Steam for kids?

This was a question that came up in a meeting.

We're providing some CULV-class machines to a small bunch of kids to use. It will be their personal machine, for use in schoolwork as well as everything else. The location is a 2.5-world country (for want of a better word) with limited Internet access for most through net cafes - i.e. most families on a normal income track would not be able to afford even a netbook.

Someone mentioned setting up Steam accounts for the kids to play some games on. I'm not sure about this, but I can see the appeal of it.

The choice of games we'll gift will obviously be vetted - we're obviously not talking about COD etc, but more strategy / etc games.

Since many of you who hang out here are students and the kids are not far from your ages, I wanted to see what you thought about it.

 

Why not? I know Steam has discounts and stuff for cybercafes, you might be able to get in on that.

Anyway, just block the domain store.steampowered.com on these netbooks so the kids can't go buying games on their own, and I don't see what can go wrong.

 

there are plenty of kids games on steam, so i don't see why not.

 

How hassle-free is Steam's offline mode? I've had trouble with it in the past, but that may have been fixed, and it may be an issue you want to consider in a limited-internet-access situation.

 

Here's what my brain says:

Brain Part A:
Kids? Games? You want them to fail their exams?

Brain Part B:
Now now brain part A, you know that it really depends on how disciplined a student is. If he has no discipline, it doesn't matter whether games are in the picture, he's going to fail anyway.

Brain Part C (with a dreamy, faraway look in his eyes):
Games are a portal to our dreams. Through games, we get inspired to reach for the stars (albeit to fight with disgusting aliens, First-Person style). Through games, we get to dream the impossible, and we can say to ourselves, "Yes! We can do it! My ambition henceforth is to become an astronaut/space-creature hunter!".

Brain Part D (pointing at Brain Part C and laughing hysterically):
You moron, they've only got internet access via their cafes, probably none at home. How well do you think they can dream in that environment?

 

If they are surrounded by parents, and teachers who take interest in what they do and their progress, this should not be a problem. Kids who seem to let go, seems to be related to kids who have been left to their own devices.

It's no wonder that a Kid becomes weird, or a lazy bum, if they are raised more by a TV and internet, than their parents.



I think, it's a great idea.


There would have to be created individual accounts for every single computer. You could use a numbering system. user1, user2 and all have them share a common password - I think to change the password, someone would have to know the old one.
Make sure, no kids know the password.
Put quick-icons on the desktop the games on the machine, make Steam run in the background on start-up. You could even "hide" it, if you dont want kids toying with it.

 

Well, there are plenty of puzzle games that can be bought through Steam.
For example games like Braid, World of Goo are "non violent" games compared to CSS or CoD and worth the money.
Its not like gaming has ruined my life yet, thankfully.

 

You've grasped the issue at hand the best.

It's Part B and C we're debating.

The technical issues I'm not bothered with at this point in time. If we decide to do this, then I'll look at the issues with Offline mode and how it'll work - or whether we just buy retail games. And since even their parents don't have credit cards, obviously further Steam purchases are moot.

The question is, should we give them games? Part B against C. I wanted the teen (and in fact, any other here) take on it.

These kids are generally from standard families in their neck of the woods - i.e. from our point of view quite desperately poor, but in terms of their immediate neighbourhoods they'll be no different from most others. The kids however will be among the brightest.

 

if you limit them to certain games, ones that can help them improve then i dont see why it would be a problem BUT giving them games like shooters and such wouldnt really be that beneficial educational wise so it really depends on the games that they would be allowed to play

 

FWIW, Offline mode has never given me any trouble.

 

This could be fixed by making it so that they only have access to the games as long as there grade/work doesnt slip - the better they do the more they are allowed to use the games on steam and works both ways if there work decreases then they are not allowed to use steam for games or anything

 

I'm thinking perhaps games, as a type of application, may be tasked with fulfilling more than just one objective. I think that the overall goal is to expose the kids to the world outside of their immediate environment, to condition them so that if we pluck them out from where they are and put them in, say, NYC, they will require minimal adaptation and be just as useful to society as any other New Yorker (yes I know I'm thinking S*x and the City and how useful are NYers anyway? Haha).

So perhaps the question is: do we allow games by themselves to accomplish this (answer is definitely 'no'). What role should games play?

And I will say that there are very few games that can entertain and teach well at the same time. If we talk about approximating the kinds of stuff a person in the first world country does with respect to technology, much of the useful stuff hasn't anything to do with games (unless it's about going to a real war, in which case FPS are great for training). And games don't really teach real-world stuff that well, simply because the real-world is usually monotonous and boring, and games can't be like that.

