Change of plans in this one: this one just isn’t for us as in us gamers. See, this is the time of year when people are shopping for presents. Many of those presents will be games and many of those games will be going to young kids new to the hobby, which means those people buying the games will probably be new to game shopping. Since one of my myriad day jobs includes video game retail, I’ve noticed a lot of the same questions and concerns keep cropping up. So this blog is for them: the game buying, gift givers of the world. I want to help them out so I’m going to keep the language soft, have less sarcastic jokes and the atmosphere jolly and I would like you guys to go ahead and send the link to every game shopping mum, dad, uncle, aunt, grandparent that you know. We’re all in this together after all. The ‘for everyone else’ portion of this blog starts…now.

Hi folks. Happy holidays. I’m here to answer a few questions and provide some enlightenment as some of you head out into the strange and often confusing world of video game shopping. First, let me try and save you some money right off the bat: video games based on movies are not good. Are there exceptions? Sure, just not many of them. See, a good game takes about three years to make in comparison to a good movie with a development time of (at most) two years. If the game of the movie comes out at exactly the same time as the movie itself, usually it means they rushed it. Most of these titles are very expensive because they are based on popular franchises, but you can find something very similar and often better for less money. For example, the Pirates of the Caribbean games are not very good but Zack and Wiki (which is also a pirate game) is great!

Now let’s talk about content and let me say very clearly I’m not here to tell you what is or is not appropriate for your kid. Your kid is your kid and whatever you say is appropriate for them, is. All I can give you is information and a small taste of my opinion.

PEGI[1]

This is the PEGI rating system- it’s like the movie rating system, but for videogames. 3+ is for 3+ and above 7+ is for 7 years olds and above and 18+ is adults only. These ratings are for content, not playing ability. There is no indicator telling you what skill level a kid needs to play a game. Note that games sold in the UK also have the BBFC ratings as well- these are the ones you see on movie posters and they mean the same thing on game covers.

These ratings are very, very strict. A movie that would be a PG13 as a movie would be a 12+ in video game form. Take for instance, the Legend of Zelda: it’s a fairy tale where you save a princess from monsters; not a shred more violent than any similar fairy tale in the Walt Disney catalogue, but it gets a 12+ rating. Why? Because Link looks recognisably human and he carries a sword. Realistic weapons and realistic people are pretty much an instant 12+ with the PEGI system. In my opinion, as a games critic and sales person, if a kid has seen any of the Harry Potter movies and you found those appropriate for them, then there is nothing in any game rated from 3+ to 12+ that shouldn’t be objectionable. 16+ is going to have blood and nudity and some curse words, possibly all three; buy at your own preference.

‘Which ones are educational? I don’t want them to be sitting around mindlessly’. This is a common question; I understand: to you, video games are somewhat faintly frightening and alien. You’re concerned at introducing them to kids or encouraging the habit further. In most cases, this is because the person is ill-informed, not by their own action but by the alarmist media- games have been called a distraction, a crutch and even an addiction. This is misinformation and acting upon this misinformation, people search for those ‘educational’ games. Doing so will frustrate you, seeing as educational games are very rare and not very good and have a high chance of being a waste of money as these games are made by people who have tapped into the parents’ insecurity of games- your kids don’t want these games and you don’t want to waste your money on them. Cramming a disk full of maths problems isn’t going to stimulate the kid in the long term.

But here’s the real cruncher of an opinion. All games are educational. You think I’m being facetious now, you think this is gamer propaganda or at the least I’m being hyperbolic or presumptuous seemingly to know what you think…I think. Well, I’m not; I believe this. No, scratch that; I know this and I can prove it. All video games, irrespective of genre or style have one thing in common: problem solving. How do I get from point A to point B? How am I going to beat this guy? Where do I go next? Everything is either a maze or an obstacle course. Take for example Pokemon. This game runs on what is called a ‘turn based’ combat system. During a battle, the opponents each have a certain number representing there endurance level. They each take turns to inflict various attacks, all of which have a numerical value of their own and effects the combatant by lowering their overall number based on mitigating factors that are also represented numerically. First guy to hit 0 loses. Thus, Pokemon is, in effect, a maths game with a narrative structure involving magic creatures; it’s maths…shh, don’t tell them!

Let’s do a hard one this time to prove my point: Grand Theft Auto. Am I suggesting this game is appropriate or your kid? Heck no! I don’t believe this game is appropriate for any kid I’m just using it as the most extreme example to make a point. In the GTA games, you have to complete the story and to do so you need to accomplish various criminal missions spread out over a massive cityscape. However, the game will never tell you how to accomplish a goal. For example: you have to replace a car with one rigged with a bomb. On my first attempt, I failed to drive the replica to its location in time thus failing the mission. Taking a different route on the second attempt, I moved the original car and tried to park the replica- I had not left enough room so I scratched the car and failed the mission. What did this teach me? The next time I did this mission, I parked the first car way outside the lot, thus leaving myself a clean path to pull the bomb-car in next time.

This one mission uses map-reading skills, memory recollection, precision reflex timing, logistical thinking and trial and error to pass. Investing time into the game so develops some forward, out of the box thinking, parking a car by an exit to stop a character from escaping before the mission even begins, for example. If this poster child for violent video games can be a teaching device, then any game can. Don’t get hung up looking for games that are ‘good for them’ because all games are good for them, in moderation…just like anything else. Buy good games, and the benefits will take care of themselves, honest.

Look folks, I understand that gaming seems like this strange other-culture… largely because it is but the fact is, you don’t need to really understand. You don’t need to know what a Mewtwo is or what species Knuckles from the Sonic series belongs too or why the ‘cake is a lie’. At the end of the day, it’s just like shopping for anything else: some research and a little bit of common sense and you’re all set! And if not? Ask a gamer- despite what you may have heard, we’re here to help; we’re your friends. Happy holidays!