So my extended family visited a bit this week for Spring Break. I got to see my Grandma and Great Aunt and a host of 1st and 2nd cousins. Three of them were little kids ages 2,4, and 6. And as the only teacher in the vicinity, I was immediately given the job of babysitter. It wasn't too bad, all things considered. When I finally ran out of energy, I brought out my 3DS (finally got it back!) and got them to take 3D pictures of everything and doodle on the pictures. Just so you know: DS is a better babysitter than TV.
Eventually, the oldest boy Jackson wanted to try some games and the only thing I had with me was FE13. I had no idea if this was the kinda game he'd like but he wanted to play it, so I began the task of teaching a 6-year-old how to play Fire Emblem. He loved making his own avatar (named Jackson, of course) and I am convinced he would have thrown the whole thing down in boredom if he didn't have the avatar character in there. It was just a huge selling point to him. He wasn't a great reader yet (though he could read some), so he skipped all the tutorials and most of the story he just mashed through, so I gave him the cliff's notes versions as he went. He had a little trouble maneuvering characters around at first, and the concept of "select button" and "cancel button" for navigating menus seemed alien to him, but he picked it up quickly enough.
Trying to explain the finer details of weapon triangle and ranged attacks was pretty much a lost cause, but he was pretty content just to move Chrom and "Jackson" around slaughtering everything on Normal/Casual. I could see his little face light up with strategic possibilities when he got Lissa and suddenly there was a unit who had this really weird ability to make good units healthy again! I think that was the moment he was hooked, when he realized he was going to be recruiting all these team members with different skills and abilities.
I felt so accomplished just showing him how the game worked and then him playing four maps without pausing for air until his sister demanded a turn to take more 3D pictures. It was pretty awesome. Today, I have witnessed the birth a new gamer. Today is a good day.
