Hardly any good games for kids. All the best games are Mature rated

[WCP]

As the father of two boys, one 8 and one 11, it's painfully obvious to me that 90 percent of all the best games that are out, for 360 and PS3, are rated M for Mature. This really sucks, because I know of so many good games that I would love to get my kids, or play with my kids, but because of all the cuss words and blood and inappropriate content, etc, etc, I can't get these games for them. The only "mature" games that we let them play are the Halo games. (not sure why the Halo games are rated mature, they seem more like Teen than Mature)


Anyways, I can't tell you how often I'm at Blockbuster with the kids looking to rent them a game, and all the games they are interested in are Mature rated, and I have to repeatedly tell them no. So many of the games are really good too. For example, I think Fallout 3 is an amazing game, but at their current ages I'm just not going to let them play that game. The slow-motion violence sequences are just too graphic, and there are certain parts of the game where the bad words are flying left and right. I'd love them to play Bioshock, but again, there are certain parts of the game where there are tons of F bombs dropped, and quite a bit of blood, etc, etc.

It just seems like all the really half-way decent games are rated Mature. Now, I'm sure that some people are going to bring up games like Rayman Origins or Ratchet and Clank and stuff like that, and they do enjoy games like that a little bit, but they really wish they could play more of the stuff that I'm playing. They don't really seem to be into driving games or sports games, and they would rather play FPS type games, but Teen rated FPS type games are very rare. Even a game like Mirror's Edge, which isn't a typical FPS has tons of curse words in it at certain parts.

I just wish developers would program options in the game where you can play the game in "kids" mode or something like that. It would automatically edit out the curse words, and maybe remove certain graphic cut-scenes and lessen the amount of blood in the game or something along those lines. I've heard that Gears of War 2 and Gears of War 3 have a mode like this, but haven't tried it out yet..

[Parodius Duh!]

look into some of the move games. My buddys son is 8 and loves the shit out of 3d dot game heroes...

[Tron 2.0]

Get them a wii !? Seriously i mean the wii was aimed more at family's while the 360&PS3 was geared towards more teens and adults.

[Porksta]

Skylanders.

[Junkyrdsalesman]

Try timesplitters it's a great FPS for the younger audience

[kupomogli]

Oblivion
Test Drive Unlimited 2
Split Second
Little Big Planet 2
Armored Core 4
Armored Core For Answer
Dark Souls
Demon's Souls
Dragon Ball Raging Blast
3D Dot Game Heroes

Other than the difficulty of the From Software games, I think all these should be safe for kids.

[Emperor Megas]

I just wish developers would program options in the game where you can play the game in "kids" mode or something like that. It would automatically edit out the curse words, and maybe remove certain graphic cut-scenes and lessen the amount of blood in the game or something along those lines. I've heard that Gears of War 2 and Gears of War 3 have a mode like this, but haven't tried it out yet..I've only played the first Gears of War, but don't you still curb stump enemies and hack them to pieces with chainsaws in the sequels? I can't imagine a language or blood filter making a game like Gears' any more accessible for younger audiences if you're put off by that sort of thing.

Honestly, I don't get why, in general, many people find harsh language more objectionable to younger players than garden variety violence like shooting, exploding, and knifing enemies.

[Aussie2B]

Yeah, I think the FPS genre isn't very kid-friendly in general. Not unless it's a really unusual approach to the concept. Even without cursing and gore, it's still pretty violent to run around shooting everything that moves, especially from the first-person perspective where it's more immersive and makes you feel like you yourself are doing the shooting.

[Guyra]

None of these are FPS because, as you said, there aren't many non-mature FPS games around. And definitely not of any substantial quality. Anyway:

How about the Prince of Persia and Tomb Raider games? There are two HD collection triple packs of each for the PS3, and personally I don't find those containing that much "mature" content.

Perhaps some Tekken? Pure fighting games without the brutality of Mortal Kombat?

