Don't treat him like an idiot, don't assume he is gonna prefer the shooty shooty stuff just because he is young, let him watch you play, let him play for a while, explain to him the scale of things in this game. If you just go for the more action oriented stuff to show him some explosions and laz0rz, you will be misrepresenting the game and being dishonest, and if he is the type of kid that buys something because of the explosions, he probably wont like the game anyway. When I was a kid I liked the concept of the vastness of space, and I played complex flight simulators when I could have played brainless arcade crap instead.
heh, when i was 12 i playedSpeak for yourself
Speak for yourself - when I was 11 the only thing on my mind was all that shooty shooty nonsense in DooM. Pretty sure 11 year old boys will rather dig the idea of things going bang, and besides, that is not a dishonest representation of Elite. Making things go bang is pretty much my favourite past time in Elite, I suppose I'm not a terribly well adjusted person. Personally I blame MTV.
Got my nephews (9 and 11) hooked on Eover Christmas. Started with showing them how i was flying, docking, fighting, discovery and planet landing and driving. Then got them playing the target practice, basic combat and even cobra face-off. The elder even managed starting traveling and landing. After about 3-5 one hour practce sessions i let them loose in a brotherly wing at a nav-beacon*... They did well!
Unfortunately they had to leave and they have a ps4 at home so no futher flying possible... But got mayor "cool uncle points"
*had to start, land and navigate for the 9yo to keep frustration low, but he was very happy...
Go on a planet in the SRV and make him think its a bugy driving game. Then call your ship. Then fly in Space. Then to a diffrent System. Then show him the Galaxy Map.