|
From the Wusses:
Tone it Down
by Emily
Article
Discussion Forum
I'll be the first to admit that I'm kind of a wuss. I never
enjoyed horror movies when I was growing up, mostly because the only
time my imagination really seemed to work was late at night when I
knew that my bladder was going to force me out of bed and into the
arms of whatever beastie was lurking under my bed or around the corner.
I've also never been big on blood. Sure, I used to watch my
brother dismember opponent after opponent in Mortal Kombat, and I
was a Street Fighter II champion myself, but I was mostly in it for
the feeling of dominance that is so difficult for a scrawny person
like myself to come by. Now, however, I've got a new excuse
to hide behind, or rather, three of them: my kids.
 Yes,
I am a gamer mother, an entirely different species from your average
the-more-blood-the-
better-do-you-want-to-see-me-take-his-head-
off-again gamer. Every time I sit down to play a game, I've
got two little boys, ages four and six, that are instantly glued
to my side, and I fully expect my daughter to be the same way once
she's old enough to understand what's going on. The boys are
my cheering section, my advice givers, and occasionally my critics
("Mom! You died AGAIN!").
Unfortunately, the gaming industry seems to be paying more attention
to the stronger-
stomached crowd, and those same people also seem to like mostly-naked
women to show up as often as possible, too. (Forcing me to take
a break from the game-play to critique their outfits and wonder
if I could look like that even after major surgery, which really
slows down the game.) From those of us with small kids and
a low gross-out point, though, could you tone it down, please?
 And
stop hijacking games that started out innocent enough and turning
them into stuff that's going to keep my six year old (O.k., and
me too, I'll admit it.) up at night? Case in point: Jak and Daxter.
We bought the first one when it came out, and I loved it.
The kids got a kick out of Daxter's antics, and we all enjoyed the
lush scenery and the gameplay. The Powers That Be at the Naughty
Dog company, however, apparently felt that the first game hadn't
been tough enough to please the teenage crowd, so the second and
third installments featured a much harder, pottier-mouthed Jak along
with the obligatory mostly-naked female characters.
 The
same thing happened to the Prince of Persia series, too: the first
game was fairly clean, but the second had the Prince hacking and
slashing his way through the levels in a way that would make Blood
Rayne proud. I know it would be unrealistic of me to suggest
that the gaming industry would stop making violent video games altogether,
although I wish it would, but don't forget us! We promise
to buy the ones we like! (And don't think you can win us over
with games like the crappy Barbie adventure for the GBA! "Inoffensive"
does not always equal "good.")
I've owned every Zelda game to ever come out, and my kids are trying
to decide if they want to be Mario or Sly Cooper when they grow
up! I just would rather have my kids pretend to throw fire-flower
bombs than pitch a claw through someone's chest, and if my daughter
grows up and decides she needs to start looking like most video-game
women, I see many hours of counseling ahead of us. (For her father,
who is going to be tempted to lock her away Rapunzel-style when
she hits puberty as it is.) There ARE families that enjoy
gaming together, we DO exist, and we want your games! Just
don't overdo it. I'm too old for a nightlight.
|
