E10/E game advice for PS3

[taks]

allrighty then. my son's birthday is tomorrow and he will be 6 (yay!). i have not shopped for this event, yet (boo!). i know what he's getting mostly, and it has been left to me to head out into the snow storm today to buy his bday gifts. one of the things on john's list is a new E/E10 game. right after xmas he was banned from anything T or above (too bad, because he was kicking butt on devil may cry 4), which basically cut his actual game world in half, and nearly eliminated his potential game world since the PS3 doesn't have much of a selection.

 

anyway, i need some advice on what might be good for him. he's good, btw, so complex games aren't a problem. he already has two of the lego games (indiana jones and star wars), little big planet, walle, kung fu panda (he beat it yesterday, apparently), and some other game he rarely plays and i can't remember (little guy with spiked hair that runs all over the place). lego batman is certainly on the table, but i wanted something else since the lego theme is getting old. basically, what's good other than what i've mentioned (LBP is supposed to be the best on all platforms, btw)?

 

thoughts?

 

taks

Edited April 17, 2009 by taks

[taks]

oops, wrong forum. fionavar or some other mod, could you move this to either the computer game thread or WOT, please?

 

thanks,

 

taks

[Stephanie Newland]

Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction! You'll enjoy it at least as much as he will, too.

[taks]

ooh, yeah. it seems like he borrowed a ratchet and clank game from a friend, once and loved it. thanks.

 

taks

[Calax]

Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction! You'll enjoy it at least as much as he will, too.

Ratchet and clank are good. LBP is one of the best games I've seen recently. If you can find a PS2 you could pick up all the Jak and Ratchet games pretty cheaply (GREAT platformers).

 

Also Ratchet has some DLC and I think another game coming out soon (dlc is already out)

[taks]

i ended up getting the ratchet and clank one. stephanie!

 

i also got lego batman for the DS. that'll keep the bugger happy for a while. he's replaying kung fu panda right now. go figure. i also picked up a slot car set. should be interesting.

 

taks

[Deadly_Nightshade]

How about Viva Pinata?

[Hurlshort]

How about Viva Pinata?

 

I believe that is only on the 360.

[Deadly_Nightshade]

How about Viva Pinata?

 

I believe that is only on the 360.

 

Oh, I thought it got ported to the PS3 at the same time as they ported it for Windows.

[Nightshape]

Right after xmas he was banned from anything T or above (too bad, because he was kicking butt on devil may cry 4),

 

Is confused by this statement... Infact it hurts my brain.

[ramza]

No offense meant, but why do you absolutely have to buy him a video game? What's wrong with today's kids? Can't they have fun in a more traditional way?

 

I got my first console (NES) when I was 8 (in 1990). Why do kids nowadays get to play their first video game at the age of 4 or 5? I do find this a bit unhealthy. There are so many alternatives out there: action figures, toy soldiers, board games, etc. Video games can become an addiction at such a young age, so it's better to teach our children multiple ways of entertaining themselves. Sure, they can play video games but they should learn other games as well. My main prob is that video games make children less sociable (in the sense that most games are played in solo and that it is preferable to play games that require other people as well).

[Morgoth]

Yeah, buy him a Lego castle.

[Hurlshort]

The best thing my parents ever did was to limit my video game time to weekends only, so I understand what ramza is saying.

 

But I'm sure taks son is getting plenty of outdoor activity time as well.

[Calax]

The best thing my parents ever did was to limit my video game time to weekends only, so I understand what ramza is saying.

 

But I'm sure taks son is getting plenty of outdoor activity time as well.

at their most draconian my parents made it so that I could only look at a screen for 30 minutes on a weekend and never on a weekday unless they said so.

 

was annoying as hell because they were extending it to friends houses (when I was in middle/highschool).

 

Anyway, for the kid I'd suggest a nintendo system. those are much easier to find childrens games for Taks.

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

I'd recommend Little Big Planet, I'm just not sure he'd like it.

[taks]

No offense meant, but why do you absolutely have to buy him a video game? What's wrong with today's kids? Can't they have fun in a more traditional way?

because i want to. he's finished, or nearly finished, all of his other video games. read my post above.

 

I got my first console (NES) when I was 8 (in 1990). Why do kids nowadays get to play their first video game at the age of 4 or 5?

because it isn't 1990, and the gaming industry is much larger. i didn't play my first real video game till i was a teenager because nothing other than pong existed till then.

 

I do find this a bit unhealthy. There are so many alternatives out there: action figures, toy soldiers, board games, etc. Video games can become an addiction at such a young age, so it's better to teach our children multiple ways of entertaining themselves. Sure, they can play video games but they should learn other games as well. My main prob is that video games make children less sociable (in the sense that most games are played in solo and that it is preferable to play games that require other people as well).

he has all that, too, and plays with his other stuff on a regular basis. no more than 1 hour a day on video games. he's also an only child with no prospects for friends in our neighborhood, so he doesn't have the luxury of playmates outside of school. playing all the other things by himself gets a little boring after a while.

 

john gets some outdoor time, but not enough in my opinion. we have him in soccer on M/W, and i think he'll be starting some form of karate this summer. he's going to be in various outdoor day camps all summer long as well. in general, outdoor time is difficult to muster in CO through the winter other than skiing, which we do rather often - next season he's going to be skiing twice a week probably for most of the year. once the summer rolls around, we'll get to bike more (i need it, too), and there are plans for a few other sports. should be a good time.

 

taks

[taks]

Is confused by this statement... Infact it hurts my brain.

believe it or not, he actually began to act out the more violent games at school. in particular i think it was uncharted, which is "real" people shooting "real" guns. we just leveled everything at E10 or below for now. there's plenty of violence in many of these games, but it is cartoonish, and he does seem to know the difference.