Other than that... Nintendo got loads of appropriate stuff. Perhaps they'd enjoy The Legend of Zelda series? There are five Zelda titles that can be played on the Wii(backwards compatible with the GameCube, which has tons of great titles).

[Sailorneorune]

Got a few suggestions-

Sonic Generations
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
(thirded) 3D Dot Game Heroes

[Fontaine Le Funk]

Rayman Origins!

[Baloo]

Start 'em off with the NES and as many Disney Capcom-developed platformers as you can find! :)

But I agree, this generation is way too focused on selling to that hardcore 16-25 year old market, especially with the huge number of "Flavor of the month" FPS games. Shame really.

Then again, I think things have been in decline since the Dreamcast left the market and arcade ports were no more, but that's just me...

[The 1 2 P]

Uno
TMNT: The Arcade
X-Men: Arcade
TMNT: Turtles In Time Reshelled

Those are just off the top of my head. As for retail games, Burnout Revenge, Split Second and Kinect Sports(if you have kinect) are all pretty fun for any age.

[Lady Jaye]

The Lego Star Wars/Indiana Jones/Batman/Harry Potter/Pirate of the Carribean games are a good kid-friendly series.

Maybe the Bionic Commando remake? Or Marvel Ultimate Alliance 1 or 2? Or even the Ghostbusters game (excellent on 360 or PS3)...

[Dobie]

Portal 2. Arguably the best game of the year. I second the Lego series. Halo isn't too bad for an "M," as far as shooters go, but that's subjective. You CAN turn off the language and blood in some games. None immediately come to mind, but it can be done at times.

Also, there's plenty of XBLA or PSN games that are appropriate for all ages.

[substantial_snake]

Kids are always going to find what they aren't allowed to have more fascinating then what they can have. That really has nothing to do with the current gaming market and more towards, "what the older kids have is COOL!" mentality that a lot of us have when were young. You can't really do much about that but encourage them to explore titles are fun but don't necessarily have to be violent but those games will always seem cooler to your kids until they get older and can play them themselves.

I'm not sure how much this will really help but I found out that you can search games based on ESRB ratings and by content in the game on their website. It just might help you narrow down specific things your looking for in a game for your kids.

http://www.esrb.org/ratings/index.jsp

[Emperor Megas]

But I agree, this generation is way too focused on selling to that hardcore 16-25 year old market, especially with the huge number of "Flavor of the month" FPS games. Shame really.

Then again, I think things have been in decline since the Dreamcast left the market and arcade ports were no more, but that's just me... Honestly, I'm not seeing the discrepancy. I see tons of games that are age appropriate which older audiences can appreciate.

I'm not really sure what 'the generation being focused on' really even means. There must be thousands of games released this generation, and I'd wager most of them are suitable for general audiences. Most of them are shit, of course, but that's true of all generations, but if even 10% of what's put out is decent, and accessible to all audiences, that's probably more gaming than hours this generation anyone has to play them.

Pretty much any first party Nintendo title is a winner. Moreover, practically every mascot based title and puzzle games are safe bets (quality withstanding). There are some great games on the digital market, like Beyond Good and Evil that have the depth and complexity of an adult targeted title, but are appropriate for kids as well.

[MisterRowland]

We let my seven year old nephew play M rated games but only under adult supervision, usually me playing them with him. He likes playing them but his favorite games on the PS3 are still the Lego games and Ratchet and Clank.

[G-Boobie]

Rayman Origins!

YES.

Seriously. Incredible game.

[retroman]

Rayman..

[Nz17]

I just wish developers would program options in the game where you can play the game in "kids" mode or something like that.

Doesn't Brutal Legend have an option like that in the beginning of the game? As does Duke Nukem 3D in the settings?

Also, try Costume Quest and the Telltale Games downloadable titles.

Captain America: Super Soldier, Thor: God of Thunder, and Shinobi all seem like good choices too. I got those from the ESRB Web site. And why not check the ESRB site for T and E10+ games so you can learn what's out there within their appropriate range? Here's a link (https://www.esrb.org/ratings/search.jsp).

