10 Games Kids Should Leave Off Their Christmas List
Video games have gotten a bad wrap. They’ve been called provocative, crude, even risque. And, yes, while some games are still riddled with inappropriate content, the gaming industry has really come a long way. In fact, just last week, the National Institute on Media and the Family issued its 13th annual video game report card. Guess what? The industry got nearly straight A’s, receiving high marks in its rating system and retail policies.
Just two years ago, the NIMF gave the ratings board a resounding “F.”
The NIMF still points out one problem-spot: parents. This year’s report gave parents an ‘Incomplete’ for not paying enough attention to ratings and failing to use parental controls.
To help fix the situation, the NIMF has red-flagged 10 violent games parents should keep away from their kids this holiday. Critics say the following games are loaded with excessive violence and, notably, they are all rated M for Mature.
- Blitz: The League II
- Dead Space
- Fallout 3
- Far Cry 2
- Gears of War 2
- Legendary
- Left 4 Dead
- Resistance 2
- Saints Row 2
- Silent Hill: Homecoming
On the flip side, the NIMF recommends these Teen-friendly alternatives:
- Guitar Hero World Tour
- Rock Band 2
- Rock Revolution
- Spider-Man: Web of Shadows
- Shaun White Snowboarding
More from around the sphere:
- While teenagers may cry foul at Mom or Dad playing video games with them, the results will be beneficial in the long run – whether you discover a child playing grossly inappropriate content or whether you enjoy the games as much as they … - An update on the effects of playing violent video games. Journal of Adolescence, 27, 113-122. An example of the brain based research I mentioned is summarized as follows: Teenagers’ brains are fired up by violent video games, … - Video games seem to have the most stringent review process than any of the three genres. Again there are no federal laws that require game publishers to have their games rated, but most do if they want the retailers to actually carry … |
December 1st, 2008 at 6:45 pm
My kids are younger than this, but they like http://www.zuigames.com - the games are clean and it keeps them entertained for hours.
December 6th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
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December 10th, 2008 at 2:01 am
[...] 10 Games Kids Should Leave Off Their Christmas List [...]
December 10th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
Hmm, I’ve heard of all of the games from the “banned” list, but I haven’t played any of them. I would agree that some of them are a bit over the top gory, from what I’ve heard. On the other hand, Rock Band, Guitar Hero, and basically and EA Sports game are guaranteed hours of fun and are certainly suitable for teens.
As for the ratings, I put together a relatively simple article on the topic a couple of months ago here…
http://wiredparentpad.com/todays-essential-guide-to-video-game-ratings-for-parents/
December 15th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
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April 17th, 2009 at 5:42 pm
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April 27th, 2009 at 11:34 pm
Found your site by accident. Great work my friend