World of Webkinz
I’ve been playing World of Warcraft for several months. I’ve always been a fan of role-playing games, and WoW is right up my alley. That is not to say that I’m addicted to it—no more so than any other computer game I have enjoyed in the past. I do know of people who spend what I would consider to be an irresponsible amount of time playing it. But my intent is not to write about computer game addiction.
Somewhat surprisingly, my daughters enjoy watching me play. They each have their own characters that they created, picking out hair color, skin tone, and so forth. At least in part, they see it as a dress-up game. My youngest isn’t old enough to play it, but I may let my seven-year-old try her hand at it before long.
You might say that she is currently in training for it. She was recently given a Webkinz as a gift. Webkinz are stuffed animals that come with a code. After creating an account on the Webkinz site and registering your animal’s code, you are presented with a digital version of your Webkinz and an environment in which you can play with them. From what I’ve gathered, most of my daughter’s time on Webkinz is spent playing games that earn KinzCash, with which you can purchase furniture, toys, food, and everything your Webkinz needs to be happy.
I wouldn’t say my daughter is addicted to Webkinz… yet. It has many of the same qualities as WoW, and its ability to suck time appears to be one of them. There are parental controls that can limit the amount of time children are allowed to play. Maybe WoW needs a similar feature.