Heck, if you want FPS, try playing the original Tribes game. It is Windows-based, but it is freeware these days. Set up a LAN party with your kids! :)

[WCP]

Start 'em off with the NES and as many Disney Capcom-developed platformers as you can find! :)



Actually, my kids did start off with all the retro games. They played a bunch of Super Nintendo and Genesis games. We also played Saturn and PS1 games. However, once they got their taste of Halo 3, and Halo: ODST and Halo Reach, they basically would only play the Halo games.

They see me playing all kinds of cool games like Fallout 3, Bioshock, etc, etc, but as much as I'd love them to enjoy those games too, the content is just a bit too harsh for their current ages. One of my sons is 11 years old, and I can tell that when he's about 13 or 14 he'll be able to handle things appropriately. The younger one right now is only 8, and he always wants to play what his brother is playing.

When they go over to my Sister-in-Law's house, they are allowed to play Call of Duty. That's the only time my wife will let them play games like Black Ops and MW3. They are only allowed to play the online games, not the story missions.


Anywho, recently the 11 year old wanted to play the GameCube again. He's been playing Mario Kart Double Dash with his brother. They played the heck out of that game a few years back. So they started playing that again, but I'm sure they'll be right back to Halo before long.

For Xmas, I got my 8 year old Enslaved for the Xbox 360. I played that game briefly, and I remember it being a cool game, and I knew it was rated T for Teen. I know there are some other decent Teen rated games that I should look into.

[RCM]

I've never quite understood this argument. Only 6% of games are M-rated (over the past few years) and M-rated games account for something like 15% of the overall traditional market. You and your kids are tough critics if you can barely find anything redeemable in that 94%. A vast majority of my games AREN'T M-rated, and I'm 32.

The average age of a person who plays games today is 37 (in North America), so I don't see the need for devs to offer gore and language filters for games that aren't intended for kids anyway.

[nothingisttrue]

Yeah, I think the FPS genre isn't very kid-friendly in general. Not unless it's a really unusual approach to the concept. Even without cursing and gore, it's still pretty violent to run around shooting everything that moves, especially from the first-person perspective where it's more immersive and makes you feel like you yourself are doing the shooting.

get a used copy of jumping flash for ps1 off amazon/

[Game Hoarder]

They see me playing all kinds of cool games like Fallout 3, Bioshock, etc, etc, but as much as I'd love them to enjoy those games too, the content is just a bit too harsh for their current ages. One of my sons is 11 years old, and I can tell that when he's about 13 or 14 he'll be able to handle things appropriately. The younger one right now is only 8, and he always wants to play what his brother is playing.

When they go over to my Sister-in-Law's house, they are allowed to play Call of Duty. That's the only time my wife will let them play games like Black Ops and MW3. They are only allowed to play the online games, not the story missions.

If they watch you playing all those kinds of games then how is that different from them playing them.

Also, I don't know if you know this, but when they play online games, they are going to be subjected to a lot of curse words on xbox live from a lot of foul mouthed kids.

Maybe you should just talk with them about it and make sure that they understand that it's just a game and you shouldn't do those bad sort of things in real life. When I was a kid I played violent games and I turned out alright.

[WCP]

If they watch you playing all those kinds of games then how is that different from them playing them.

Also, I don't know if you know this, but when they play online games, they are going to be subjected to a lot of curse words on xbox live from a lot of foul mouthed kids.

Maybe you should just talk with them about it and make sure that they understand that it's just a game and you shouldn't do those bad sort of things in real life. When I was a kid I played violent games and I turned out alright.


1. When they see me playing Fallout 3, it's like for a couple of minutes, max. Like, I'll be playing Fallout 3 and they will walk into my room. I don't show them any of the graphic stuff. The only things I've shown them is just wandering around on the wastelands, or exploring certain places. When I get to the part when I have to shoot some guy, I tell them they have to leave the room.

