The National Institute for Media and the Family has released its annual report on videogames it recommends, and sadly, Pong is nowhere on the list.

Ah, Pong.

In 1973, I was six years old, and while at a formal family function at some long-forgotten locale, I came across the most fascinating use of television I felt had ever been devised: the video game Pong.

I can recall begging my dad for a handful of quarters so my cousins and I could continue playing the miracle game, and when that well ran dry, I hit up mom for whatever quarters were lurking in her purse. I remember it all like it was yesterday.

It was the first – and last – time I ever played Pong.

Why the last time? Probably because that was the only time I saw a videogame until I dropped my entire net worth ($10?) into an Asteroids machine some years later, one quarter at a time.

I got good enough to turn that machine over – you players out there know what that means – and I could extend a game forever by going hunting for that little flying saucer as I raced across the screen at full thrust, weaving and dodging for cover around my one remaining asteroid.

From there it was on to Galaga, Star Wars, Tempest, 1943, Missile Command and my personal favorite (and the most fun/difficult game of that generation in my opinion), Defender. At one point I even worked at an arcade, mostly so I could get paid (very little) to play.

By that time, home consoles like the Atari 2600 and ColecoVision were plentiful, but in comparison to the stand-up games, I felt they basically sucked wind. My best friend had an Atari and it bored me to death. His older sister was much more interesting.

As I got more interested in girls, school, motorcycles, photography, amateur radio and my audiophile pursuits, I left video games behind and never returned. Even today, I do not own or play a single game, despite a house full of computers.

But that may soon change.

According to the above-mentioned NIMF report, they naturally condemn the bloody FPS favorites like Gears of War 2 and Saints Row 2. No surprises there. And for me, no interest, either. I see enough killing on the news.

But it’s the recommendations they do make that, to me, signal a revolution - or at least a big evolution - in the short history of video gaming. Call it Video Games 3.0. What’s on that list?

Games like Rock Band 2, Guitar Hero World Tour, and Rock Revolution, among others. This is no shock to anyone who plays video games, but for me, now that I’m a parent myself, it truly is a revolution, as I’ve been very wary of the sedentary nature of videogames up until this point.

A large part of that revolution is the Nintendo Wii gaming system, a surprise hit in 2006, and the “music simulation” games that are so popular now.

While my son is still under 2 years old, he truly loves music. He sings, dances, and very nearly knows how to work my iPod.

He has his own headphones and bops around the house, the Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine” or Air’s “Don’t Be Light” making his little diapered buns shake.

I can see Rock Band 3 or 4 or 5 in his near future, and some Wii Tennis grudge matches going on during those cold, short Oregon winter days. And those games will be just the start I’m sure.

Movement. Music. Creativity. All brought together by video games, of all things. At this point in my son’s life, my wife and I easily control his entertainment choices. But for how long?

In the future, I know he’ll be interested in videogames, just as I was fascinated by Pong and its spawn decades ago.

But instead of being seated for a marathon session of isolation-cloaked, blood-drenched cyber-killing, tooth-rotting mega-soda at the ready and no other movement except for mouse-clicks, I hope he picks up that fake Fender and wails. I hope he grabs that Wii remote and takes it to Nidal – or his videogame playing friends.

Because I believe that videogames stoke desire. If Rock Band is so fun, then what about taking the next step and really learning to play guitar/piano/bass/drums? If Wii Tennis is such a gas, then what about picking up a real racquet and heading to the courts for a real match?

And if gunning down enemy soldiers, splattering grotesque monsters, or executing Liberty City residents is such a blast…

What then?

Bill Roberson is a KATU.com / Fisher Interactive Networks Web producer specializing in technology stories and issues. He can be reached at broberson@fisherinteractive.com.