A pistol grip on a AK-74U reduces the recoil and improves accuracy.

By taking advantage of reduced gravity you can buy yourself a few seconds of advantage as you jump over your opponent.

If you wait a few seconds before firing and allow more of them to come into the picture you can take out more zombies at once and save your ammunition.

These are some of the finer points that my 11-year old shared with me about the latest game he is playing on xbox 360. I could see the wheels turning in his head as he explained to me what steps he figured out to take that allowed him to accomplish this or that level of the game.

I have complained on more than one occasion about some of the sad state of affairs regarding some of today’s latest video games. Some of the video games we played as kids were gruesome to be sure, but nothing like the realistic violence that you see in these games today.  And don’t get me started on the language that you hear in these games. I imagine that the language in World War II on the battlefield was quite colorful, it’s just not something that you expect to hear coming from your kid’s room. And I feel my own share of guilt when I find myself wanting to play the games too, but I digress.

The bottom line is that I have come to see some value in the finer points of zombie killing. Here is what I mean…

To be successful in today’s modern video games requires sufficient problem solving skills. And in many of these games you have to work together as a team.  A true team.  I have played some games with my kids where we had to work together in the game to advance.  I was a serious anchor around the necks of my kids as I just wasn’t up to the task. I didn’t get the big picture and my kids were quick to instruct me about which task I needed to be concentrating on while they did their job.

I have my own complaints about the language and over-the-top violence in today’s game, but I am starting to see some value in how my kids are learning some problem-solving and team-building skills.  I am still quick to remind my kids that we don’t use that kind of language around here, but I have a strange sense of pride that my 11-year old knows the magazine capacity of an AK-47.