{"id":236,"date":"2026-10-23T05:36:20","date_gmt":"2026-10-23T03:36:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.theicealphawolfden.com\/?p=236"},"modified":"2026-10-23T05:36:21","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T03:36:21","slug":"the-family-gaming-future-i-didnt-recognise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.theicealphawolfden.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/23\/the-family-gaming-future-i-didnt-recognise\/","title":{"rendered":"The Family Gaming Future I Didn\u2019t Recognise"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The family gaming future described in this 2005 clipping from Komputer for alle<\/em> was not the one I recognised around me. Families would spend their evenings together in online games, including parents, children, uncles, aunts and grandparents. Gaming would bring them together instead of leaving everyone isolated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Family gaming certainly happened. I know someone who played World of Warcraft<\/em> with their mum. People played Wii games with their families too. What I saw far more often, though, was people playing with friends or strangers online. The family gathered around a game was a much neater picture than ordinary multiplayer life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Komputer for alle<\/em>, \u201cFremtidens familie spiller netspil\u201d. Source reference: BK, 20.01.05\u201309.02.05. Original clipping photograph supplied by Kiba Snowpaw.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What the article was predicting<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The researcher quoted is sociologist T. L. Taylor, then at the IT University of Copenhagen. The article describes a visit to its games research centre after a conference about the future of games. It presents her prediction that relatives would use online games to spend time together even when they lived at opposite ends of the country, with friends and colleagues joining them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are several claims packed into that small piece. Gaming would become part of everyday life, taking time from television and activities such as sport. Children could sometimes know more than their parents and lead them in the game. Players could develop responsibility and leadership useful outside it. Games would reach different audiences and devices, support smaller groups as well as huge online worlds, and be played both indoors and outdoors. Eventually, being online would barely be something we thought about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taylor was challenging the image of the isolated computer nerd. Her 2006 book Play Between Worlds<\/em><\/a> examined the social life of EverQuest<\/em>, including relationships crossing between the game and the physical world. That work also dealt with demanding forms of play that could resemble work. Her research was broader than this short, optimistic magazine item.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The technology was already capable of connecting people. The bigger question was whether families would choose to use it together regularly, and what would happen to the rest of their lives while they played.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Playing with your mum really did happen<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Asmongold is a public example. In the clip below, he describes his mother telling him to go to bed, his explanation that he could not pause an online game, and how he got her interested in playing. She obtained her own account and, according to him, started playing more than he did. Family participation and arguments about bedtime appear in the same story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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