How Video Games Can Foster Childhood Magic

There’s quite a bit of connectivity between family and technology, and seeing as our kids are being raised in a digital world, it’s no wonder you’re introducing technology and all its wonders and dangers to them at a young age. But there’s some tech out there that can really help to foster the same sense of childhood magic you once had, and looking to the video game world to help you out might just be the best bet. So here’s a couple of reasons booting up a console and sitting down as a family to play is a great idea.

How many arcades out there still have these old school games? Why not bring these systems home?

Kids Can Learn In Easy Ways

Video games made for kids are made with the child mindset in mind. After all, you’ve got to know your audience in order to sell your game, and you’re going to want to be sure that kids are going to love whatever disc they boot up in their console. And that means all kinds of hard to teach and hard to learn themes are going to be present in these games, ready packaged in bite size pieces and easy to understand actions the player character can perform.

Maybe your child has trouble sharing – see if you can find them a video game that’ll help them to learn why this is a good thing. Maybe your child has issues with keeping clean and tidy; once again, there’s plenty of games out there that can make this kind of boring chore a lot of fun. And seeing as video games are a lot more interactive than simple TV programs or films, there’s a much better chance the behavior will settle into your child’s head. Isn’t that just a bit magic?

Via The Introduction of Virtual Reality

Virtual reality is something we’ve all heard about, and it’s something we’re all curious about. A VR headset, a fee cables to plug in here and there, a pair of special controllers, and you’re all ready to delve deeper into a video game, film, or TV program than you’ve ever been able to before. That’s an exciting idea to anyone who read about it!

But especially kids. Hearing that they can transported out of this boring world with school and homework, into another where they’re the hero of the universe, is going to be some welcome news. Being able to try out a would-be Real New World is a great way to tingle their imaginations, and get them more involved with their creative side, and hopefully give them a little bit more inspiration along the way. Kids love to be involved in important activities anyway, and this is a safe and fun way to foster that interaction.

Video games can be great for kids, as long as you know what they’re playing, how long for, and when to disconnect them from a virtual world. It’s up to you to foster their childhood magic!

This post is a collaborative effort by St. Louis Dad.

How To Make Your Video Game Obsession More Affordable

Anybody that’s a video game enthusiast will tell you it’s an expensive hobby. The average price of a new release on consoles is about $60. With so many great new games coming out, it’s easy to end up with a pretty sad looking bank balance. When you’re paying that much, you’re always taking a risk because you might end up spending a lot of money on a game that you don’t really like that much and don’t get much play time out of. If you’re lucky enough to be able to spend $60 on a game without worrying about it, you can buy all of the games you like. But most people aren’t that lucky and can’t afford to keep up with all of the latest releases. You can always hold off and just carry on with the games that you’ve already got but once you’ve finished them all and you’re bored with them, what do you do?

The good news is, you don’t have to spend loads of money on buying brand new games every time, there are plenty of other ways to enjoy video games without emptying your bank account every month. These are just some of the easiest ways to make your video game obsession more affordable.

Play Through Old Games Again

You’ve probably got a load of old games that you haven’t touched for ages because you’ve completed them already and you don’t think that there’s anything else to do with them. But if you enjoyed them the first time around, why not play through them again? Most games these days have plenty of extras like things to collect or side missions to complete. If you’ve played through the main story of a game but you haven’t completed all of the extras, why not pick it back up and see whether you can get to 100 percent completion?

You could also play through old games on a harder difficulty setting. A lot of games these days are slightly different and you’ll have a new challenge playing through it on a harder setting than you did the first time. It’s also worth looking at any games that let the player make choices which affect the storyline and give you different endings. They essentially give you a bunch of different versions of the same game so if you’ve only played through once, there is still plenty more to get out of them. There’s no point spending loads of money on new games if there is still playability in the ones you have already.

Free Games

The big blockbuster games come with a hefty price tag but there are plenty of places that you can get games for free. If you’re playing on an Xbox or Playstation, you get a bunch of free games every month included with your online subscription. Not all of them are great but there should be at least one or two that you enjoy and when you’re getting new ones every single month, you’ve probably got more free games than you can handle. There are also a lot of games that are free to play all of the time so it’s worth looking at the store and seeing what you can find. You’d be surprised how good some of the free games are.

Downloading games on your phone is another great way to get loads of free games which will keep you entertained for hours. They’re not going to be as in-depth as the games you’re playing on console or PC but the technology on phones is always improving and there are still some great games you can get for free. 

Sales

If you’re playing on a PC and you’re downloading games from Steam or another similar marketplace, there’s no need to pay full price for any games. They’re always having sales on those platforms and the games on there are incredibly cheap. If there’s a game that you want, don’t buy it as soon as it comes out. Wait a few months and it’ll probably go on sale at some point and you can get it for half the price. You can also find game bundles online where you’ll get a collection of games for next to nothing.

As well as looking for sales, you should keep an eye out for discount codes. You can often find discount codes for the online stores that will give you a bit of money off games. It’s not usually that much (around 10% most of the time) but if you combine that with the sales, you can make some pretty big savings.

Get Paid To Play

There are quite a few different ways that you can get paid to play games and then you can use that money to buy more new titles. You could try playing games where you can win money; for example, if you find a trusted online casino and play a few games, you might be able to win enough to buy some more new games. Just remember to be sensible and don’t end up spending too much money. Esports is another way that you can win money just by playing games but there is a lot of stiff competition out there so you’ve got to be good. If there is a game that you play a lot and you think that you might be in with a chance, try looking for local teams and see whether there are any competitions you could enter. The prize money is pretty big in most competitions and you never know, you might just be good enough to get first place. You can also earn money by streaming on sites like Twitch and asking for donations but again, there’s a lot of competition so you’ll have to spend some time building a good fan base before you start making any real money.

