So I have now done the unthinkable (ok, not really if you know me) and given Pea my basically new 3DS and bought a 3DS XL for myself so that I could play Animal Crossing–for purely research purposes of course. So, it started with Luigi’s Mansion. Pea is a fan of Mario and Luigi and has been since she was about 2. Mario and Luigi died a lot then, and honestly they still do, but Pea like the games anyway. When she saw Luigi’s Mansion and learned that she couldn’t play it on her current DS she was a little disappointed but she was willing to deal with just playing on mine alongside me. Actually she just stands in front of me and between my arms while I sit and play and it still works ok as long as I look around all of the hair. 🙂
And then it happened….Animal Crossing: New Leaf. We tried to do the lap co-op thing, but we kept bumping heads….figuratively not literally. She kept designing and buying dresses for me in game and I wasn’t having it. She got pissed that I changed back into pants and shirts every time she left. She kept running off my bugs, pulling up all of my flowers, and digging holes every where! She crossed all kinds of gaming lines. It meant only one thing….she needed her own copy. Guess what little missy is getting for her birthday tomorrow.
While she plays with the social features of the 3DS I am getting some kind of sick pleasure as she complains that everyone she Street Passes is playing Animal Crossing and she can’t. Boy, I do love surprises. But this one may come back to bite me in the ass…
Since she has no current video game obsession I got the question that I have been dreading in my soul as I put her to bed the other night and turned on the orchestral score to Ni No Kuni that she has been listening to every night for the last million months. It went another like this (cue Wayne’s World dream sequence)
Pea: Mama?
Me: Yes, Pea.
Pea: I really miss the stories in Ni No Kuni (damn, you Level5 for your crappy post-completion play)
Me: Ummm Hmmmmm
Pea: Don’t you?
Me: Not as much as you, darling.
Pea: Mama?
Me: Yes, Pea.
Pea: Can we play Ni No Kuni again from the beginning?
Me: *Swooning as the world grows dim*
Me: (recovering) Do you remember how long it took to play Ni No Kuni the first time? (That would be 100+ hours!)
Pea: Yes! (Raises little first in the air as if holding a wand and singing) “Da Da Dum”
Me: Ok, sweetie. We can play again.
Pea: Yay!!!! Can we start tomorrow?
Somebody kill me now.
8 thoughts on “Why Did the Animal Cross the Road?: Gaming With Your Kids”
Marcella and I have been playing the crop out of New Leaf. She has started a lemonade stand (irl) to try and earn money for her own 3DS. She’s almost eight, and is more obsessed with this game than any other game she’s played. Luckily for me, she knows not to mess my stuff up or she’ll get kicked out of the city. I am the mayor, after all.
I just call it “tough love”. I did buy her a bunch of stuff that she will love in my town and in other folks’ towns to get her started though. We should exchange friend codes Jon!
New information on Pokemon X and Y and all the buzz I’ve heard regarding New Leaf has made me really want a 3DS. But why must it cost so much and is it really worth purchasing if I’m mainly just interested in one or two games…? Curse you Nintendo!
I’d check out Fire Emblem as well if your into that kind of tactical rpg.
Yeah, this was pretty terrible. I kept thinking that we’d find out more about the White Witch and that Shadar would turn out to be double-crossing her and the council to get some sort of super-power and take over once and for all. I thought the Tale of Wonder about the boy who wanted the power of the gods was an allusion to Shadar, and foreshadowing to his character or what he had done. Instead we defeat Shadar, find out everything about him, find out everything about Oliver, and then literally while we’re having a victory party we’re told to beat the White Witch. For reasons. Because she wants to end the world with manna. For reasons. The main Shadar plot was kind of weak and badly told, but once they went beyond that it fell apart completely.
lol Goodness your going to start having nightmares about Ni No Kuni.
I streetpassed you the other day! I liked the theme of your house, and it worked out great because I was able to order that cool capsule machine you had. ^^
Glad that you found your way here. I hope that you hang out for a while!