They grow to outperform you

When I was a kid, my father used to say that being a parent was like signing a blank check, but I believe it is more like a full checkbook of blank checks: you know when you start to pay (not only in cash, but also in time, worries, etc.), but you will never know when you will stop paying. It is a good thing that parenthood is also wonderfully interesting, because otherwise many more people would choose to stay childless.

Today is the second time this week where parenthood has come to my attention, in particular the fact that my kids keep growing taller, stronger and wiser, but also maturing from the emotional point of view. Last weekend Jason challenged me to play Mario Kart 8 on the Nintendo Switch against him. Back in the days of the old Nintendo Wii, he was still young and lacked a bit of coordination, so even after some training he was still no match for and adult like me, with only mild experience in video games but still an adult. He was delighted to see "how good" I was, because I was able to beat him on almost any track, perhaps not in the first race, because knowing the track can make a lot of difference, but once I knew the dangerous parts of the circuit I was mostly OK and ended up winning the race. Now the situation has reversed, and he consistently beats me in spite of all my efforts although, admittedly, I do not have the time to take any serious training at it.

Photo: DepositPhotos

The other feat that has surprised me recently is his newly-honed debate abilities. He has always been a strong minded child, but very often lacked the rhetorical resources to argue his points and ended up giving up even if he knew that the reasons inside him that he could not articulate would have supported his case. That has changed now as well. Today over lunch we had a debate with Karen, Jason and me (Trevor stay prudently away) about the types of video games and their impact in the industry. Jason insisted that, in this time and age, first person shooters and role play games were the core of the industry, and indeed titles like Fortnite or League of Legens are taking over not only the gaming landscape but also a big part of the e-sports arena. Karen and I made the point that there were still a lot of casual players (like ourselves) who liked other types of games, like construction games (e.g. Civilization) or point-and-click (the Deponia series), which are still being produced and sold, perhaps in even bigger numbers that the hard-core games. The discussion then evolved toward the economic impact of each kind, where the classical game developers were mostly surviving while the hard-core game developers were totally booming and making tons of money.

The progress of the discussion is irrelevant for my point, which is how Jason has started to develop a really profound and mature sense of reality, understanding the interconnection of different stakeholders in society (developers, retailers, consumers, regulators), and being able to relate to the position of each group, what moves them, what they fear, and what the implications of the interactions are for each of the parties. It is very interesting to see that he is evolving and growing, although I have to say it makes me feel a bit old: the next generation is about to get ready to hit the world, hopefully to make it better. In the  meantime, please stay healthy.