Common Sense Media, which claims to be “Dedicated to improving the media and entertainment lives of kids and families”, has released their list of ‘Ten Cool Games That Are Uncool for Kids‘. Unlike some of the other organizations like this, such as the Parents Television Council, the Common Sense Media seems to be striving for the use of basic logic in their views.
Seriously, I browsed their website — they’re not crazy.
However, while not crazy it is obvious that they still lack some basic knowledge about video games. To emphasize my point, let’s have a look at their list of games, as well as the alternatives that CSM suggested.
- Assassin’s Creed II (Mirror’s Edge)
- Borderlands (inFamous)
- Brutal Legend (Ghostbusters: The Video Game)
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Battlefield: Bad Company)
- Dead Space: Extraction (Deadly Creatures)
- Dragon Age: Origins (Braid)
- Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony (Batman: Arkham Asylum)
- Demon’s Souls (Uncharted 2: Among Thieves)
- Left 4 Dead 2 (Overlord II)
- Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (C.O.P.: The Recruit)
…just because they aren’t outwardly trying to censor games doesn’t mean that they’re not just a tad silly. Looking at the list of games on this list, their “alternatives” have their own set of problems. While Ghostbusters: The Video Game, Deadly Creatures and C.O.P.: The Recruit are okay, the majority of the other options are just… poorly thought out.
See, in Mirror’s Edge you shoot cops and progress through a story that rewards you for breaking the law. In inFamous you are given the opportunity to be either the righteous hero and savior of your city… or Doctor Doom. Battlefield: Bad Company is Modern Warfare 2 if you replaced the proposterously thick political overtones with dick and fart jokes. Braid is a just plain odd suggestion for Dragon Age: Origins. Batman: Arkham Asylum lets you cripple your enemies by breaking arms and legs. Uncharted 2 lets you shoot… well, everyone who isn’t you. Overlord II has you playing an evil, um… overlord.
What this list tells me is that the Common Sense Media organization did little more than looked at a NPD list and checked it with the ESRB.
via GamePolitics
The Braid suggestion cracked me up. Those two games couldn’t be farther from one another! On top of that, how do you wrap up an XBL game to put under the tree…and not to mention the fact that Braid is a game that is too deep for most kids to understand or to figure. Seriously, if your kid is smart enough to play Braid, than he or she is also mature enough to handle a little violence, sex, and dirty language in a video game.
Brutal Legends with Ghostbusters…WTF? Those are complete opposites! All of them are. Way to go soccer moms!