YoYos vs Video games

General Yo-Yo
1

I like video games. I’m not great at them, but I like to play. I have a large collection of portable game systems that go back as far as the original Game Boy(the white 4-AA eating beast!) all the way through the Nintendo DS, as well as things like the Game Gear, Atari Lynx, NEC TurboGrafx Express, NeoGeo Pockets, Wonderswan and others. I also have a Sega Genesis, Nintendo N64 and GameCube.

My kids, being born in the 2000’s, well, too many toys have batteries. I ended up getting one of my kids a Nintendo DS. Another kid likes to use my DS as well.

One of the things that attracted me to the yoyo was the whole lack of batteries. Well, that and other factors: lightweight, mostly self-contained. You can PM me for more details.

The kids like the video games, but when I decided to get into yoyo in May of 2011, they weren’t really into it, although one had me “buy in” for him with a Yomega Brain while I got both a Duncan Pulse and a Duncan Imperial. The Duncan Imperial was my nemesis from 1978, when yoyo and I had out first unsuccessful stretch. The eldest kid had zero interest. The youngest two, well, we’ll leave them out for now.

Skip forward a bit. The Brain was abandoned, I got a DM2. Suddenly, interest in the yoyo came out of the woodwork. Both of my kids have migrated off Yomega Brain yoyos(I bought a Brain that the eldest used for a bit) to YYF ONE’s and they have been moving along the YYE trick checklist. Yesterday, December 24th, my boy did forward pass AND around the world, and later in the day, Jamaican Flag was checked off his list. Rock The Baby will be a bit of a challenge, but it’s a matter of tweaking the size of the cradle and he’ll get it. They have to get through the beginner tricks, learn to bind and can do trapeze, they get new yoyos. Clear objectives!

At this point, I hear yoyos spinning quite a bit. The video game systems are barely being touched. The only time they play the video games are on long car trips, and evne then they don’t play that much. On our trip to Disneyland in November of 2011, they were all throwing their yoyos. The girl has a ONE and a Shinwoo Loop so she can do looping tricks easier. The video game systems were available, but outside of the car, they weren’t touched. One day, we were effectively rained out of the park, so we threw yoyos while we dried our shoes. Plus, it’s great fun showing them the trick videos and showing them how to do the tricks.

You can’t really get as interactive as a yoyo unless you want to get into board games, dice games or card games, but those often require additional people.

Video games aren’t going anywhere. They have a wide audience. Yoyos are a classic toy, around thousands of years before video games. Clearly, the yoyo isn’t going anywhere either.

My generation grew up with the Atari 2600 as the start of our video games.

The third kid has a yoyo now. It’s a pegged string yoyo and she’s stopped using it as a weapon. She recently lost it and was so happy when I found it(from where she hid it) that she started doing her two tricks: Trouble or Nothing and “Jamaican a mess”.
Trouble or nothing is when she’s throwing it sideways around her hands. Jamaican a mess is when she’s grabbing the string back and forth making a big fat X. She can’t even throw it but she’s already grabbing and manipulating the string. She ain’t even 3 yet!

Video games aren’t gone, but the kids reach for yoyos over video games. Mission accomplished!

Plus, I’d rather spend $40+ on a yoyo for my kids when they get decent than on a video game. This only means more frequent donations to the “Buy a private jet for André” fund!

Yoyo, you keep for life. Video games, they get tired.

2

A worthy cause, indeed. Ever since I started yoyoing, I stopped spending money on games…

3

I know you still torrent. you told me that a few minutes ago :3

4

::slight_smile: What are you talking about ::slight_smile:

5

: D

6

I grew up with video games…the NES, SNES, 2600, Genesis, PSX on up to current gen systems. I also had a lot of the toys that seemed to last us forever, toys you would probably consider ‘classic’ being hot wheels, action figures in general (We mixed Batman with Alien, Jurassic Park, and Ninja Turtles). No fancy electronic playsets. But I’m going a bit off topic here. When I did get into yoyo as a kid, I split my time evenly among things I did until I outgrew some stuff…which allowed more time for video games and yoyos.

When high school came around, I set yoyos aside (why would I ever do that?) and relied heavily on video games…be it Counter-Strike, Smash Bros, Tony Hawk, or the biggest time consuming game, Roller Coaster Tycoon. When not gaming, I was skating as that was ‘cool’ and it was fun to go for a ride and do simple tricks.

