Cheating

My daughter's friend has this "thing" called Action Replay, which you can attach to your Nintendo DS and it enables the player to use "cheats" of various types on any game you play. If you have Action Replay, you are guaranteed to win any game you play because of the huge advantages it gives you.

I asked each of my kids what they felt about this and, if given the chance, would they obtain one of these gadgets.

Girl: "I wouldn't take it because I like just playing it without all the cheats. It's a better experience if you don't already know how to beat the game."

Boy: "I say no because if you already complete it, you don't need it. Would you want to cheat the game? You don't want to cheat the game, even if you complete it."

I'm relieved to hear this, because I think part of the game-playing experience is not winning right away. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again - right? Now, my own kids have become frustrated with getting stuck at certain parts of their game, but what they do is turn to YouTube to check out videos that give tips on how to overcome obstacles. There's no shame in that, especially since my husband did that very thing to figure out how to upload Victini as a gift Pokemon on their DSs.