So, while they will see me playing certain games, it's only for a brief period of time, or it's a section of the game that doesn't have any inappropriate content in it.

2. I set up their Xbox accounts so that they are only allowed to voice chat with friends, and I keep tracks of their friends list. They are only allowed to add friends that they know in real life. Kids their age that live in the same town as us.

[WCP]

I've never quite understood this argument. Only 6% of games are M-rated (over the past few years) and M-rated games account for something like 15% of the overall traditional market. You and your kids are tough critics if you can barely find anything redeemable in that 94%. A vast majority of my games AREN'T M-rated, and I'm 32.

The average age of a person who plays games today is 37 (in North America), so I don't see the need for devs to offer gore and language filters for games that aren't intended for kids anyway.

Here is a list of M Rated games that are considered to be very good games. Now, certainly some of these games wouldn't be appropriate for children, regardless if there was gore and language filters, but still, you can get an idea of how many good games are out there that are M rated:

Bioshock
The Orange Box
Mass Effect 1
Mass Effect 2
Read Dead Redemption
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Fallout 3
Dead Space
Dead Space 2
Left 4 Dead
Left 4 Dead 2
Skryim
Rage
Crysis 2
Assassin's Creed
Assassin's Creed 2
Assassin's Creed Brotherhood
Assassin's Creed: Revelations
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Bioshock 2
Red Faction: Guerilla
Vanquish
Mortal Kombat
Just Cause 2
The Darkness
Condemned: Criminal Origins
Alan Wake
Resident Evil 5
Lost Planet
Metro 2033
Battlefield Bad Company 2
Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare
Dead Rising
Far Cry 2
Bulletstorm
Borderlands
Fallout New Vegas
Darksiders
Crackdown
MGS4
God of War III
God of War Collection
Killzone 2
Killzone 3
Heavy Rain
Resistance : Fall of Man
Resistance 3

[nothingisttrue]

how about Monster party for nes???
but seriously, you could try the star wars kotor games, .
the marathon series is also good.
i think the second marathon is available as a dl on xbox live arcade.
halo is basicly IMO marathon for idiots.

[Game Hoarder]

I decided to look through my ps3 games to see what I could find that would fit what you're looking for.

Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe is rated teen, but it has blood, suggestive themes and violence. It's not the best mk game, but it's your best choice for a kid friendly one.

The Lord of the Rings: Conquest is rated teen and only has violence listed. I haven't played it yet, but it's like the Star Wars Battlefront games with lotr.

I have some more teen rated ones, but almost all of them have blood, language and suggestive themes. From the looks of it they're as vulgar as the m rated ones.

[tom]

Get a PC more kids oriented games on PC when compared to consoles.

[RCM]

Here is a list of M Rated games that are considered to be very good games. Now, certainly some of these games wouldn't be appropriate for children, regardless if there was gore and language filters, but still, you can get an idea of how many good games are out there that are M rated:


And I could probably come up with a list five times longer of good games that aren't M-rated. By the way, Lost Planet is T-rated.

[Cornelius]

And I could probably come up with a list five times longer of good games that aren't M-rated. By the way, Lost Planet is T-rated.

You should do that, sounds like it would really help the OP out! Remember he said his kids really like FPS games.

I think this is a tough situation because his kids are just old enough to really be intrigued by the FPS genre and the cool games they've seen him play, but not old enough to 'handle' them (according to him, their parent, and the only voice that matters in that regard). And by their very nature, FPS games are violent. Personally I don't see what advantage turning off gore would offer; in the end you still just shot someone in the head and they died. That's a tougher concept for a kid to be dealing with than the blood, in my opinion.

What games are you primarily offing monsters/aliens/robots instead of people? That's the only direction I think the WCP can look in. Still won't necessarily solve the language issue, but for me that would be easier to address by talking with my kids since they are going to be exposed to language everywhere. Play some George Carlin for them ;).