Today, I still play video games quite a bit. I’m not one who sits for hours on end playing while slurping up the red bull, I tend to play probably a couple hours per night. When I’m out and about or outdoors, I tend to stick with yoyoing. Outdoors to me are meant to be doing something non electronic, something somewhat physical, unless I’m at a theme park where I’m walking, sitting, taking intense g-forces, back up and walking, more g-forces, etc.

Where yoyos shine: they don’t need batteries, expensive replacement plans, recycling fees, neither are they ‘outdated’ after a few months when the newest version of a gadget is released and support is dropped for the previous. They’re a great ice breaker, conversation starter, crowd pleaser, and overall just great stress relief. I’ve had moments where I was raged, ready to hit something but instead transfered my energy into excessively powerful sleepers.

7

I started video games on a GameBoy classic, struggling on the easiest of difficulties. Now I’m a “Halo pro” who doesn’t even have to think about strategy.

It’s fun to reminesse about how bad you once where. It just shows you that no matter what you do, if practice enough, growth will occur.

Same for yoyos. Yoyos took my life by storm when I started heavily practicing with my first gen SpeedDial. Then i noticed it wasnt keeping up so i bought a PGM literally a few days they came out here. I remember the month I actually started taking it seriously, August 2010, and how I didn’t touch any Halo, or game system, for a solid 34 days (so hardcore). I learned so fast and passionately I had these ridiculous goals of what I was going to do with my new found talent.

It wasn’t until I decide to do some achievement hunting on H3: ODST that I actually turned my 360 on.
But after 18 months of being in the sport, I now have a steady dose of video games and yoyos, but mostly yoyos.

I’m taking this beloved hobby to my grave.

8

Who doesn’t?? ;D

9

I don’t.

10

It’s great your kids are playing with yoyos! Sometimes i wonder how good at yoyoing I would be right now if I started at 3 years old.
But just remember, don’t push your kids to hard with yoyoing. Let yoyoing be fun, not a hardcore hobby, because kids burn out easily. If they lose interest in yoyos, don’t worry because I bet they’ll come back to it. Yoyos have a nasty little addiction that always comes back to bite. But to keep them interested, every now and then show them a new trick or buy them a new yoyo or show them a new video. If they really want to be the next Grant Johnson, they probably can.

Chau

11

I haven’t forced anything on them. They’ve chosen this. Any success they’ve had is because it’s what they’ve wanted to do.

Too many parents are about “imposing their will and lost dreams” upon their children and then they wonder why the children rebel and take off. The only things I am pushing on my kids is good values. The rest should take care of itself.

The 3 year old doesn’t want to be left out of the yoyo thing.

At least while the kids are throwing, they aren’t fighting with each other. Ah, the benefits of solo activities.

12

In all seriousness, I really don’t. I said that to Carl as a joke, I never thought he’d take me seriously and post it here, hahaha.

13

Yoyos video games are fun, but get boring after a while for me, yoyos seem to have a “timeless” quality but if you don’t have the latest and greatest game you’re left in the dust.

14

Some times I like to empty out the fridge and suffocate myself. When everything starts going black that’s when I have to activate my super powers.

Anyway, what you wrote was too long for my small brain to comprehend so I read a little less than half.

I think that I’ll try to steer my kids away from video games.

15

I’m a pretty hardcore gamer. I built my own PC in 07 or 08, and it’s been my life for the ast few years. I have over 1000 hours invested in league of legends, 800 in Team Fortress 2, several hundred in Borderlands, Guild Wars, and Eve Online. Buuut, my computer broke in May, so I had nothing to do. so through some weird thought while watching TV, I started yoyoing. I wouldn’t say one is better then the other; Gaming has a lot of depth and is more like a book, wheras yoyoing is more like a talent or art.

I don’t really know what I’m getting at, but I guess Yoyoing is great because it can be showcased in public, give you something to do on the road, and it’s “pysical”, whereas video games promote being lazy but can also be pretty fun? I dunno haha.

