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..