Is This Game Appropriate for My Child?

I got a lot of mail after my first column from parents saying how glad they were that Microsoft was putting out information for parents. One of the most common questions I received was regarding age-appropriate content, and whether children should be allowed to play certain games, or even watch them.

Of course, I can't answer that question for every parent. We're all different with our kids, and we all have different ideas about what our children can or should be exposed to. What I can do is to provide some thoughts and resources that will help you make an informed decision.

Know Your Child
Video games can be very scary. I still remember playing Quake 2 in the middle of the night with all of the lights off. In one level, there's a dark hole in a quiet room, and as I approached the hole very slowly, some weird dog monster suddenly attacked me. I almost jumped out of my skin, and after that I turned on all the lights and had to go sit on the couch for a few minutes.

To me, that was a lot of fun, but it was a very intense experience. Experiences like that can be very hard to deal with when you're a kid. If your child is susceptible to nightmares after intense movies or scary television shows, then I would suggest that violent, scary, or generally disturbing video games should not be on the list of games they are allowed to play.

Know the Game Rating
So just how are you supposed to know how scary or violent a game is? Video games are rated by an organization called the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB). ESRB ratings are printed on the front of the box of every Xbox 360™ game. Outside of America, there are other rating systems, but in general, you can use the ESRB ratings to gauge whether a game is appropriate for your child.

When you're trying to figure out what might or might not be appropriate for your child, you should know what the ratings are and what they mean. Here's a list of the different ratings, and some examples of games from each rating. You can find more information on these ratings here on xbox.com and on the ESRB website.

• Rating Pending: This game is not yet rated. You will find this rating on many games that haven't been released yet, and you will often find it on game demos.
• Adults Only: This rating means what it says: The program or game is only for adults, meaning ages 18 and older. This is pretty straightforward. A game receives this rating if there are prolonged scenes of extremely graphic violence and/or sexual content. It is company policy that there are no AO games for Xbox® or Xbox 360.
• Mature: Games rated M are for players 17 and older, and are usually rated mature for strong violence. These games have less explicit content and graphic violence than AO games. Games in this category include Saints Row, The Elder Scrolls® IV: Oblivion™, Halo® 2, and Dead or Alive® 4.
• Teen: Teen titles may include violent content and suggestive themes. Strong language may also occasionally be found in some of these games. Card games that feature gambling are often rated T also. Games rated T for Teen include Call of Duty® 2 and Call of Duty® 3, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter™, Kameo™: Elements of Power™, and Texas Hold 'Em.
• Everyone 10+: The games with this rating may include cartoon or fantasy violence and some occasional crude language. Games rated E10+ include Project Gotham Racing® 3, LEGO® Star Wars® II: The Original Trilogy, and Burnout Revenge™.
• Everyone: Games in this category may include mild cartoon violence and mild language. Games include most sports games and Xbox Live® Arcade games, such as Madden NFL 07, MotoGP '06, TotemBall, and Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved.
• Early Childhood: These games are for kids aged 3 and older. There should be nothing inappropriate for young children in these games. Currently there are no games in the xbox.com catalog with this rating.

Remember, every Xbox and Xbox 360 game is rated by the ESRB and has the rating on the box. You can also find the ratings in the xbox.com game catalog and on the ESRB website. Take the time look up some of the games you may have heard about on the news. I was surprised to find that Halo® and Halo 2 are both rated M, whereas favorites of mine, including Call of Duty and Battlefield 2: Modern Combat™, are only rated T.

Every game rating also includes a brief descriptor about the rating, such as: Mild Lyrics, Language, Violence, etc. According to the descriptors, the difference between Battlefield 2 and Halo 2 is 'blood and gore.' In practice, I find that both of these games have a similar gameplay experience, so this is the gray area in which you have to decide which is appropriate for your child.

Personal Research
Start your research into a game by checking online reviews. They may contain recommendations for parents, mentioning the levels of violence, or how the cartoon look of a game may hide more adult themes. You can also find advice from other parents in the forums at websites like Gamerdad.com and grownupgamers.com. You can use the forum to post questions or concerns and get feedback from other parents.

If you are concerned about a game that your child really wants to play, rent it and take a look for yourself. Don't tell them you rented the game, or let them watch while you play, in case you decide it is inappropriate. An hour of gameplay should be enough time to decide if the game is okay or not, and if it is, you can let your child finish out the rental before you decide if it is worth purchasing.

The Bottom Line
In general, you should never let a kid play a game that involves subject matter you wouldn't let them see a movie about, certainly not without playing it yourself. If your kids are into scary movies, they may really like scary games, but that doesn't mean every game that is marketed as 'scary' will be okay. Use your judgment, and use the ESRB ratings like you would use movie ratings to evaluate the material. The simplest thing to remember is, if you have a doubt, you should always invest the time to look into a game before you let your kids play it.

Article by Xbox Dad