Last, good job WCP! I'm glad you are being a parent and watching out for your kids. Most people would probably just buy whatever their kids want and have at it as long as it keeps the kids busy.

edit: It has been a while since I played them, but Resistance and Uncharted didn't strike me as being too bad if you can get past the whole 'shooting people till they die' thing (which again, is central to this genre). I certainly didn't have my violence radar on when I played them, though.

[duffmanth]

Stick to Nintendo consoles for the kiddies.

[SamuraiSmurfette]

Here's the problem. Even if you take away the blood, language and sexual content (if any), FPS are almost always going to be rated M because the objective of the game is to put YOU in the perspective of SHOOTING AND KILLING HUMANS.

I personally don't play most FPS's as I just can't get around that. I just can't understand why simulating murder is so popular with most gamers. I can only really ever get into them if they're heavily sci-fi or fantasy based (like Halo, or Borderlands) where there's unrealistic weapons and monsters and aliens to slay.

Having worked gaming retail for over 10 years now, it never stops amazing me how many parents give kids the goriest, nastiest, most realistic games, and get mad at me for potentially suggesting otherwise. And how most of those same parents will FLIP OUT and draw the line if there's a nipple anywhere to be seen.

I just don't understand it.

But, I'm not a parent yet, and I can't tell anyone what their kids can and can not handle. Everyone is different when it comes to maturity levels. I had one kid who came in with his mom to buy GTA, so I mentioned the content descriptors to the mom. She said no, and the kids THREW A FIT, crying screaming and calling her a bitch as she dragged him out of the store. Proving my maturity point right then and there.

TL;DR good on you for taking interest, and only you can decide what your kids are ready for.

Extra link: http://www.gamingwithchildren.com/

[Aussie2B]

I feel like such an oddity that as a kid I never wanted games or movies or whatever until I was already pass the appropriate age. I never bought a Mature-rated game until I was 18 or so (I think my first was Parasite Eve), and I didn't get a Teen-rated game until I was already 14 or so (I think Killer Instinct Gold was my first?) That's just how my tastes in entertainment products naturally went. Even now I mostly play Everyone and Teen-rated games (Teen for the RPGs; Everyone for most everything else I play). Actually, now that I think about it, I bet I can count the number of Mature-rated games that I've beaten on one hand. I've bought plenty, but I just don't often gravitate toward them.

Maybe it has something to do with being a girl.

[MisterJJ]

The difference to me (violence vs language) is that even my six year old knows that it's wrong to kill people in real life. He understands that the "people" he's shooting in the game aren't real. He's not going to pick up a gun (which he doesn't have access to anyway) and start shooting passing motorists.

However, the foul language in the games is real and I would prefer he not be overly exposed to it. Sure, they hear bad language on tv and at Walmart. But not to the extent that he will hear it while playing a game level for the 20th time in the last hour because it's fun and hard and he keeps dying.

Also, I wouldn't suggest that the developer not put the language in the game. But I would be willing to pay more for the same game if it had a filter system on it.

The "it makes it more real" argument falls flat with me, too. If you want reality, they should make the game stop working completely after you die the first time. That would be "reality", but that wouldn't be fun, would it? The excessive language makes the game not fun for me and my family. Why can't we both have what we want for the $60 we pay for a new game?

[duffmanth]

Start 'em off with the NES and as many Disney Capcom-developed platformers as you can find! :)

But I agree, this generation is way too focused on selling to that hardcore 16-25 year old market, especially with the huge number of "Flavor of the month" FPS games. Shame really.

Then again, I think things have been in decline since the Dreamcast left the market and arcade ports were no more, but that's just me...

I completely agree with starting kids off with Disney/Capcom platformers from the NES days, some of my favourite games growing up in the 80's and early 90's. Developers are focused on selling to that 16-25 and older male market because they're the ones who are gonna go out and spend $60 on a game, not a 10 year old or his parents.

