Game Night Smackdown: Tough Love or Too Much?

Ever wonder if it's ever okay to crush your nephew in a video game? Today on the According to Wes podcast, we dive into a heated Tekken 8 match between an uncle and his young nephew that spiraled into a Reddit debate on sportsmanship and life lessons. You’ll hear Wes recount his own battles with family game nights and the challenge of balancing tough love with encouragement. From Uno and Sorry to intense 2K showdowns, understanding the fine line between letting kids win to boost their confidence and teaching them resilience is crucial. 

Background music
https://open.spotify.com/track/5EIoiKfsouYhi0PHbbF5Hi?si=92ba4cc5e754429f

Transcript

Wes: 0:01

Welcome back to another episode of the According to Wes podcast, where winning is everything, even if you have to destroy your nephew in the process. Of course, I don't really mean that, but I kind of do like yo. Sometimes you got to show them who's boss, how things really work out here in the streets, yep. But as I continue on my never ending journey of self-improvement to be a better person than I was yesterday, today, what better way to do this than with the help of Reddit? Am I the asshole? All right, so let's read, read, let's read the case. Am I the asshole for destroying my nephew in a video?

Wes: 0:55

So I was playing a video game with my nephew. If you're curious, we were playing second eight. Shout out to second eight, one of the best fighting games out here right now. Um, now he's a kid, so obviously he's completely incompetent at this game, right. So I was absolutely destroying him. So my sister, his mom, comes in and starts watching and gets upset because I told her I let him win a few games. But I didn't, because you get called a bitch if you act the way my nephew acts when he plays games. I mean, my nephew and I were playing for a while and he was getting upset, which honestly annoyed me. So I told him about how back in Call of Duty days on a 360, he'd get completely screwed, screwed and he needs to grow up a bit. I was only trash talking a little bit and for some reason his mom got upset.

Wes: 1:59

Is he the asshole? Listen, I have a nephew myself and we haven't reached that video game playing part of our relationship. It's coming soon. He's 7 years old. It's definitely coming soon. But I do know one thing in previous games of Uno and Sari and Trouble, my nephew he's a sore winner and it frustrates me to no end. And granted, these games are like luck of the draw type games. No deep skills is needed. But tell that to a seven-year-old. You know when he wins he wins he the best thing out here.

Wes: 2:43

So, trust me, I get the annoyance when it comes to stuff like that, especially if they. I get the annoyance when it comes to. I get the annoyance in general comes to. I get the annoyance in general, like little kids are annoying. True, it's not a popular statement, or maybe it is a popular statement. Maybe it's not a popular statement with people with no kids telling them to say they're annoying, but all my friends that have kids gladly say that their kids are fucking annoying, and I gladly. No, I ain't gonna say that. So are fucking annoying, and I gladly, I ain't gonna say that.

Wes: 3:16

So, to be honest, I can't wait for the moments where I'm playing my nephew in 2k or even second uh, just so you can see how that feels, because I will absolutely destroy him. I don't think you're the asshole for destroying them like they gotta learn, like everybody's not going to let you win. Everything isn't geared towards you and life where things go your way. It's not how life is. Yeah, I definitely would Fuck. Yeah, I can't wait, I definitely can't wait.

Wes: 3:51

I used to think that you should let the youngsters win to improve their confidence, but now that I think about it, I'm starting to think all that shit is circumstantial, um, and I guess it should be circumstantial. You know, um, you're not always going to win in life. That is a lesson in itself, but you know, of course, in true West fashion I don't know all the circumstances, I'm still workshopping that out, but what I can say, what I can say from this I never really thought about it when it comes to youngsters is incorporating lessons, so it doesn't always seem like a beat down. Don't get me wrong, they're going to get the beat down. He is yo. There is no way he already put in, he already put in too much bad blood, with him being a sore winner. And then sometimes it's just like yo. I remember one time I felt like I should like let me not put out the draw. Two, when I came, still demolished us. I'm just like I ain't never doing that shit again. Stupid, I don't know. Lessons can be learned, right, you can always teach. You can always teach. You can always teach, not necessarily how to be a sore winner, put it this way Me trying to be the better, me, right.

