Ian On The Red Dot

There used to be a time when parents were able to understand what their kids were doing for recreation. Football, tennis, badminton, softballs, rugby,squash – these were activities that parents understood, and could even support if not join in the fun.

Then those blasted contraptions called computers came along and things changed. Kids started getting lost in new worlds created by – what parents must surely think are the devil’s playthings – computer games.

“So son, what did you do over the weekend?”

“Oh, nothing much dad. Me and some clan mates played a few games where we gang-banged some idiot noobs.”

And the conversation pretty much ends there, with the parents’ hearts breaking into a million pieces, them wondering what they did wrong to raise such a deviant child.

In a move to help create an environment where father and son can bond over the sharing of spoils after slaying a level 200 monster in a faraway virtual land, the event Licence2Play is being organized by SPHere Exhibits and the Singapore) Cybersports and Online Gaming Association.

Its aim was to introduce cyberwellness and responsible gaming elements into the industry, thus engaging often-neglected stakeholders like parents, educators, and the Government. While at the same time having loads of fun and family entertainment, which is what gaming–a pretty recession-proof industry–should always be about.

Find out more about the event from Aaron over at his cnet blog.