16 
    I was a mini gamer, but switched to yoyos around a year or two ago. I had a xbox and Wii. I probably played 8 to 9 hours a week. Gaming to me was just something to occupy my time, so I have somthing interesting to do. I found this website, then bought a Genesis. After that Yoyoing wiped out gaming. Sure, i'll still play Skyrim and such but not nearly as much as before. And since I spend a lot of money toward yoyos, videos games no longer interest me as much as before.
   Around 7 months ago I started music lessons, and practice time and the lesson also takes up more time. Along with that, school and homework. I have lost time for video games mostly. Also, I can always make up new tricks with a yoyo. With a video game, my only enjoyment is when I finish the game, and that only happens once. With a yoyo, I feel great whenever I land a trick that I had major trouble learning. For example, Jade whip. Andre has a great tutorial video for it, but my brain just couldn't understand when to whip, and where the string went. So whenever I land that, I feel pretty good. I still didn't master that trick, so i'll only land it once in a while. 
 To me, no batteries and electronics are just a benefit, yoyoing will always outshine video games.  :D My brother is a gamer, like a hardcore one. He spends at least 26 hours gaming a week, no kid. I guess I just can't see video games in his prospective. 
 Plus, when say a CLYW yoyo releases, its like Omg, look at the amazing colours! But to me, when MW3 released, its like Oh yay, another swarm of yelling and annoyance from my brother. But as you probably know, video games has a much bigger community than the yoyoung community. Also, I could yoyo in the snow, inside my house, and on top of a skyscraper. The only place you can play video games is inside. I guess thats a plus too. 
 The last thing is that yoyos will never stop growing. There are countless new tricks to learn. Theres my two cents.
17

I used to be addicted to video games. Especially when I moved to mexico a few years ago. When I moved back to the US that very day my dad bought an used ATV so I spent every weekend in the summer riding it and every week cleaning it(I am addicted to mud) and fixing it. Then school started and I saw a flyer for the yoyo club. I thought OK cool I might try. Still went ton the weekend to ride my-wheeler but also played with a Yomegga Fireball I was lent by my physics teacher. I was given an northstar my a member of another forum and I started to play harder. Then it hit me. I was hooked. No more gaming. As soon as I finished Cleaning my ATV, I had a yoyo in my hand. They are my 2 addictions. One is a money sucking queen. The other is a good old friend who doesnt need a lot but can never have too much attention

18

I used to but i stopped because that stuff is risky and can put you in jail.

back on topic, I used to play video games ALOT. I would be 10th prestige or 15 prestige in the call of duty games in a couple months. I still play but not as much. I have been playing video games since i was four, and I used to play my gameboy. Yoyoing has eased me out of playing video games and i now get on every so often.

19

i use to play video games all the time but once i got my dm2 it pretty much stopped the only video games i play are on the psp and i only play if i get really bored.

20

Very well said. I’m struggling a bit in this area. I just got my 7 year old son a bunch of yoyos and a bag for Christmas. He gives up so easily on anything that isn’t a video game and it upsets me greatly. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about video games. I will be the first generation that grew up with video games at every stage of my life from the early atari to now. I have two PS3’s an XBox360 a Wi and have the PSVita on order. So Yes, I’m all about video games. But I’m also all about sports and the out doors too. Here is where my 7 year old really frusterates me and I am having difficulty dealing with it. With yoyos he will practice at it maybe 30 minutes a week. Usually he picks it up throws the basic elevator, rock the baby, and brain twister, then may attempt a trapeze, miss it a couple of times, puts it down and that is it. I keep telling him that if he is going to get it he is going to have to practice. And that how often do I practice? Almost daily for at least 10 minutes or so inbetween dinner or work or something, I usually have a yoyo on me and will throw it around. He just tries, messes up, and then says “I can’t do it!” and gets upset.

That is the hardest part because I work on him, I tell him that “can’t” isn’t in our families vocabulary. I will work with him on it, and he will finally get it. Then miss it then pitches a fit again. I bought him a new pair of really nice roller blades for Christmas, I laced up my quads (old school!) and went out and showed him all of my tricks and jumps with them and we watched a video on roller blading then I went out there and worked with him on it. 10 minutes later, I’m hot, I’m tired, I don’t like roller blading, I want roller skates not roller blades. I also got him a baseball throw back thingy thing lol not sure what you call it. But you throw it against it low and it comes back as a pop up throw it high it is a grounder. So we were playing with it and a few minutes into it the gloves too heavy and it is just complaint after complaint, I can’t after I can’t and it is getting me on the verge of insanity. All he wants to do is play video games or look at his pokemon cards which again, I’m great with video games, pokemon, magic the gathering, all good. But I also want something active as well and it is just pulling teeth to get him to do anything and I’m trying to be careful not to push him away from it, without giving into him vegging in front of the tv when he is not at school. We have him in basketball right now but it just seems like sports or anything physical just isn’t his thing. It is tough.