My favorite game growing up (besides Tetris) was Super Mario Bros.
The premise:
1. Get to the flagpole,
2. Collect coins.
As a Gen. X-er, this makes total sense to me.
The first time my (now 11-year old) son played the game, I was SHOCKED. He did not go after a single coin!
[He just didn’t see the point…]
Do you ever notice how – for this new generation, instead of pre-determined goals, like collecting coins or getting to the flagpole, it’s:
“We’re going to give you this whole world – and you get to do whatever it is you choose.”
EXAMPLES:
1. Minecraft – Spend 1-hour building a tower, so you can jump off it once.
2. Roblox – Take this blocky-looking figure and adorn it with so much crap (but at least your parents don’t have to buy you any of it in real life.
3. Fortnite – WTF?
Anyway, motivations have definitely changed…
And, maybe these young kids are onto something:
*After a while, “collecting coins” gets old.
*Eventually, there are only so many ‘flagpoles’ you can get to before you start feeling empty inside.
Maybe there’s more to life than just “gathering” and “getting.”
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