Wes: 5:24

I think the approach I would take is definitely give him the beat down. No mercy, no holds bar, but also lessons in it, especially with his tech. And I'm like yo, yo, you're not blocking, yo, you, you, you using the same move, you're doing a low and you're not uh, and you know that's not uh. You know what I mean. Like certain techniques of the game and stuff like that. So he can't get better, but I'm gonna still destroy them each and every time. So 2k the same way like yo, pass the ball, yo. That person can't shoot threes like basic shit. They don't feel fun destroying. They don't feel. First of all, why are you trash talking your nephew? Like I get it, like that's gonna come about, but you know how that shit go take. Take the Tim Duncan approach. You know no trash talk, it's all skill. Beat them with your skill. I guess that's the lesson I would, I would teach my nephew. You know, that's what I would probably try to get across. But in all honesty, that's not something that I get.

Wes: 6:32

When I was younger, for my uncles uncles on playing video games or sports, it was just, it was just straight carnage. Let's talk about NBA. Back in the NBA live time, I'm talking about being blown off by fucking 40 points and just like, well, that's how that shit falls. Motherfucker. Like they say that they didn't trash talk me, but they did not give me any fucking mercy. Uno, no mercy. Any of those other games, no mercy. Ha ha ha. It was like they was playing with me and doing me a favor and I'm just like I can't win. Oh well, no mercy. I got better, definitely got better and been alive Definitely. And then when my uncle not even recently, maybe, like a couple of years ago, thanksgiving and shit. I don't know why. I thought he would still be you know good at that shit, like 50 some years old, but fucking demolishes us.

Wes: 7:31

I am not afraid, afraid to say, and nor am I ashamed to say, trash talks from the whole way through my vocal alcohol. That's the way that shit works. So, yeah, there's a way of doing it. So you're enough. I don't know. I don't know shit.

Wes: 7:53

As I strive to be a better me, I want to be like the Jedi master, slash Morpheus from the Matrix approach. When it comes to competitions over my nephew or future children like yo, they're gonna be like god damn, this motherfucker good like I don't know his ways. I need to get better. I want to be the teacher, not necessarily the trash talker. All I'm gonna do is anger them, thank you, and make them think that you're arrogant and shit like that. So, yeah, you're the asshole for trash talking. If you're trash talking, yeah, you're the asshole. But if you, if you're doing more, this is you the asshole. But if you doing more, it's about how you do that shit too.

Wes: 8:32

Right Now that I'm thinking about it, yeah, trash talk, but are you teaching at the same time, if you're doing more trash talking and teaching and the boy's 11,. Yeah, you can be seen as an asshole. You can be seen as an asshole Even if it was two grown men, and you could be seen as an asshole Even if it was two grown men. If it was two grown men and you just trash-talking somebody that don't know how to play the game, you can get punched in the mouth, you know. So, yeah, that's that's.

Wes: 9:02

Yeah. Asshole for trash-talking. That's one thing I'm going to keep in my back pocket. Don't trash-talk my nephew. Teach. Asshole for trash talking. That's one thing I'm gonna keep in my back pocket. Don't try to talk my nephew teach. Destroy, but teach. Don't get it twisted. It will be, I will know. No, I will not hold back. There is no, there is no holding back, but yeah, I um. No, there is no holding back, but yeah, I um. This is one to think about. When do I teach? How do I teach? When do I throw a little trash talking to get them thinking, and the trash talk will be simple, like, oh, you're not thinking, use your brain, defend yourself, know how to block. Like, you know stupid shit. Well, yeah, this was a fun one.

Wes: 9:52

Reddit always, um. Reddit always hits you with the classics every now and then, even though it's not really a classic or a heavy hitting one. But it's one of those things where it's like yo, as men, nephews, nieces, children in our family, yo, holidays is coming, thanksgiving is coming, christmas is coming. This will happen. Someone's going to turn on the PS5 and the Xbox, and that's what it's going to be. But I urge you, let's start off the Fortnite. I don't know if we can win at that. Then again, fortnite, show forte. I've had it. So I want to thank you guys for tuning in, just getting some stuff. I want to thank you guys for tuning in and, yeah, man on that journey, trying to be better. Thank you for listening.