Nope. I wouldn’t. I still play video games, but this is what I’ve noticed:
After the Sandy Hill incident, nearly all of the video game stores in my region, their business is in the toilet. Why? Apparently this is a misguided backlash against the FPS games, which I can’t say I have no use for, but they aren’t really my thing. I’m not immune to FPS games, but I do like Mech Warrior 3, which, if I recall, is basically a mechanized FPS type game. However, the realizm is toast.
Anyhow, what is interesting is that at one store, a Game Stop, their business literally(and still is) went from packed with kids to “I don’t see anyone but employees in there anymore”. The comic book store next door can’t sell enough kendamas after that event. They still can’t. Kendamas fly off their shelves, out of boxes and off the pegs. They almost can’t keep the stuff in stock. I’ve certainly done my fair share as I’ve bought most of my kendamas there.
I think kids want an activity, and being booted from their couches and comfy chairs, they gotta get up and do something. Hey, kendamas are everywhere… wait, what’s this yoyo thing? I think kids want something that’s a real challenge better than mashing buttons on a controller.
I also feel that people such as myself being rather “public” with the fact I play with yoyos helps too. Kids are interested. Present them with options, they may surprise you with their choices if given the opportunity.
Parents my age(I’m 41 right now) remember “way back”. I remember way back to 1975-1977 walking through Golden Gate Park(where BAC is held), seeing bunches of kids, mostly 10 and ups, teenagers and young adults, standing around at the edge of paths playing with yoyos, especially on the weekend. The “really good kids” had Butterfly yoyos, the rest had Imperials. We didn’t have video games, internet or cell phones. We had cards, dice, board games, metal disentanglement puzzles and all sorts of other toys I had and miss and wish I had back again. Social Networking was “go to the park and talk to people”. Facebook was “facetime”. Instagram was “looking through photo albums”.
The next batch of kids are the ones making the kids now into yoyo and they missed that surge. They don’t have as strong of a memory of yoyo, so they can’t pass it forward. I myself didn’t exactly pass it forward. My venture ended quickly in 1977, ending in early 1978. Yet, the desire remained. In 2011, I started yoyo “for reals” this time, and my then 4 year old son decided to get in on this. I figured he’d fail, but he didn’t, so it’s a good thing I gave in to him on this one. My desire to get into yoyo was fueled by injuries and needing other hobbies other than moving heavy sound gear, plus as a back-lash to video games and all my kids toys needing batteries, making noises and having little motors. Imagine 20+ ZhuZhu pets making noises at night and I’m trying to find which one of those ******* things are making noise and driving me insane. ENOUGH!!! Why can’t we have toys that WE play, not toys that play themselves? Yeah, it’s fun watching a ZhuZhu pet scurry around, for like 5 minutes. What else does it do? That’s it. Skill toy? Limited by skill and imagination, no end to what you can do. Yeah, that’s a toy! That’s what I’m talking about!
Right now, I think parents AND kids are looking for something different. Yoyo is fun. It’s a challenge. It’s a skill toy. Not everyone is doing it, not everyone wants to, not everyone can, but it’s there. Having contests in malls kind of puts skill toys in the faces of the general public. Honestly, they NEED this exposure, so kids can know about other options.
I feel the hill is reaching a peak though. I feel it will be a couple of years out, then a steady but slow decline, then back up again. Then again, it may peak and then crash, bottoming out, leaving people like me with a deep drive and interest to keep pushing through during the dark times, which I will.
Choices. We need more choices. We need to be presented with more choices. We need to know the choices so we can make better qualified decisions.
I can spend $60 on Madden annually, or $120 on a yoyo I can use forever. I can watch my console get out of date and no longer play my older games(a trend that is changing, thank goodness as newer consoles play older games, which is smart and I like), but yet that yoyo is still playing! Sure, it needs new strings and response pads and maybe a new bearing, but that’s zilch compared to video game habits. Then again, my yoyo habit is equally as excessive as some people’s video game habits.
As far as video games are concerned, I’m into lame stuff. My Nintendo DS has Nintendogs, ANimal Farm Wild World, SimCity(that blows, thank goodness I got it for $8) and Pokemon White 2 so I can play with my kids.
What was the topic? Nevermind. I gotta go write a manual for my X32 audio console. Bye!