So what role should games play? I would say it should be a minor part of the technology curriculum, just as it is in the first worlders' lives. Games keeps us entertained, it keeps us going. It lets us vent our anger on imaginary creatures on screen. It lets us live alternate lives. Its role is to keep us interested, keep us motivated, not in the online life, but in our real lives.

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Another note is that I believe in that environment the parents will probably not be in control of their kids when it comes to this sort of technology. The reason is that the parents (1) don't understand and thus have a fear of the technology (2) probably want their kids to have a good life and hence let them do whatever they want 'as long as it has to do with computers'. In this situation, it is key that the parents be in constant contact with the teacher, and get regular updates and feedback. And the teacher, who needs to play the role of the parent (technology-wise as well as general subject teaching), must be a superb (and I mean *superb*) teacher. Otherwise, the double-edged sword that is technology will turn around and bite them all in their asses

 

I've been gaming on and off ever since I got a SNES way back in the day. Now I've just graduated college with a GPA of 3.6. Games are harmless entertainment if you ask me (at least that's the way I've always treated them); if someone really doesn't want to do their work, they'll find another way to waste their time if games aren't in the picture.

 

i would say its a good idea.. just make sure they're not able to buy the games.. but i wouldn't rule out giving some fps games.. in a way , they've sharpened me quite a lot and improved attention span.. yes lol... and since i've started gaming , i've had much better reflexes and really my grades have gone up.. althought there's a addiction factor in it but with limited internet FPS games should be a problem..

 

All right - let's change the tack of the question slightly.

If you think the machines should be populated with games, given what I've written so far about the kids what games would you include?

In terms of what kind of horsepower you can expect the machines to have, they will likely be 13-inch Acer Timelines with the ATI graphics option. We want to provide something that provides decent autonomy along with good all-round power and something along those lines is what we'd be shipping.

And if you don't, why?

 

I believe that the machines should be populated with non-violent, brain-developing games. Not necessarily educational games, just thought-provoking games. To address the question of discipline, perhaps place grade-based access restrictions on games and also offer non-electronic pleasures? As the students age, they can be given more and more autonomy to discipline themselves and grow as human beings.

As to what games should be on the machines, here are my suggestions:

Osmos - a relaxing Spore cell-stage-esque game, with great music. It may also get kids interested in biology...
Spore - As long as online access is restricted or just blocked, this is a great game to get kids interested in science and thinking well.
Obulis - A beautiful physics puzzle game where the object is to get spheres of different colors to their respectively colored vessel. It has great visuals and sound, and each level in the game has scenery inspired by historic locales, from Parthenon-esque levels to levels set in a Zen garden. This could get kids interested in history.
World of Goo - A cutesy physics puzzler that the younger kids would enjoy very much.
Civilization series - A great turn-based strategy game + history lesson.
Perhaps some tower defense or RTS games for older ones? These tend to have mechanical violence - robots exploding, ships crashing, etc. In this category, I'd recommend Gratuitous Space Battles.

Also, it would be interesting if the kids got a bit of autonomy with regards to their game selections. Instead of just providing each kid with every game, give them objectives (i.e. get over 90 marks on the test, help with household chores every day for a week, etc.) that reward the kid with "money" each time they are completed. This "money" could be used to unlock licenses to a game of their choice from an approved list. This would entice kids to grow as individuals and manage money in one shot.

 

just my 2 cents to this conversation.
I think you wold like to see what gbrainy has to offer. You can have it on windows too (search the main page). I know it's not a 'game' in the context you are discussing, but may be an interesting addition. Other than that, you can search most of steam indie games, looks like their developers focus more on creativity than blood spill.
To finish my comment, I want to thank you and your group for the effort.

 

Add Cogs to the list.

 

just make sure Steam doesn't save your credit card information

 

What about Defense Grid? thats a GREAT game!

 

Braid!
Its awesome.

 

Start them young on World of Warcraft.

 

How about giving them some kind of assignment in regards to games they play, like a book report or mini review. Depending on the game they could write about the game's story (characters, plot, how it was delivered etc...), gameplay, what they liked or didn't like.

I think getting kids to actually think critically about their entertainment and media in general vs just letting them go willy nilly is some of the best education you can provide for the real world. The real world is bombarded with media from every direction, teaching kids how to interpret it and be critical, as opposed to just accepting it will go very far.

As for types of games? Puzzle games and such are a fine idea but don't be too biased to that genre, storytelling, artistic direction etc.. in games is just as important if you are able to get the kids to actually think about it.

Lego Games
Star Wars games (they span from cartoony to sci-fi violence)
Platformers (Indie and otherwise)