For awhile now, I've been trying to figure out how to play video games with my three year old daughter, Riley. It can be problematic, moreso than you'd think, as a parent who wants to really tutor their child and make sure that playing games is a positive reward and not a trivial or babysitting experience.

Over the past year, it's really been a "We play, you watch" kind of a thing, with the parents doing the playing, and Riley watches it like a movie. Up until recently she hasn't really grasped the eye-hand concept: moving the joystick moves her avatar around the screen in the direction she wants it to go. In fact, I'm pretty sure she still doesn't quite get that aspect. So we're relegated to playing non-violent games for her. The big favorites so far have been Animal Crossing and Katamari. And let me tell you, hearing a 3 year old little girl try and say "Dad, can we play...Cat...a..mari Damashee?" is one of the cutest things you'll ever hear.

But this weekend she caught me playing the Tiger '08 demo when she came downstairs after her nap, and got really excited about playing it. I realized that the "true swing" control scheme in the game might be the perfect gateway to get her to learn about how her actions on the stick control the actions of her avatar on screen. It's the simplest control scheme for her to learn, really. Pull the stick back for the backswing, push it straight forward to swing. That's it. The game picks your clubs and shot-type for you and automatically aims you at the hole.

So we gave it a shot. And I do mean we. As a natural "let me help you" kind of obsessive parent, I played the part of Caddy and helped her club selection (she'd only hit about 85% of her club as she'd never wait for Tiger to finish his backswing), and as she'd almost always hook the ball left I'd help her by aiming her to the right for a bit, or aiming her into a layup shot if she had to hit over water. Also, I'd help her pick a better putting line, as that can be the trickiest part of the game.

Her first round was a +11. Pretty horrible for a 3 hole demo, despite the fact that she seemed to pick up the swing concept a bit better and parred the 3rd hole. But we persevered (she really was excited about getting to hold the controller and play), and tried again.

The second round was -1. One. Under. Par. She even chipped in on the last hole, and I didn't do anything to help her out on that hole. It was all her, and this is where things get a bit more interesting. The new version of Tiger has a neat feature where you can upload your greatest shots for other people to try as a challenge.

I began her new career as a competitive gamer at age 3. You can now attempt to beat her chip-in for a ripe 74 points (x2 if you're the first to beat it!). Just look for "3 Year Old Chips In" and you can see if you have what it takes to beat it.

Or are you afraid of being pwned by a 3 year old?