Ever since games became available in the late seventies and early eighties to the masses they have caught the attention of millions of people who became addicted to their innovative interface and rapidly changing technology. Parent's bought these games because they represented a nice gift for kids and teens who have always been fascinated with entertainment and technology related items. Children and teens on the other hand thought of them as a good way to kill their free time.



The first few graphics Nintendo games featured were not very realistic so any killing or war game was pretty much innocent, but as technology evolved so did the graphics, consoles and variety. Today we have free games available through the internet as well as stand alone and portable consoles, which has completely changed the rules of the game sort to speak.

Nowadays, we have kids and teenagers of all ages playing games almost all the time, this is why parents have grown concerned of the types of games they play. The internet has made available thousands of flash games at no cost at all, so anyone can access them and spend hours browsing through them, some of the most visited categories are action and war games, these are violent in nature and portray several "killings" as they advance from level to level, the fact is that most players are not thinking about the killing they are doing in the game but instead they want to overcome all obstacles to using the resources given to them, just like when they play super Mario or Donkey Kong.

With today's international problems several parents have formulated the idea that these games are intended to train kids for war, the fact of the matter is that if they are playing these games online they have several other choices such as board games, racing, cards, puzzle, memory, strategy, and so on, in other words they will not become fixated in just one type of game due to the variety. On the other hand parents who buy expensive games to play in stand alone consoles at home might indeed be feeding this mentality to their children because purchased games go to a different level, the violence and graphic nature makes them too intense so it is important to read the warnings and recommended age labels that each one has.

Online games will never reach the negative graphic nature console games have but the most important fact is to remember that as parents you have the power to guide your kids and organize their free time. Compared to consoles, online games are a healthy way for kids, teenagers and young adults to entertain themselves while keeping their sanity intact!