We're a happy (gaming) family

The Philadelphia Inquirer has a nice story up on parents who play video games with their kids. (Hat tip: Slashdot.) It's pretty much anecdotal, though it's pegged to a recent Entertainment Software Association study, but still good to see.

I have a feeling that we're going to see a trend of more positive game stories like this. The "video games are evil" story is pretty much played out -- the many irresponsible stories still being produced notwithstanding. A new generation of newspaper video game writers who are also gamers scoff at that sort of nonsense (notice those two examples of bad stories are from TV "news"). Books like Everything Bad Is Good for You have gotten a lot of press.

Most importantly, game companies are allowing the conversation to move on. Every game like Nintendogs, Guitar Hero, Shadow of the Colossus, DDR, the Sims, even World of Warcraft gives lie to the stereotype. Every 8-year-old girl who picks up a DS shows people that the fearmongering is baseless.

And someday soon somebody will write a story about how other than Grand Theft Auto, the "controversial" games are so bad that nobody even plays them.