Where a decent chap overcomplicates Call of Duty

[feilong80]

Similar to ECM's earlier "respond to this" article, I present to you:

www.destructoid.com/why-do-the-kids-love-call-of-duty--204608.phtml

I know ECM hates Destructoid but I do like Jonathan Holmes. He's fun to read. But here I think he gets way too deep into why kids like CoD.

It is really very simple: kids, especially boys, like guns and blowing crap up. If their parents let them play CoD at young ages, and they like it (which they WOULD), it is because it is like army men... in a grand scale*

Personally I hope my kiddos stay off that kinda stuff until at least 12 or 13, and even then it would be pretty monitored. Of course, this reminds me of playing Contra when I was 8 or whatever, and my sister sent a letter to Nintendo saying she "worried about me becoming violent." They wrote her back! And told her to piss off! Just kidding. They just sent a form letter with a bunch of non-violent games listed for me to try. I was ashamed.



*Making no comment on the quality of these games

[ECM]

Jul 10, 2011 23:31:39 GMT -5 feilong80 said:

It is really very simple: kids, especially boys, like guns and blowing crap up. If their parents let them play CoD at young ages, and they like it (which they WOULD), it is because it is like army men... in a grand scale*

Close the thread, we have a winner. (And stop giving Destructoid traffic.)

[kog3100edw]

You have the power to KEEP your kids off that stuff, Fei.

I didn't let my oldest start in on FPS games until he was twelve, and that was with Halo, relatively bloodless (comparitively), and from that point on the headshot-happy games have been doled out sparingly and after I thoroughly vet them (thru research not play) for content.

So basically no Call of Duty or anything like that yet. Not only has this controlled the amount of violence, drugs, etc that pours past his eyes, but it has forced him to go to other game styles for his entertainment. Consequently he has, for a pre-teen, a MUCH broader appreciation than his friends and classmates.

[kog3100edw]

I should add that, if you've read my blog to any real length you'd find that I, myself, don't cotton to censorship and indulge in some of the most transgressive shit imaginable in terms of music, film, and books.

But rather than make me permissive it has had the opposite effect and made me VERY aware of content, and impelled me to measure it out in manageable age-appropriate doses.