My dear friend John passed me a link to a recent article on Ars Technica. Raising a Healthy Gamer: Seven Tips for Parents offers some good common sense insights and some excellent references. The author’s first recommendation really struck home. He suggested that parents make time to take an active role in the gaming lives of their children. He expounded with the following:
Even if you aren’t always there when your child or children plays a game, putting an hour or two into the game when it’s first opened up will give you a great idea about what kind of content you can expect to see in the game. Watch your child’s body language, because games can evoke strong emotions and reactions in those playing them.
The article has a number of other excellent observations and they all stem from the fact that parents are the best judges of whether or not content is appropriate for their children. That requires time and involvement…which pretty much defines parenting.
If you get a chance, point your browser in their direction. It will be time well-invested.
For those of you who know what Ico is and have enjoyed Shadow of the Colossus, this information is golden. Check out the details from PlayStationLifestyle.net HERE. For those who don’t know what these games are, feel free to follow the Wikipedia links that I have provided. But please understand that the beauty of these games is not to be captured in still images or descriptions. Team Ico creates living breathing worlds where you want to discover what lies around each corner. Their use of soundscapes and music envelops the player within the environment. Simply put, their experiences are truly immersive.
If your curiosity hasn’t been piqued, take a look at the following video…
Both of the original titles from Team Ico have an ESRB T rating. Though there is a fairytale quality to these experiences, they provide some moral questions and have environments and situations which I believe could be a bit haunting for the younger ones in the household. See what you think before you present it to your family. Although I believe that like many of the good books or wonderful films I’ve enjoyed over the years, the experience of playing these titles has made my life richer and I heartily recommend them to all. As for the latest in the series, I’m downright giddy!
A couple of years ago as we were approaching the Holiday 2007 Season, Chris and I shared THIS POST highlighting the parental controls for the three major home consoles. We didn’t list instructions for the Nintendo DS because the system doesn’t have any. The reason is that for the most part, there weren’t any ESRB M-Rated North American NDS releases. Since then, a few have crept into the pool. Considering that there are close to 1000 titles domestically available, the dozen or so M-Rated titles have been of little issue. However, Rockstar North has changed that.
With the release of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, the DS has a Mature title that many will want to play (even though some probably shouldn’t). In fact, Rockstar Games’ site highlights THIS LINK to MetaCritic as proof that Chinatown Wars is “the best game to ever hit the Nintendo DS™.” I have clocked-in about 4 hours with the title at this point and I must say that their boast is not unfounded. This game is quite an extraordinary experience for the DS.
To give you a little taste, here’s the trailer for the game:
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There are two important messages that we want to drive home here:
GTA Chinatown Wars is a great game.
GTA Chinatown Wars is not a great game for everyone.
As an adult, I enjoyed the wry sense of humor and typical violence for which the Grand Theft Auto franchise is known. Within the first hour of gameplay, the writers had incorporated the “f-bomb” repeatedly, the protagonist had his masculinity questioned on an “exotic film” set, and the experience included hot-wiring cars, buying/selling drugs, and killing a dozen or so characters. And the use of the touch screen on the DS for creating Molotov cocktails felt like WarioWare gone really bad.
I can heartily recommend this title for those old enough in your family to know the difference between right and wrong and want to have a little fun without hurting anyone. However, keep in mind that if you have younger ones with access to the DS, this title cannot be locked out with parental controls. The DS doesn’t provide that feature.
Well, one of the cutest franchises on the PSP is back. The infectiously cute characters, sounds, and music have come back for more in LocoRoco 2. What’s even better is this E-rated title is available new for $19.99, whereas the original released at the full $39.95 price.
A number of reputable reviewers have given the title high praise including Game Informer magazine which gave it a 9.25 out of 10. The classic gameplay uses the same tilt approach as the original and offers hours of fun for kids of all ages. The primary colors and fun music will make it hard to identify the kids from the parents once this one starts up. And at this price, it’s hard to pass up.
First – DISCLAIMER – The two titles that I’ll be talking about here are both rated M by the ESRB and are not intended for individuals under the age of 17 years. (You should be able to see the “M” pretty clearly on the covers above!) Having said this, these two Capcom titles are really quite impressive for the older members of your family. They are not recent releases, but they’re currently available new at GameStop for $9.99 each!
Resident Evil 4 (available HERE for $9.99) was originally developed for the Gamecube and was released subsequently for the PS2 and the Wii. Many believe that upon it’s release, RE4 was the most impressive entry to this survival horror franchise and all versions are something to behold. The PS2 version even offers 16:9 480p support for those of you with component cables on your PS2s or backward compatible PS3s. If you’re (not so) patiently waiting for the next installment for the Xbox 360 and PS3, this could keep you creeped out until RE5 hits the store shelves on March 13th.
If you prefer your gaming to be steeped in action rather than horror, you’ll find Devil May Cry 3 (available HERE for $9.99) a treat. This release offers a form of redemption to the franchise. Though the original Devil May Cry was an instant classic on the PS2, the sequel fell a bit flat and lost the sense of style and over-the-top action that had made the first release so compelling. However, DMC 3 brought the thrill back and abandoned the less creative level design and redundancy that plagued the second incarnation. Furthermore, the “Greatest Hits” version of this PS2 title provides even more content. It is a “Special Edition” complete with the ability to play the game as Dante’s brother Vergil, a more forgiving “continue” system, and a less strenuous difficulty overall. The one complaint that many had about the original release of DMC 3 was that it was just too hard. For better or worse, this is no longer the case.
As I said before, these titles are not for the younger ones in the household. But if you have an older teen, or if you yourself are looking for a reason to dust off the PS2 and you missed these when they first released, both titles are an undeniable bargain at this price.
Well, one of the cutest franchises on the PSP is back. The infectiously cute characters, sounds, and music have come back for more in 