Booby Prize
The makers of Xbox are holding a Dad of the Year essay contest:
"Do you know a terrific gaming Dad? Here's your chance to show him some Father's Day love and take a shot at winning an awesome prize for yourself. Here's how it works.
Write an original essay about a father (or male legal guardian) and gaming. Do you know a Dad who does a great job balancing gaming and fatherhood? Is he known for his patience with n00bs or his mad fragging skills? Does he play games with his kids? Is he raising his gamer offspring to play fair and follow the rules?
Your essay should be at least 250 words, but no more than 500 words, and must be received by 11:59 P.M. Pacific Time, June 9, 2007..."
This got me thinking about what some of their entries might look like:
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To: Xbox Dudes
From: RadGamr4Life
Dear Xbox,
I totally want to nominate my pops for this kickin prize, b-cause he rawks! Check it - just last night, I was trying to get some boring homework done for my stupid Shakespeare class, and pops was in total azz-kicking mode on some Alien vs Predator, and I was like, Dad, hook me up on my homework - who was that chick Romeo was gettin it with, and Pops was like, don't bother me, cuz I'm all up in some level ten, and then I was like, c'mon Dad, I'm dyin on this homework, and Pops was all, c'mon over and get in on this action, and I was all, are you sure? And Pops was like, dude, nobody needs Shakespeare to get a job - I've had dozens and I never read no Shakespeare. So tell your teacher to bite it. I was all, no way! And Pops was all, Yes way! It was totally awesome. So then we busted out some double-hammer action on the Aliens and Predators and stuff, and it was you know, a total bonding time. No joke Xbox, my pops rulz!
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To: Xbox
From: 6thGradeVidBlaster
Dear Xbox,
My dad is so great. He plays Xbox every night, and he lets me sit and watch as long as I'm quiet. He lets me play too, when I get home from school and before he gets home from work. Then I sit on the couch and do my homework and watch him play. Once, I was going to get online and learn some cheats for Halo 2, but dad said I shouldn't cheat, that the only right way to get good at Xbox is to play it lots and lots. I'm glad I have my dad to teach me right from wrong. He should really win this prize, because he loves Xbox more than any other dads I know. Nobody works as hard at getting good at gaming as my dad. He is the best dad in the world, and one day I will be just like him.
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Not to belittle every father who plays with an Xbox from time to time.
Actually, yeah, to do that.
Update: Alert reader Lori MacKean sent me this pertinent video clip.
Posted by Woodlief on June 07, 2007 at 09:31 AM
Well, you see, there I don't agree with you. It is perfectly possible for a man to be a great dad and also a gamer. My husband is such a man. He is forever there for his kids. He plays with them, drills them on homework, takes them along to do "manly" things such as fixing things around the house, spends countless hours running after them outside and wrestling on the carpet. He is an educated man who loves to read, discuss current politics and history, watch a little football, go to the range once in a while... and to play video games. He works for a video game company as a matter of fact. At night, when the kids are asleep and we both need to decompress from having been parents to 6 kids, he plays video games. How does this make his a bad father? It doesn't make him a bad husband either. The way we see it, he works hard all day to provide for our family of 8, he darn well deserves to spend some time after hours doing whatever he wants to. That only helps him be a better father during the kids' awake time because he's available to them then. And yes, he plays video games with the kids when they want him to. In our house we exchange reading time for video game time. Wanna play video games? You earn 1 min of gaming for every minute of reading. All our kids are reading at well-above grade level (they're OK on video games).