When Gabe was young(er), I was very conscious about not playing games in front of him. I wanted him to develop other interests before he discovered video games, which was obviously inevitable in this house. We gave him a MobiGo when he was 3, which has mostly educational games, but I didn’t let him near my handhelds or the big console games at all. I wouldn’t even let him watch me play when he crawled out of bed to get a glass of water, ask question, etc.

Of course I couldn’t keep him from this stuff forever. When he was in preschool, he watched the after-school kids play Super Mario Kart Wii and always asked me why he couldn’t play it at home. (The answer was we didn’t have a Wii, but he didn’t quite understand that since he knows I have game consoles.) And of course he would wander into my office, see the games, and ask me if he could play them or watch me play. The answer was always no until this past weekend.

He’s really into Batman as of late, and naturally, he has an affinity toward LEGOs, so yes, he’s asked me once or twelve times if he could play my LEGO Batman 2 game. Saturday, we sat down for some co-op. I really thought that a LEGO game would be a great way to introduce him to console gaming, especially since our Wii U is arriving very soon with his very first console game, LEGO City Undercover, a game he’s been begging me for since we saw it at Best Buy (you bastards). (And yes, he has no idea that Disney Infinity exists, and I’m doing my best to keep it that way, thank you.)

I realized very quickly in that perhaps LEGO Batman 2 isn’t the best starter game. The controls are a little more complicated than I thought, and it kind of helps if you can read the instructions. I tried to explain to him what to do, but he kept getting confused. I had to swap controllers with him often to get through parts. Maybe he’ll get it with time, but for now, it’s a little much. That hasn’t dampened his spirits, though; he’s been asking if we can play again practically every day.

So perhaps it’s time he learns how to play console games the way his father and I did–with Super Mario Bros. Whenever the Wii U gets here, I plan on buying SMB via the Virtual Console and telling Gabe that as soon as he beats that game, I’ll buy him another. I then remembered that I have SMB on my 3DS thanks to the early sucker adopter program Nintendo had. I showed him how to play, and then I watched him get just as frustrated as we all did the first time we played.

He’s already asked for a different game. I told him he had to practice, that he would get better each time he played. I even reminded him how bad he was at Angry Birds at first, and now he’s better than his father and me. He said he would try, and he played for another few minutes before asking if he could watch a movie instead. I think he’ll enjoy the game a little better on the big TV instead of the small 3DS, but we’ll see.

I wonder what game I should torture him with next whenever he does beat SMB. And, should I tell him about the Warp Zones? That may be too cruel to keep that from him.

This year, the year when I probably shouldn’t do it and the year I definitely don’t have the time, I’m going to participate in the Extra Life charity gaming marathon. And I’m super, super excited about it.

Since it’s my first year to do it, my goal is somewhat small, $200, but I would love it if I could raise close to $500. I’d also love it if I could raise enough and have enough fun to do this every year.

So yes, this is a post begging for donations from my esteemed SGR audience.

I plan to have a giveaway for a strategy guide releasing around that time frame for a random SGR donor. At this time, I don’t know what it will be, because I know everyone’s tastes will be different. I hope to have a pick one of three contest. The winner definitely won’t be who donates the most, so don’t worry about that. It’s all about giving something at all. Definitely stayed tuned to see which guides could be up for grabs as a reward for donating. To enter this contest, leave a little note about SGR in your donation comments.

In addition, I will have a vote up and running in October for everyone to pick which games I’ll be playing during this marathon. I’m going to use this time to work through my backlog, so there won’t be any current games or games I’m working on for guide review. There is also discussion to Skype me into a live video feed that the EvilCast podcast team is sponsoring for their marathon.

This whole thing sounds like it will be a blast, even though I’m going to do my 25 hours over 2 days time (I am realistic about what I can do). I hope to see a few of you donate something, no matter how small it is!

Thanks for your support!

As of today, I am two weeks away from my due date. Therefore, certain things need to be taken care of and planned now, as technically, Thing 2 could make his arrival any minute now, even while I’m typing this. Car seat has to be installed, the nursery has to be finished (this is almost done), and of course, I need to have my hospital bag packed and pretty much ready to go at a moment’s notice.

My hospital bag this time around has experience on its side. I now know what I’m allowed to bring into the delivery room, what I will definitely need post-delivery, and of course, what is absolutely useless to me during both time periods. One thing I have not decided upon yet is which game system to bring with me–Vita or 3DS.

Last time, I had 6 hours in between the glorious time the epidural was administered and when it was time for the actual delivery. We filled it with watching the History channel, as there was a fantastic 8-hour special that day on the Revolutionary War (that the delivery team TURNED OFF during the last 30 minutes. I’m still not over that). I might be able to entertain myself this week with Shark Week, if I do indeed have him this week, but I can’t count on TV for all possible scenarios. It’s up to a handheld, something I did not pack last time.

I originally thought I would bring my 3DS to help with the lull that will surely take place after the epidural. I have two games on there that are meant to play during lulls–Final Fantasy Theatrhythm and Animal Crossing: New Leaf. Then again, I may pick up Dragon’s Crown for the Vita today, and if it’s the delightful hack-n-slash greatness it seems to be, that will be far more fun than either Theatrhythm or ACNL, the latter of which I’m getting slightly bored of lately.

Even if I don’t get or don’t like Dragon’s Crown, I have the Vita packed full of Final Fantasy games, all of which I mean to finish or rage quit one day.

I’m definitely not taking both, since I’m already bringing chargers for my phone and Nook and I don’t want to laden down my bag with two more I’ll have to keep track of. I have a feeling it’s going to come down to whichever handheld I’m playing at that moment, as that will be the one I toss into the bag as soon as I realize these contractions are finally not false labor. I’m getting a little sick of the false labor from the past week.