It's that time again: 10 games that aren't for kids
Doug Jacobs
that you shouldn't be buying for your kids.
This year's list is an improvement over previous years' where some of the
games they listed weren't even available yet.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/07/ten-video-games-to-cross-off-your-gift-list/?em
Game's making the list this year:
* Assassin's Creed II
* Borderlands
* Brutal Legend
* Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
* Dead Space: Extraction
* Dragon Age: Origins
* Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony
* Demon's Souls
* Left 4 Dead 2
* Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
All the games are available for sale, and are among the more popular
titles.
They're all M rated games, however, which by itself should at least have
parents double checking the packaging to make sure this really is
something they think is suitable for their kid.
Brutal Legend is the only notable game here because I can certainly see
some parents being confused by the game's graphics, and thinking it may
still be OK for a younger child. But everything else is pretty clearly
not a kiddie title.
Even if a kid did end up with Dragon Age or Demon's Soul, I suspect the
overall complexity and difficulty of these games would drive off most
youngsters. If you've got a 10 year old who's willing to learn these games'
systems, chances are he's mature enough to deal with the actual story content
as well.
I'm sort of surprised they listed the Wii version of Dead Space, as opposed
to just "Dead Space" and mention there are different versions available.
I'm also surprsied they didn't call special attention to the fact that
DS:Extraction is actually a Wii game, and should not be assumed to be for
kids just because of the console's kid/family-friendly image.
--
It's not broken. It's...advanced.
Jonah Falcon
Dead Space Extraction - 2009
The alMIGHTY N
> With Christmas nearing, it's time for the annual news article about games
> that you shouldn't be buying for your kids.
>
> This year's list is an improvement over previous years' where some of the
> games they listed weren't even available yet.
>
>
> Game's making the list this year:
> * Assassin's Creed II
> * Borderlands
> * Brutal Legend
> * Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
> * Dead Space: Extraction
> * Dragon Age: Origins
> * Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony
> * Demon's Souls
> * Left 4 Dead 2
> * Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
>
> All the games are available for sale, and are among the more popular
> titles.
>
> They're all M rated games, however, which by itself should at least have
> parents double checking the packaging to make sure this really is
> something they think is suitable for their kid.
>
> Brutal Legend is the only notable game here because I can certainly see
> some parents being confused by the game's graphics, and thinking it may
> still be OK for a younger child. But everything else is pretty clearly
> not a kiddie title.
Many more parents are going to misinterpret Chinatown Wars' graphics
than Brutal Legend's. Chinatown Wars uses a sort of cel-shaded
graphical style and all the characters in the case artwork are drawn
in the same cartoon style that the other Grand Theft Auto games used
for their case artwork.
> Even if a kid did end up with Dragon Age or Demon's Soul, I suspect the
> overall complexity and difficulty of these games would drive off most
> youngsters.
Because of boredom? ;-)
> If you've got a 10 year old who's willing to learn these games'
> systems, chances are he's mature enough to deal with the actual story content
> as well.
Not necessarily. One of my nephews memorized every single Pokemon in
the Pokedex along with their stats, their attacks, all the strategies
involved, etc. when he was 7 or 8. He's always been good with video
games of all kinds, even RPGs, but he wasn't necessarily "mature"
enough to deal with the content of these kinds of games.
> I'm sort of surprised they listed the Wii version of Dead Space, as opposed
> to just "Dead Space" and mention there are different versions available.
Like Jonah said, the original Dead Space game came out in late 2008.
Further, the fact that "Dead Space: Extraction" is a Wii game makes it
much more likely that a parent would be purchasing it for a kid.
> I'm also surprsied they didn't call special attention to the fact that
> DS:Extraction is actually a Wii game, and should not be assumed to be for
> kids just because of the console's kid/family-friendly image.
Well, this *is* a list for games that you shouldn't buy for kids so
why would you need any further emphasis?
Tomcat
> They're all M rated games, however, which by itself should at least have
> parents double checking the packaging to make sure this really is
> something they think is suitable for their kid.
Luckily my daughter only plays Peggle. She gets most of her daily
allowance of mature subject matter relating to sex, violence, and bad
language at school during lunch.
The alMIGHTY N
Funny... that's where I learned most of my vocabulary. :-)