My brother is THE biggest gamer: period. I'll never forget how wide-eyed he got that Christmas roughly 14 years ago when he opened the package to his first Nintendo. It's all been downhill with hours upon hours of Halo and Guitar Hero ever since.

I remember how frustrated my mother would get. "Chris, dinner is ready!" she would call. About an hour later, my brother would emerge from the depths of his basement lair to rapidly ingest his cold food, only to return minutes later to whence he had come. Poor parenting? Perhaps (I doubt it), but she tried many a time to urge him to attend their meals immediately. My brother has grown to be about 260 pounds and is 6 feet-3 inches tall at 18 years of age. Try forcing that to come when you call.

Either way, despite the negative connotations surrounding his addiction, my parents continued to purchase the latest system for him each season. We once had to beg him to donate his out-dated Nintendo 64 to charity. Charming, right? Not to mention the plethora of "choice" words that are used during his hot debates on Xbox 360 Live. He learned to curse like a sailor.

As his sister, I rarely was able to get him to participate in activities not surrounding a joystick, but as time progressed I learned better and better ways with which to momentarily lure him away. Of course, all of my suggestions (as with all of my posts) are budget friendly!

• 1. Take him/her away from the house. If they aren't near a gaming system, obviously they cannot play. During the summer months, taking children to the park, bringing them to the local pool, and sending them off to day-camp are great alternatives to waving at Mario for six to eight hours a day.

• 2. Get them to take a weekend/summer job. At the very least assign them tasks that need to be completed during their normal time off.

• 3. Permit usage of gaming systems only on the weekends. You have to be careful with this, however. I have seen this work for some families, depending on how strictly they enforced this, and fail with others. During the week, video games can be extremely distracting. If your child actually forms the habit of sitting down to do homework, if the anticipation of being able to hop on and bust out some SoCom for 2 hours, they might rush through their work. However, if they are limited to only weekends, sometimes they forget what playing outside is like. Perhaps limit them to only a few hours on the weekend - period. Lock up the system for the rest of the week.

• 4. For the very young, have them earn "reward points" to play. If they perform a chore without you having to ask, they automatically earn ten minutes of gaming time. If they go to bed on time without argument, they earn another five. Work out time intervals to get them active in their daily routines while also giving them some fun on the side.

• 5. Urge them to participate in a local sports team. If you see him or her showing a particular affinity for Wii baseball, tennis, or bowling - encourage them to participate in the real thing.

• 6. Get them to read - with a Kindle! The nature of this system is electronic. Nowadays, getting your child to read is another problem all on its own. Perhaps the Kindle could be your answer (see below). With thousands of electronic books up for purchase, you can set up this "computer" with all the materials you have been wishing they would read but don't.

• 7. Take away time from the next day's usage if they do not stop playing when asked. This is something my parents never tried. They often used the "You have ten more minutes" routine, but they never restricted the following day's play. Explain to your child that every minute they spend longer is a minute they get taken off of tomorrow's usage.

• 8. Teach them something. How about a lesson in making your famous chocolate chip cookies? "Mommy/daddy wants to show you how she makes her treats. Do you have some time for mommy/daddy today?"

• 9. Rent a DVD with the family and participate in family nights. Any interaction with all of you together is fantastic. Have them help you make treats and snacks and let them pick out what they want to see. When children get accustomed to having "special time" with the family together, they grow to appreciate and look forward to it.

• 10. Play on the internet together. Get them to participate in interactive games with you that actually teach them something in return. Have them show you their favorite sites as well, as this can help you understand better how they interact with the world wide web.

• 11. Build something. Get them to use their hands with something other than a control stick! Create a tree house together or build a detail-oriented train set. My dad worked on one for years with my younger brother and it was such a great experience for the both of them.

• 12. Creating / Molding / Playing with Jello is always fun. The same goes for good ol' fashioned play-dough.

• 13. Get their creative juices flowing. Enroll them in piano lessons. Teach them arts and crafts. Although these activities don't normally help the addicted child break away from their games, after much encouragement and a little bit of push, they can actually learn to appreciate stimulation from these areas as well.

• 14. Put gaming systems in "family areas". If children are restricted to a closed off room, isolation is sure to be coveted in the future. This also will sometimes make them feel "guilty" if the rest of the family is participating in an activity and they are not. Often, when they are in a separate room they find the ability to "shut everything else off" and focus on just what they want at the moment: to play the game.

• 15. Be involved. Often children escape to their gaming worlds to avoid problems at school or with friends. Be constantly active in their lives. Ask questions. Be a parent.

*** Newest trick: Try out the Wii Fit. Supposedly this gets your kids involved in video gaming in a very physical way! They can learn yoga, strength training, coordination, and track their progress.