So Your Kids Want a Video Game. Now What?
The Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry
In this month’s Let America Know newsletter brought to you by the New Hampshire lawyers at the Law Office of Manning Zimmerman & Oliveira PLLC, we present information about video games, including the Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry.
Entertainment publishers are cranking out the big video game titles just in time for the holiday shopping season. Kids everywhere are hoping that the neatly wrapped gift underneath the tree is the latest release. For eight years running, video games have ranked as the third most requested holiday gift item.
But nearly 40 years after their invention, video games are still a mystery to many parents. This month’s You Should Know newsletter from the New Hampshire lawyers at the Law Office of Manning Zimmerman & Oliveira PLLC is here to save the day by arming parents, grandparents and other family members with a guide to choosing video games wisely for the kids on their shopping lists.
Video Games are Still Going Strong
The video game exploded into mainstream entertainment nearly 40 years ago and is still going strong today. Game sales ($24 billion annually) regularly outpace movie box office sales ($10 billion per year). Gaming is also now more of a family affair than it was in the beginning. According to the Entertainment Software Association, 89 percent of parents are involved in their kids’ gaming. The association notes, “In barely more than a generation, video games transformed from a diversion for the few into a mass medium, helping people live, learn, work and, of course, play.”
Buying a video game is no longer a simple affair. As kids grew up, so did the content of many video games. Now parents wonder: What games are appropriate? How do you choose? When should kids start playing? And with the holiday season a frenzied time of year when retailers offer crazy discounts and major game releases, it can also be overwhelming for shopping-weary parents. For more information, see this Modern Parent’s Guide to Kids and Video Games.
