My son (11) is buying himself an XBOX 360 (graduating from Wii). Some of the games he is most interested in are Call of Duty and Gears of War. I know basically nothing about video games that came out after 1990. I'm trying to gauge what these games are like and how much of an irresponsible parent I am letting him play them. How bad is the violence? Also, what is the deal with the language? Anything else I should be concerned about? Pretty much everything else on his list is probably OK (Batman Arkham City is a "T" game, so I am assuming that is acceptable). Thanks in advance.
For games like COD and Battlefield.... Guns, knives, very obvious blood. People getting killed, sometimes you see people getting gutted or body parts chopped off. It's not Barney and Friends, that's for sure. If you play the campaign, there is strong language used regularly. If you let him play online, he will be exposed to a lot of assholes who don't know anything more than being ignorant. I'd hold off a few more years.
You seem like a good guy and, I'd assume, an excellent father. If he isn't already hearing language akin to what he'll hear in the game on the playground, he will shortly. The violence I can understand as a concern. I'm personally of the mindset that because the vast majority of gamers don't run out and actually shoot people, it likely doesn't have a profound effect. The other thing to keep in mind is that if he's cognizant of these games, there's a chance he's already played them at a friend's house. That's precisely how I broke into more violent games about that age. My parents wouldn't buy them for me at that point.
Would you let him watch saving private Ryan or any other graphic war movie? If you would he will be fine with the single player. Online with the headsets can get a little dicey but that's more of a wht you make of it scenario. I cant remember the last time I got cursed out by some random on Xbox live because I only talk to people I know.
I know he is exposed the language already....I'm not overly concerned about that. I also know that he has also played both GOW and COD at a friends house. This friend has totally irresponsible parents and the kid is pretty much a dick. I can't stop him from playing there....and he doesn't go there very often. I'm not concerned about him going Columbine, but I'm not sure he needs to be exposed that that level of violence on a daily basis. I just watched a video of GOW on youtube and the chainsawing of other soldiers is probably a little too intense. Are there any really cool games that don't involve gratuitous violence?
As far as movies go, I am OK with fantasy violence (like LOTR), but Saving Private Ryan is a little more intense than I would let him watch.
Arkham asylum is cool then. Also give Uncharted 1,2, and 3 a try. It will likely tap into his adventurous side a little more and he would probably like it.
meh....I'm sure there were plenty of us that were 11-13 when mortal kombat came out. in fact, i was 10-11 when i first got mortal kombat for the genesis. never thought it was a big deal. there was another game i used to play in the arcades when i was young..it was called time killers. imho i don't think it's that big a deal especially with how kids are desensitized to this stuff.
My son is 9 and plays them all at friends houses, so I relented and let him have them at home too since there was no putting that toothpaste back in the tube. Also, my husband likes to play those games, and plays with him a lot, somehow that makes it feel a little better for me for some reason. I will say though... that when he first was allowed to play them, he wanted to play CONSTANTLY and I do think the games altered his behavior and made him angrier. He now is only allowed to play on weekends, and his behavior changed right away when we cut way down on game time. Medal of Honor and Ghost Recon games are slightly less violent.... but he plays those on ps3, not sure if they have them for xbox too. The kids mostly use the xbox with kinect games.
So, in doing a little research it sounds like Halo Reach is a game in the same mode as GOW/COD, but much less violent. I'm thinking if he gets Halo Reach, Batman - AC and then a couple things like FIFA Soccer, Madden, Kinect Sports, Kinect Star Wars (I know it isn't out yet), and Skylander: Sypro's Adventure, or maybe Portal 2 (although it looks difficult)....he would be happy. I'm also thinking about getting him a year's subscription to gamefly. Any thoughts on Reach?
Also read that GOW 3 has a gore and language filter.....not sure how well that works. Probably still a no-go.
Reach is a solid shooter. Anything negative you would hear about it is based on how it stacks up to past halo's more than anything else.
Reach is decent and the difficulty level isn't that high so he should be able to have some fun without smashing the controller on the ground or through the wall. Not too much to worry about as far as explicit content.
The first time you turn on Call of Duty they ask if you would like to filter content... for what its worth.
Ended up getting: Halo Reach (only M game) Batman Arkham City Madden 12 Fifa Soccer 12 Kinect Sports And 6 months of XBOX Live He should be happy.
If he isn't happy show him a picture of kids his age not even having food in africa, asia etc... -.-" That said yeah he'll be fne with those games... don't know about the kinetic and Batman but the other are pretty cool!