Second Hand Games

This is probably one of the easiest ways to save money on video games. If you buy a game brand new when it’s first released, it’s going to cost you about $60. But the price of games drops pretty quickly so if you just wait a month or two, you’ll be able to pick up a second hand copy for a lot less.

Your video game hobby can easily be expensive but it doesn’t have to be if you find games in other places rather than buying them brand new every time.

This post is a collaborative effort by St. Louis Dad.

Embracing Being Online: 5 Places Technology Benefits Your Family

Most parents around the world feel like their children spend a lot of time playing with tablets, smartphones and computers. There just isn’t any way of escaping the fact that technology now plays a part in everyday life for a family. The impact on the family isn’t necessarily a bad thing, because there are so many ways that technology enhances our lives.

The internet and the devices that you can use it on have given families a way to game together, play together and learn together in a way that hasn’t been possible before. Families are communicating better due to the upgrades in technology and are able to stay in touch no matter where they are in the world. Children are including their parents in games such as https://www.finalfantasyxvapp.com/ and getting them up to speed in the newest games online. There are so many advances that technology has brought to families everywhere, and here are where you can find some of those advances in your home:

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Work. Families are able to connect better when parents have the choice to work from home. The flexibility that is on offer for families because of being able to work from home means that parents are missing out on school events less and less. Remote connections make it easier to stay with family instead of heading to the office every day. When work hours are erratic, it’s better to know that you can still be in touch with your children and partner no matter where you are.

Education. One of the best ways to stay close to your kids is to learn together. Whether you are using a device to teach your young ones to read, or you want to show your kids the various places around the world and their history, technology can let you do that. Digital libraries, maps, encyclopaedias online – they’re all available to be used from the handheld device in your hand.

Development. You may not like seeing your kids using tablets all the time, but video games can teach them problem solving and dexterity. E-books can help them to learn about the world around them in an interactive way. Blogs and vlogs can help them to develop social skills and learn to listen to others.

Gaming. Not only do you get a chance to bond as a family and learn to connect together, gaming can help your children learn to focus, to pay attention to detail. It can also inspire them to be involved in computing and want to learn coding for later in life. Maybe they see a future career in the gaming industry.

Entertainment. Technology gives us instant access to movies, TV shows and music on demand. Online apps like Netflix that you connect to your television can really help those Saturday movie nights become so much better than ever before.

Technology has a place in family life, so don’t forget to include it as part of your regular family life. Make it normal and fun!

This post is a collaborative effort by St. Louis Dad.

3 Ways You Can Actually Make Money From Playing Games

Parents are often telling their kids how much a waste of time video games are. Even though attitudes are changing and they’re becoming more mainstream, people still don’t always consider it a worthwhile way of spending time. After all, it’s not a skill that you can use in later life to make money, or is it? The idea of earning money from playing games isn’t just resigned to the dreams of teenagers, it’s actually a reality. Here are just some of the ways that you can make money from playing video games.

Live Streaming

Ten years ago, if you’d told people that there would be people all over the world logging on to a site to watch other people play video games, they’d say you were mad. But now that’s a reality and there is a lot of money to be made from it. There are live streamers on Youtube and Twitch that are making literally millions, just because people love to watch them play games. If you can build a big enough following, you’ll be able to monetize it with adverts on your videos. On sites like Twitch, a dedicated video game streaming service, you can also take donations from your fans. If you create a loyal fanbase, you’d be surprised how much money you can make from donations. If you’re going to try your hand at streaming, you’ll need a few things. Firstly, a good internet connection; people aren’t going to watch for long. You need something to set you apart from the rest of the streamers out there as well, otherwise you won’t get many followers. It also helps to have tools like YeetDL available to help download your Twitch videos so you can upload them to other services like YouTube. It takes a while to build your popularity but even if you don’t make it big, you can make a decent amount of money every month just from playing games.

Casino Games

Winning money is another great way to get video games to pay. There are all sorts of games that you can play for money online, casino games are a great one. You can find a great online casino at livedealer.org where you can play roulette, blackjack or poker all from the comfort of your own home. If you’re good, you can make a little money while you play. Just remember that there are a lot of risks involved and you should limit your playing.

Esports

Esports is one of the fastest growing sports in the world right now with people winning millions in prizes at video game competitions. Chances are, you’re probably not good enough to get into the big competitions that are going to make you mega rich but that doesn’t mean you can’t earn a bit of money from esports. There are plenty of smaller competitions which still offer decent prize money. The best way to get into it is to first identify what games you’re best at (usually just the ones you play the most of). Have a look online and see if you can find any teams to join, there should be plenty of new ones popping up as the popularity of the sport continues to skyrocket.

Honorable mention: Buying and selling games

While it may not exactly count as making money by playing games, there is a growing collector’s market that is seeing the value of many older and rarer games skyrocket as of late. Being able to find a good deal, such as with the help of a video game price guide, and selling when the value rises is a legitimate strategy for making some extra money, nowadays. The collector’s market is ever-changing, so it’s a good idea to keep an eye on its movements so that you know when to strike.

You’re probably not going to make millions from playing video games but you can definitely earn a little bit extra on the side.

This post is a collaborative effort by St. Louis Dad.