[Gameguy]

I feel like such an oddity that as a kid I never wanted games or movies or whatever until I was already pass the appropriate age.
I was pretty much the same way. I remember playing The Neverhood in the store so I asked to get it, but when we got home I noticed it was rated 17+ on the box for some reason so I put it aside planning to wait until I was that age. I ended up never using it so it's still sealed new.

I didn't want to see the Mortal Kombat film because it was rated PG-13 and I wasn't 13 yet, I have no idea why I was like that back then.

[jdc]

Duffman happens to know my 10 yr old son and I personally. We were working in the videogame industry together when my son was born. Videogames have been a part of his life since day one. I allow my son to play anything that does not contain sexual content. We also keep the voice chat turned off when he's online. I firmly believe that it is important to restrict game content based on the individual nature of the child. My son is a straight A student who knows that games are fantasy. He is a bright and happy child who just also happens to hold his own on the Black Ops leaderboards. (it's highly likely that the jerk who keeps fragging you IS my 10 year old) ;) He tends to change genres as his mood dictates. One minute he's online playing an FPS, the next time he's playing Paper Mario on the Wii. He polices himself.

[Dr. BaconStein]

Will they at least play rail shooters? Pokemon Snap and Starfox 64 are pretty old, but if they still play retro games, it may be enough to hold their attention for a while. There's also the Metroid Prime series. If they're not afraid to try different genres, there are plenty of great E to T-rated games out there. You just need to know where to look. I don't play many M-Rated games myself...

[WCP]

There's also the Metroid Prime series.

That's a really good idea. I showed that game to them quite some time back, but now maybe they would really like it.

[Sunnyvale]

I haven't played it, but I keep hearing great things about Arkham City, and it's a Teen game. Sounds like it's along the lines of the OP's kids' tastes.

[NayusDante]

Minecraft. Just put them in front of Minecraft on a LAN and tell them to build something. Walk away and come back later.

If they like that, try Kodu. It's a free download from Microsoft, and it's a teaching tool for programming. There's an easy terrain editor and the usual arcade-ish game characters and objects to place in levels, but the real fun comes in the visual logic system. It's sort of like Little Big Planet, but more open-ended.

A lot of the stuff I played at that age isn't quite as accessible as they'd be used to. King's Quest V and VI might be worth checking out. Same with Day of the Tentacle and Loom. If you don't mind a little profanity, check The Dig.

I have no idea how the kids these days would take to Myst, but that was when I first played it. Then again, I liked to read a lot and solve puzzles.

Space sims like the X series would be good, if not for the daunting controls.

Portal is great, but you might want to make sure they understand the concept of "dark humor" first. If they go around quoting GlaDOS out of context, it could be horribly misconstrued. ("...and then we decided to murder you. That was great.")

I wish there was something like Zelda on Windows. You have The Elder Scrolls, but that's not quite what I'm thinking of. Oblivion isn't too bad, if you don't mind the mild profanity and decaying zombies. From what I remember, they only changed the rating to M after the game was released and the ESRB saw the zombies.

On the console side of things (modern, at least), there's not as much. Katamari is great if you don't mind the absurdity. If you can tolerate the epitome of anime nonsense, FFXIII is... something to do.

Going back a bit, Goldeneye on 64 might be fun if they play Halo. There's a little more to it than just shooting everything, you have to find things and plant bombs, etc.. The multiplayer is endless fun.

I feel like the older games were for everybody. Somewhere in the 90s, there came a strong distinction between what's for kids and what's for adults, but the quality shifted to the adult side of things. By the time stuff like Spyro and Crash Bandicoot hit, I wasn't really interested in that bright and colorful aesthetic anymore.

I wish there was a shift toward games like Ico. Strong emphasis on quality, but accessible by all ages. Not dismissible as a kids game, not restricted to adults. Kids don't want to play with cartoon characters forever, but all they have to choose from are too-adult games. We need more middleground.