 

taks

[Nightshape]

Is confused by this statement... Infact it hurts my brain.

believe it or not, he actually began to act out the more violent games at school. in particular i think it was uncharted, which is "real" people shooting "real" guns. we just leveled everything at E10 or below for now. there's plenty of violence in many of these games, but it is cartoonish, and he does seem to know the difference.

 

taks

 

I was actually thinking of the moral ambiguity involved with allowing a young child to play adult/teen games. He's your child and you can expose him to whatever you'd like to expose him to in my opinion. It doesn't surprise me that he was acting out the violence at school, I believe it would have the same effect on any child, that said I don't believe that it effects older less impressionable late teens/adults in the same way.

 

Would you let your child watch an R rated movie? So why would you let your child play an R rated game? I just don't get it.

 

It doesn't make sense to me, I don't think you're wrong, I'm making no judgement, my initial thought was that you were thinking he was too young to be effected. I do think you've made the right decision.

[Hurlshort]

I believe the comparison is more of a teen +13 game and a PG-13 movie, not R and Mature. I doubt his kid is playing GTA4.

 

But there are a ton of different angles to this argument. The stuff on TV can be pretty terrible as well, even the cartoons. taks was making the observation that cartoon violence seems to affect his son differently. But some kids probably shouldn't watch or play either, and every kid matures at a different rate, so taks will have to decide when his child is ready to play the older titles again.

 

The real issue is so many parents are completely uninvolved in what their child is doing.

[taks]

I was actually thinking of the moral ambiguity involved with allowing a young child to play adult/teen games.

it depends. he's good with "fantasy" violence and related. it was the realistic stuff, particularly uncharted, that seemed to have the effect. at first he was not allowed to play it, but he was handling all the other games fine so i gave in a bit. obviously i had to change my mind.

 

IMO, except for a few racy scenes (all pre-pubescent drool worthy stuff), i wouldn't rate DMC4 an M game. maybe he curses, too, and that's why... i don't remember. the violence in uncharted, however, involves real people and plausible situations, not some fantasy world with monsters (well, as far as i had played).

 

It doesn't surprise me that he was acting out the violence at school, I believe it would have the same effect on any child, that said I don't believe that it effects older less impressionable late teens/adults in the same way.

i don't know, actually, if it was truly the games or not (there is more to the story than i've told). that was simply our first response in hopes of solving the problem. i grew up playing cowboys and indians with "real" guns, and it was never a problem. times are different, of course, so when a kid is "shooting" an imaginary gun in school, it is considered a bad thing. if you think about it, even the lego games are violent: you're running around with a blaster or light saber whacking things. they aren't realistic, however, so maybe that's the difference.

 

Would you let your child watch an R rated movie? So why would you let your child play an R rated game? I just don't get it.

depends. most, no, some, yes. he likes horror flicks (vampires), oddly enough, though i don't think he's watched any unedited. i don't let him watch family guy because their jokes are not subtle, but futurama's jokes are. if there's actual blood and guts i'll probably switch channels. listening to me talk is an R-rated movie by itself, and the boy regularly chides me for it (my moral compass is 6 now).

 

either way, whether cutting out the games helped or not (it was not the only change in our lives), he has basically gotten over all of his issues.

 

taks

[ramza]

ahhhhh, the "joys" of raising a kid...

[Hurlshort]

My daughter loves watching Family Guy with me, but she's only 2. Still, I'll probably have to cut her off from it soon. It's a shame, because the music numbers are always fantastic and that's what she digs.

[Calax]

My daughter loves watching Family Guy with me, but she's only 2. Still, I'll probably have to cut her off from it soon. It's a shame, because the music numbers are always fantastic and that's what she digs.

eh.. she'll probably find funner numbers in stuff like Sesame street

[taks]

family guy is mostly OK for those under 3 or 4, though some of the episodes are bad even for that age. above that, however, the squirts are smart enough to ask questions that you won't be ready to answer. that's partly why i settled on futurama, because most of the jokes are much more subtle (though not all) requiring almost teenage level of comprehension before the kids will even ask the questions you don't want to answer, which by that time, you should be ready to answer.

 

on a side note, my buddy has a son that just turned 17 (in january, john's babysitter no less). he actually had an issue with the kid learning to drive and playing the driving games. i can see that direct link, however, since he was in the process of learning something new and it was getting corrupted by a semi-realistic computer game that required completely different mechanics than the real world learning. he was literally jerking the car around every turn or lane change. that game went away and things improved immediately.

 

the moral of the story: they were paying attention and put a stop to the issue before it became a real problem.

 

taks

[Krookie]

family guy is mostly OK for those under 3 or 4, though some of the episodes are bad even for that age. above that, however, the squirts are smart enough to ask questions that you won't be ready to answer. that's partly why i settled on futurama, because most of the jokes are much more subtle (though not all) requiring almost teenage level of comprehension before the kids will even ask the questions you don't want to answer, which by that time, you should be ready to answer.

 

on a side note, my buddy has a son that just turned 17 (in january, john's babysitter no less). he actually had an issue with the kid learning to drive and playing the driving games. i can see that direct link, however, since he was in the process of learning something new and it was getting corrupted by a semi-realistic computer game that required completely different mechanics than the real world learning. he was literally jerking the car around every turn or lane change. that game went away and things improved immediately.

 

the moral of the story: they were paying attention and put a stop to the issue before it became a real problem.

 

taks

 

I just turned 17 last November and got my license, can't say video games made it difficult to drive necessarily, but I do remember wanting to ram into people's cars at traffic lights GTA style. Oh I also had an urge to pick up hookers and then kill them.