yea they can teach you all about a M1. Or a shoulder fired missile. And they get more real all the time.

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[bunkysdad]

Where they fall short is the hands on experience. The responsibility and the danger of handling them improperly and fortunately us old timers can and should be ready to take our responsibility and run with it. That game never taught my son that every gun is loaded. How to check and clear a chamber. How to safe the weapon. How to empty the chamber while properly climbing a barbed wire fence or in and out of a tree stand. And it never has taught him how to empty and lock the weapon open during a cease fire. I love MY job!

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[WALKERS210]

It is amazing at just how technical these video games have become. My son who is now 39 played the games and still does, taught him eye to hand coordination, making rapid decisions. At first I criticized him for too much time with them, but guess he has the last laugh on the old man. Now he is a Senior Optical Tech for one of the biggest Swiss companies with certifications that would choke a horse, and making more money a month than I did in a year. I was asking his opinion on $1200.00 range finder, his comment was ohh that's one of the low end items. Not to me $1200 is a lot of money, low end to me is a dollar two ninety eight. Time change and computers can be used to inform, teach and find information that is not readily available, however hands on and a firm warning as to what can happen still has merit that no amount of reading provide. I tell my grandson all the time that the difference between Games and real life is Games can be reset, LIFE cannot. Once a bullet is fired there is no way to say oh sorry lets start over.

[Izhevsk762]

Just to clarify: The games today don't teach gun safety (fortunately, that's still up to us) but the more realistic ones can teach things like sight picture and a gentle trigger squeeze. Believe it or not there are games where if you "jerk" the "trigger" on the controller, instead of a gentle squeeze it will throw the shot off.

Games are no replacement for real world experience, but they are excellent for raising interest in shooting.

[popgun]

this has broken the back!! videos has its place but not to teach without a human that knows what he or she is there to explain what they see and hear. my kids was taught by humans not my video. now our kids are learning from there dad and myself.real life!!! i hope the granddad who posted about his grand kids takes this serious! i am gone! popgun to grand kids

[bunkysdad]

Poor popgun. Please don't pop a gasket. Its gonna be alright:)

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