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Children nowadays are all for the newer generation games. However: these consoles and games are getting more and more expensive. The Playstation 3s' games are expected to go over £40/$60. Can we pay this type of price for our children's entertainment, or re-introduce them to classic or pre-era gaming?

The Playstation 3 and the Nintendo Wii are set to launch soon and the XBOX360, Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP have already hit shops around the world. The games and consoles are at very high prices. Children will stop at nothing to try to get you to purchase these consoles. Why? Based on the typical 6-15 aged average kid, graphics and the look of the console.

No doubt, the consoles and the graphics do look extremely impressive. I've seen demonstrations of these next-gen consoles around the Internet, and my friend owns an XBOX360. But are you willing to dish out the dosh to purchase these consoles, and not to mention frequently having to get them more games. When they will cost alot too.

Or.

If you really want to save your money, and still give them the enjoyment they deserve. Introduce them to classic gaming. I'm not saying go back to the PONG and Magnavox Odyssey age, as they will get bored to quickly, but go back to around the 8 or 16bit era, and show them that even sacrificing the graphics, these games are really fun and addictive. The hard part is to get them to pick the controller up and play. As they might be a bit "But the graphics are rubbish" or "It doesn't look very fun". A Super Nintendo, Sega Mega-Drive (Genesis in the USA) and a Neo Geo might be perfect. Games on them will be very tasteful for them.

If you don't have any "retro" consoles, you can buy some cheaply using eBay or go into any secondhand cash for item shop and you're bound to find a console and some games. For cheap prices. This means that you don't have to spend about £40 on just 1 next-generation game and can probably purchase 6 or more classic games. And still have change.

I'm not saying to scrap their next-gen consoles, maybe you could get them 1 or a couple of games at Christmas or on their birthday. But it will save you a whole lot of money and they may just enjoy classics such as:

• Super Mario (Bros 1, 2 and 3, World and Yoshi's Island)
• Mario Kart
• Kirby (Adventure and Superstar are great especially for yonger children)
• Metroid (Metroid and Super Metroid are good towards older children and teenagers)

If you're new to this kind of thing, which I don't thing you are if your a parent or an adult who has lived during the 80's to experience the golden era, why don't you join in? Or if you're experienced, teach your kinds a thing or two. ;-) Have a think about it. I plan on having my kids grow up with a Sega Mega-Drive (Genesis) and a Nintendo. Mainly to keep the retro gaming legacy alive. Thanks for reading!

Oliver Earl
- Webmaster of Classicville.co.nr
Me <3 classic gaming>
Please support me and visit my website!
http://www.classicville.co.nr

AP - When the Washington Nationals played their first-ever baseball game in the nation's capital in April 2005, two congressmen who oversaw mortgage giant Freddie Mac had choice seats - courtesy of the very company they were supposed to be keeping an eye on.

If you are shortly going to be going to hospital to have an operation, it might not necessarily be the most comforting thing to hear that your surgeon, in whose hands lies your life, has had a good deal of training playing computer games.

Yet, recent studies have actually shown that the vast majority of surgeons who do regularly play computer games actually have a much better success rate and accuracy rating than their colleagues who play games either very rarely or not at all. This might seem strange, but there are a number of statistics to back up this claim, and a number of reasons why this trend may be the case.

The study was carried out at a medical centre in New York recently, and they found that those surgeons who, on average, play three hours video gaming per week managed to work almost thirty percent faster than those who did little or no gaming, and were over forty per cent more successful in operations. The tests were carried out on simulated operations, using virtual reality and computer controlled equipment, which is in many ways very much the way some operations are now carried out.

With more and more operations requiring finer accuracy and greater precision, human hands and clumsy tools are not always able to achieve the standards required. Therefore, computers are used to carry out the surgery, controlled directly by the surgeon. Shakes, tremors and inaccurate movement can be ignored by the computer, and where the surgeon moves his hand a long distance, the computer reduces this proportionally, so that very fine work can be carried out by the surgeon which would not be possible using the hands directly.

It may well be that this type of surgery is closer to playing a computer game, by interacting through a computer, than the traditional surgery normally carried out, that does not involve a computer in any form other than to monitor life signs. For this reason, the familiarity with using a computer, including visual interpretation, control and understanding, could mean that surgeons should be playing computer games more often in order to improve their skills.

Certainly no one would complain if surgeons were bought a computer game for them to play for three hours a week, if it meant that overall surgical operations were carried out nearly thirty percent faster and with a greater degree of accuracy, exceeding forty percent gain.

This study did focus on one very specific kind of surgery, but it does pose a number of interesting possibilities. With computers increasingly becoming tools which are used in every day life, to what extent do skills gained either directly or indirectly through playing computer or video games transfer to these real life skills, providing a better training and improved performance overall?

Taking this ideas further, should all students in school be provided with three hours of dedicated playing time per week in order to speed up their work success rate and improve their grades? It is unlikely to happen, but the theory at least does pose a number of interesting points. Certainly it is unlikely that the idea would be discouraged by the students concerned.

Victor Epand is an expert consultant about kids toys, dolls, and video games. You will find the best marketplace for kids toys, dolls, and used video games at these sites for toys and games, dolls.

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