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Raising your kids right ;)


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Last week my daughter (16) asked me what I was doing on the weekend. I told her the usual house/yard work and more pinball restore chores.

 

She asked me if I could take her to an arcade along with her best friend who had never been to a "real" arcade before.

 

I of course jumped at the chance. She'd been a little down of late and year 12 was also smashing her so a day out was just the thing. Mum stayed home studying whilst I had a day out with the girls.

 

She suggested Netherworld. I suggested a round trip starting at Pincadia which she had not heard of and finishing at Netherworld. I was considering 1Up Arcade on the way home but it was late by then and her friend was going out to dinner.

 

Now like a lot of you guys my kids were spoiled for choice in gaming having arcade machine at home but my daughter lost interest in classic arcade games a few years ago. We used to play a lot of Gauntlet together but alas no more.

 

So I raided my change tins for dollar coins, got in the car, picked her friend up and off we went. Lucked out and found parking at Pincadia across the road, walked in and the girls were amazed. I handed each a handful of dollar coins, showed them what they needed to do and they were off. They started with The Simpsons and worked their way around upstairs. Took them downstairs where they had a lot of fun on that jetski game playing against each other but ended up not spending much time there.

 

Back upstairs they went to play some more pinball whilst I worked on highscores for Pacman and Galaga. I also ended up playing a fair bit of pinball, (I couldn't seem to stop getting multiball no matter what I played). I played the lovely example of Asteroids Deluxe from I think @Johns-Arcade upstairs. Sadly the Ice Cold Beer was out of action. The girls had such a good time chatting excitedly about the mini-games they'd "discovered" in each of the games they'd played. They loved Lord of the Rings and The Walking Dead.

 

I asked them if they wanted lunch there but declined after finishing a giant coffee frappe each ;) So after 2 hours there it was off to Netherworld. I'd booked parking online around the corner for $9.00 so a walk around the block and in we go. Luck was with us as we got there around 12:30 and grabbed what I think is the first ever vacant table I've seen there. We ordered lunch which was delicious and then off into the arcade. Another handful of dollar coins for each and in we went. Again the girls gravitated exclusively to the pinball machines except for a stint on The Simpsons arcade. I had a go at Total Annihilation? and Dialled in. I didn't find either very appealing but to each their own. Later on I found them playing the Battleship board game at another table. I played Moon Patrol next to them. Whilst I was playing that they finished Battleship and popped some coins into the beautiful Pong cab that @Kaizen built. The giggles and exclamations as they fought it out on that were a joy to hear. I wish I had gotten a photo but I was busy on the second course round of Moon Patrol ;)

 

Later on as I'd finished a game of Ms Pacman I decided to see if I could find them. Found them lined up at the bar to buy soft drinks LOL!.

 

I said what are you doing, to which my daughter huffily replied "getting pushed in on" pointing to the guy getting served in front of them

 

I said girls this is a bar and you can't order drinks yourselves and grabbed them some drinks.

 

We finished with the girls each getting a $10.00 t-shirt special on the way out to which they were very excited.

 

Have to say it was a fantastic day out and they both had a ball excitedly talking about going to both places when they were 18.

 

They both preferred Pincadia's site but loved the food at Netherworld. I like both but they DO have different asthetics. Something to note is that my first visit to Pincadia I was pretty scathing on their arcade machines. They HAVE improved a LOT but there is still work to do there. The pinball machines on the other hand were immaculate except that both Orbit and Austin Powers were down =(

 

I think I've created a monster though as my daughter has declared that pinball is awesome and way more fun that arcade games. She also turned her nose up at my digital minipin declaring it "not real and no where near as much fun as the real thing". :rolleyes

 

When I was testing my A-Go-Go she came rushing out of her room to see if she could play it.

 

She is also a little miffed I'm not taking her to @illawarra_steelers meet this weekend LOL!

 

Brad

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That is so awesome, nice job mate would have been a real day out, I'm hoping both my kids will follow my gaming footsteps, I plan on starting them from early consoles and arcades and working their way up. I should hopefully have more of an arcade collection by the time they get old enough to play if not I sure hope there are still arcades to check out :) Edited by -Slayer-
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My son is still too young to take into a real arcade (he's 3), but he loves to stand on a stool and play pinball with me. He bashes the flipper buttons and is now starting to understand that you try to keep the ball in play using the flippers. When it drains, he says, 'OH NO' and gets angry at the machine, so I guess I am teaching him something :)

 

I have plans in Term 2 to take my Home Class on an outing to an arcade on the weekend. I was thinking of hitting up one of the Sunday morning Little Monsters events at Netherworld or going to 1UP. The kids, and many of their parents are really keen to get along.

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Agreed, What an AWESOME Story! @Brad You have given me hope that my 4 year old will get back into it one day and we can share experiences like that together :) (she went off them the day METALLICA arrived and the snake threw up at the end of the game ?!?... went screaming from the room. Kid are funny ay!)
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Great story Brad. You are lucky. My 12 yo son has zero interest even though he's had the chance to play and own about 30 top titles now.

That's part of the reason I've scaled down.

But I don't want to push it on him...he is happy with his sport and electronic gaming... all good.

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Thanks guys, yes I'm pretty lucky and it was an awesome day. I've always gamed with my kids but they go through cycles.

 

Incidentally apparently "multi-ball is stressful" :lol

 

I said do what I do, don't try and get "shots" just concentrate on keeping every ball away from the centre drain and everything else will look after itself.

 

Brad

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Great post @Brad

 

It's great that you can share your love of gaming with daughter.

 

I have played games with my kids (now two young adults and one mid teen) from when they were toddlers sitting on my lap. We have played games from old PC CDs, consoles, handhelds, latest gen consoles to pinball and my arcade games and race simulator.

 

This time spent together is more than just gaming, it is a time when they let their guard down a bit and I connect with them more about their everyday lives as well.

 

Some games are highly competitive, some are just for fun but they are all good times and we are creating good memories.

 

I enjoyed reading your story and hope you get a lot more time gaming with your daughter.

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