the be all end all video game thread

I assume the keyword in that sentence is "seriously"? I'm glad that I was playing through GOW alone before I got to the bare-breasted women that I commanded Kratos to ravage (it totally turned me on, but I digress) because otherwise that would have made for a strange exchange between my son and I where he exclaimed "Boobies!" and my eyes glazed over while trying to find a hole to crawl into. He is, as far as I know, mostly innocent when it comes to sex. We've had "the talk" but I had to get drunk to have it, and he still on occasion asks the neighbors to explain it to him as if I was fucking bullshitting him or something. Like he's checking to see if the story changed.

Thank you for this clarification! I mean, he's had DARE classes (and I think I might have admitted to smoking some herb at some point) but I don't want him knowing even really the basics of doing drugs. I don't want him to know that it can be fun and awesome. I want him to think that they suck and that he should NEVER do them because heroin ate up my high school and so many of my friends have died from overdoses that I just don't want to go down that road - EVER if I can help it. Hell, my mother died of cirrhosis almost 10 years ago at age 51. That is hard enough to explain without him tearing up.

I have intentionally stayed away from the GTA games myself. Not only do they hold no interest for me, I don't want my little guys getting any ideas.

I don't want you guys to think that I don't do my homework. IMDB has a "parent's guide" or some shit that explains why a movie got an R rating for but they don't do that for video games. There just isn't a reliable site that gives that information freely and I trust that y'all know what you're talking about. I don't want a whole dissertation. I just want to keep my son a little more innocent for a little longer.

 

I don't want to beat a dead horse, but if your son is so inclined to play a certain game then he will find a way. I can almost guarantee you he has tried a GTA game at some point. The only way to totally control his intake of video games is to supervise him 100% of everyday. I'm sure you don't which is why it boils down to good parenting and making sure he understands what he is experiencing.


My best friends mother was like this, always trying to control what game or what he was doing. His solution? Come to my house everyday after school so we could kill each other in goldeneye for hours at a time. He turned out fine, just got hired at apple.

On a lighter note: If anyone has the starcraft 2 beta and would like to play just shoot me a PM with your game name.

 

This probably won't come as a surprise but he doesn't have many friends. There are kids up the street he plays with but he doesn't go in any of their houses save for one kid who doesn't have any GTA games. They actually PLAY outside, if you can believe it! Kickball and stuff!

And I realize that he will *gasp!* encounter this stuff eventually and I'm okay with that. I'm not going to contribute to it though. Plus, would you be comfortable playing GTA or the babe-bangin' scene in GOW with your mom around? My kids don't have TVs or computers in their rooms, much less video games, so I would, in fact, be around.

In, what is it, Vice City where you fuck and then murder a hooker, or do you just fuck her? How, praytell, do you suggest I "make sure he understands what he is experiencing" in that situation? "No, no honey. You have to bang her and THEN pop a cap in her ass." Do you see what I'm getting at?

If I was too permissive and didn't care what my kids watch or play, you would probably see them acting up in the grocery store and then wanna click your teeth at me because I have no control over my children and thus must be a bad parent. I can't win!

 

Two pieces of gaming news:

PS3 MW2 DLC is out today including a patch and double XP week.

Starcraft 2 releases on 27/07/10.

 

All I'm saying is that if you're a solid parent in other aspects of his life then any game he plays won't have a traumatic or negative effect on him. When my niece was maybe 6 I left her play GTA San Andreas, since she didn't know how to do the missions she just ran around killing and stealing cars. She is fine and is probably the sweetest kid I know.

Even playing the games with him and joking around about it can be an effective teaching tool. "You know son, you can't really do this stuff in real life. People don't approve!!" 99.8% of the time he is going to look at you like you have 16 heads and say something like "Duh mom! Silly!" Then you will breathe a sigh of relief that he isn't going to grow up dancing in the moonlight wearing his classmates faces.

And, I'm not saying you are a bad parent at all. I'm glad you are asking these questions, but if he is a good kid with a good head on his shoulders his isn't going to turn into a raving lunatic. All these kids who go crazy and shoot their classmates, the media immediately jumps on violent video games and angry music as a cause when these kids had a deeper root cause to their problems but video games are a convenient scapegoat for such issues.

 

This is a very good point, but I've also always believed that it isn't just what games they play but also how often they play them. This is based off my own experiences since when I was in middle school I could only play around an hour on most days. This kept me from cowering in a dark room all day after school so that I could get out and develop some social skills. If I ever have kids I will probably do the same thing.

 

Oh, he will (and has once or twice) spend entire weekends in his underwear playing games for literally days. Sometimes he bounces from one system to another (we have 9 if you include the handhelds, 10 if you include the second Wii that the disc reader is broken on but that still is full of VC games) but if we don't put strict time limits on it, he will get carried away. That's why I'm glad the kids in this neighborhood actually play outside.

