Games for the kids

Note: Michael Abbott, of The Brainy Gamer, wrote a great post recently on the state of E-rated games, and the implications of that state for the industry. His post, and the comments which followed, really resonated with me, so I thought I would post my response on my blog. You can read the original post and the comments here.

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Well, Michael, you almost make me want to go out and start a “critical review of kid’s games” site – all I need is a good business model. I think David S. hit on something really important that I don’t think many people think about – when kids look back at the games they remember nostalgically, it will be :gasp: licensed games and “me too” movie games. Horrifying, no? But then I think of the games I remember from my own childhood, and a good half of them were just as horrible (and just as licensed)… see most Disney-based SNES games, alongside any non-Disney licensed platformer (Rocko’s Modern Life anyone?) I still remember and love the good games that I played (and the SNES still has the lion’s share of amazing games), but that doesn’t negate all the mediocre-to-bad games I played and maybe, just maybe, enjoyed.

This observation elicits two responses from me. First, I think, “we should push for good games, so our kids will remember the good stuff”, and have classics to look back on that weren’t ten years outside of their play range on release (given the recent trends towards all the “classic” games earning M ratings). On the other hand, I honestly wonder if this is (sadly) the way that the industry (and nostalgia) work. I have a good friend, who is critical of games’ flaws, but he enjoys playing licensed movie games of Marvel characters. He realizes that they aren’t that great, but he puts up with it because it is the only way for him to enjoy something based on his favorite (non-game) franchises. And I know that David’s 22 year old friend would roll his eyes at that as well, but like Leigh pointed out several weeks ago, we “gamers” are maybe one percent of all gamers. Sometimes I think we serve as an echo chamber, trying to enact change or self-consciously define our favorite games as “important”, but going about it in such a way that alienates mainstream gamers (and most non-gamers) and only reinforces our own sense of superiority or “class”.

I guess, if I could summarize this “tl;dr” worthy post, I would say that gaming, as many have suggested, needs a Pixar (and I wonder if Warren Spector’s “this will piss so many people off” upcoming game might be the start): games that are fun across age groups, without pandering to either category. Maybe it won’t sell to the Gears crowd, but then again, as the Wii has shown, there is so much more to gaming than the Gears crowd, and I don’t think any one group should hold the monopoly on games’ “importance”. Here’s to hoping we can find a balance (and maybe echo chamber in that sort of useful direction).

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Feel free to read and chime in here, or for more fun, over on The Brainy Gamer.