My dad enjoys hunting and fishing, as well as fighting fires. I love reading, philosophy and not exerting myself too much. While we may not have much in common but we do play lots of games together. He prefers military shooters as he is bored with the slow-moving, story-driven games that I play alone. I was never going to follow his footsteps in the fire department, and he was never going to read Kant with me. Mcnames Instead, we've formed bonds over virtual battlefields.
This isn't something unique to my family. Steven struggles to find an agreement with his children, much like my father. One of his daughters is dancer. The other daughter is in band. As the girls have grown older playing video games has brought the whole family closer together.
"I've been a gamer since I was in college and my daughters have just began to take it up," he told me. "About six to seven years ago, I got my oldest daughter a computer. We began playing games against one another and against each other. Steven and his daughters Maya and Nicole were getting ready for Torchlight 2 at QuakeCon in Dallas. "We had one room in our home in which all the computers were in," Steven told me when I asked whether they played a lot of games together as a family. "We would sit in the room and play for hours."
They play various games together, such as Borderlands and The Secret World, though Steven said to me that both he as well as Maya, who is 11 years old, currently have a fascination with Minecraft. It is clear that Minecraft is an actual Lego set The two make and create as a team. "I actually am a fan of Minecraft. We'll log in to a server and make things together.
It's not just about the games. Theirs is also a house of technology. Nicole's family members arranged to buy Nicole an item for a brand new computer. Her father also built it. They've learned how to set up hardware the same way other children learn to change the flat tire on a car. "I try to teach themthat 'This is what you have to do when building a computer, to ensure that they know how to do things on their own," Steven said. "I tried to make them as self-sufficient as possible."
Although you might love having fun at home, it doesn't ensure a the best family time. Sometimes life gets in the way and you need a vacation to spend time together. Where do you go when your family is already exploring the magical kingdoms (albeit virtual)?
For Steven's family, the answer was QuakeCon which is held in their state of residence. Marketed as the world's largest free LAN event, the Bethesda hosted convention tends to attract thousands of people to Dallas. Steven stated, "It helps us focus on what we can do together." "And it's also fun to get away and look around and see what others are playing and see the new things that are coming out ... It's something we all love doing, and I realized that it's right here in the area, and it's not that expensive to go, so why not?"
They don't do it all on their own. QuakeCon is a group event similar to families who camp with their friends. Steven and his daughters attended with friends and Nicole's best friend Sean and his family. Steven said, "His dad is a good friend and I have become good friends." "I would invite Sean and him to our house for mini LAN parties. I would invite three to four of my friends and my daughters would be invited to join me. It would be a great time in the house. In the last couple of years, QuakeCon has been another thing to do together.
"I don't know whether it was the family that was sitting down to dinner and saying, "We should go!" Sean 17, who is 17, told me. He was still playing games in the Bring Your Own Computer (BYOC) area of QuakeCon while his mother, father and brother, 7-year-old Reid, were elsewhere. "It was just my father and me saying, ‘This is kick A,' and the other two kinda got dragged along. Particularly with Steven's family coming, we're close to them and we play together, so they were like, 'You guys ought to come and join us, and it just sort of took place."
People who book a hotel room to enjoy an entire weekend of video games to be one of the most natural things they can do. Why shouldn't it be? Anyone under 18 years old today is born into a world in which video games are an everyday activity for millions. It's been quite a while since games were a thing that most parents didn't understand in any way. Instead, they are something that adults can enjoy with their children.
Steven's oldest daughter will be going to college close to home Steven hopes that QuakeCon, at least, will be a reason for the family to get together and play games during the weekend, even as the girls grow older and move out. He added, "I have at least six to seven more years with my oldest." "But we'll do our best to go on as long as possible."
The most important thing is that they're enjoying the time together right now. "The main thing we're here for is a bit of a vacation. To sit and play video games, and just hang out. "Daddy time with his daughter." Britton Peele, freelance writer from Texas, is the author of this article. His work has been featured on GameSpot, GamesRadar and The Dallas Morning News. Follow him on Twitter @BrittonPeele
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