There is also a strict "no games in the morning" policy because otherwise they won't get dressed. That will extend to summertime because we paid membership dues to the local pool but I won't be able to get them out of the house if they start playing right when they get up.

There have been many times that they've piddled around trying to find a save station and I have slam shut the game off, which causes much wailing and crying. It's pitiful to watch actually. They hate that shit but you bet your sweet ass they don't piddle around nearly as much any more.



Truth be told, I'll lay my fat ass around all weekend playing in my PJs too if you let me. We're all a bunch of fucking slackers around here.

 

The Virginia Tech kid is a good example of this. Violent video games were blamed for his behavior and then it came out that he never owned a video game in his life. There has actually been extensive study--likely because scientists are nerds and nerds love video games--into the fact that video games are actually developmentally healthy for children, since it gives them the opportunity to explore and fail without having the harsh repercussions real life gives you, as well as teaches you to interact with and pay attention to your environment.

And of course, the most invaluable thing video games like GTA and other sandbox titles teach: how to read a map.

 

I think it does say on the back of the games why they're rated the way they are. God of War III is rated M for "Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, [and] Strong Sexual Content". I don't think it says anything on the front, but on the back beside the rating it lists the reasons for it. Most of my games are rated M, and I can assure you that if it has anything relating to drugs or sex, it explicitly says so. They even have specific designations for if there is tobacco, alcohol, or even gambling in the game...so yeah, just check the rating on the back of the box. Believe me, the ESRB polices that shit pretty heavily, so it's not like it's going to say M for "Violence, Blood and Gore, Some Alcohol Use" and then suddenly pop up with a blowjob scene or something.

 

Just picked up Super Street Fighter 4 the other day. I played the original SF4 a little bit, but I never took it too seriously. I've probably played 40 or 50 ranked matches and holy effing crap is this game challenging. Part of it is this is the first I've played with a fightpad, and part of it is this game has a seriously steep learning curve. I started off with 5 straight wins tonight, got up to 600ish PP, and promptly lost my way back down to 300 again. I'm definitely seeing some improvement though.

If anyone else is playing SSF and wants to do some endless battles to practice hit me up with a friend request. I mostly play as Chun Li, with the occasional Ken and Akuma thrown in.

GT: Cainam 712

 

You probably already know this, but if you're serious about improving, you have to buy a stick. I know a few virtuoso pad players who can string together tough links consistently, but you're still putting yourself at a considerable disadvantage.

 

Gaming News: Alabama Gamer Pitches Perfect Game on MLB 2K10

I remember reading about this awhile back and thinking with all the dedication people put into games, it could done. Any thoughts?

 

I like how the article about this on Kotaku ended: "Congratulations, Wade! Now you can buy a PlayStation 3 and a copy of MLB 10 The Show!"

 

I know I'm pretty late to the party but I picked up Uncharted: Drake's Fortune on Sunday and holy shit was that game a blast to play. Finished yesterday, took it back today and got Uncharted 2 and holy shit, this game is even more fun than the first. Great game in every respect. And the multiplayer is actually drawing me away from my brand MW2 map pack... Anyone else playing this online? I hear the online co-op is a lot of fun, but nobody I know in real life has it so if anyone would be down to blast some pirates in the face give me a holler. I'm awwwSNAP on PSN too.

 

Video Game Thread

Finally got around to finishing Zelda: Spirit Tracks this week. I'd been having too much fun with the side quests. Excellent game. Both of the DS Zelda games are.

And now, as underwhelming as the game is, I'm going to try to finish The Conduit before Mario Galaxy 2 is released.

 

Battlefield Bad Company 2 is pretty decent when squared up against MW2 - it definitely beats MW2 in the single-player gameplay and graphics segments. The music is also fucking creepy, while MW2's single-player was pretty devoid of a sound track.

All in all, for weapon variety also, Bad Company 2 takes it.

I have no idea how well it plays online...

I DO know, however, that you must have the newest graphics drivers, or Bad Company 2 simply won't work.

 

New Prince of Persia comes out on, I believe May 18. It's been a while, probably five years, since I've played a PoP game. But I just finished Assassin's Creed II (very very good game), and I'm remembering how much I like Ubisoft.

 

I'm excited for Red Dead Redemption <a class="postlink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Dead_Redemption" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Dead_Redemption</a>

Rockstar usually produces quality material and the previews look impressive.

 

I gave EVE Online another try, I'm definitely liking it now. STO was just too cookie-cutter for me after a while. I'm still in n00b status, cruising around in my Destroyer.