Join the Coversation...in Real Time
Log in to Facebook to turn on your personal activity feed and see what your friends are reading, commenting on, and liking on Babble.
Further enhance your experience by turning on sharing to allow your own activity on Babble to be shared with your Facebook friends.
Simply click the "On" button and choose your level of sharing. You're in total control. Share everything or only the posts you choose. Reading about a sensitive topic? Toggle the sharing button to the "Off" position before reading the article or select "Share only posts I choose to share" in the share settings. You can always delete any item from your activity that you don't want shared, click to the next page for more info.
This app will collect your basic info and share your reading activity on Facebook.
Next Page
Social Auto-Sharing Facts:
Q: What's the deal with this 'Social Sharing' box I see on articles and videos? What's it do?
A. You can now automatically share with your friends everything you're reading and watching on Babble -- no more extra clicks or updates to inform your friends of the hottest posts and information from your favorite bloggers. Let them see what you're reading, have all your friends do the same and consider yourselves the most informed parents around.
Q: What if I don't want to share everything I'm doing? My boss will see I'm on Babble way too much, and I might be reading something on a sensitive topic that I don't want people seeing that I'm reading.
A. You're in total control -- turn sharing on, turn it off, or set your share setting to "Share only posts I choose to share." When this option is selected an option will appear above posts to share or not to share, just toggle it in between articles you want to share and those that you don't -- whatever you want.
Q: What if I shared something I didn't want to?
A. No worries, just click on "My Activity" and see the posts you have shared and click the "x" to delete or go to your Facebook Activity Log and delete the items you don't want to share. For questions about your Facebook activity log visit: http://www.facebook.com/help/activitylog
Previous Page
I’ve played most of these games, and I have to say: I completely agree. They definitely send kids the wrong message.
ban television, too. it’s making your kids fat, hyperactive, and full of consumer desires as companies spend billions marketing to them. replace it with nature, crafts, books, board games, imaginative play, and, for kids over three, the occasional movie. and no kid needs video games.
Uh. these all have teen or higher ratings. If you are buying your 8 or 10 year old these games, then you’re just dumb. The only exception I see to this list is Mortal Combat. LOVE mortal combat and I was playing it with my brothers, one is older one is younger, when it first came out. Go Subzero!!!
The hubz and I love playing Call of Duty – where was the bashing on that for the scenes in which you play a terrorist and launch an attack on a mall full of civilians?
Like VideoGameGirl said: all these games have T and higher ratings. Anyone who doesn’t examine content prior to purchasing games for their younger children really needs to rethink their purchase behavior.
And for us adults who play? The violent games are for after the kids are in bed, thanks much. Go CoD, Halo, GoW, and Assassin’s Creed!
good news
The ESRB has ratings for a reason. Show me extreme violence in a E rated game and I’ll show you people having sex in a G rated movie.
YESS!!! now i know what games to get myself
and ive been playing mortal kombat since i was 4 “1996″ hence why i still play video games today…BUT NEVER for a child shame on my parents for letting me play my brothers games lol
The ESRB rating system is there so you know what *not* to buy for your kids. Look it up online, get to know it. Ask the store clerk if you’re not sure if you think the game is appropriate for your 10 year old, I’m sure they’d be more than happy to help you. Even if you’re not familiar with the game in question, odds are, the store clerk is. And if your 10 year old starts screaming and yelling at you because you won’t buy him that M or T rated game, then don’t buy it. Temper tantrums shouldn’t be awarded with a prize – in this scenario, the game. *You* as the parent is in charge of raising your children, so don’t bend to their every whim and start raising them!
oh ho ho, Resident Evil 5 is “racist”. While I agree that these games are not for children, calling Resident Evil “racist” is like saying that Mario games promote ignorance and hate against giant fire-breathing turtles.
Let’s make the gov’t be in charge of raising our kids to make up for our poor parenting skills…that’s a good idea. Why is that some families ALWAYS stay “Good” families, and the let’s call them “less than average” families continue to produce “less than aveage” children generation after generation? Simple…Good Parenting produces good kids. Spend time with them. Raise them right, and they will know the difference between bad video games and good ones and even if they play the bad video games, if good parenting is involved, they will know it’s only a video game and not real life.
If you have a problem with Gears of War 2, maybe try the content-filtered mode, shown here: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/8/11/
ya know what? this list was made by someone who has too much time on their hands. As far as resident evil 5 being racist, WHAT DO YOU EXPECT!? THEY ARE IN AFRICA, OF COURSE THERE WILL BE BLACK ZOMBIES! If they are gonna make that argument then i can say that the writer is racist against whites since all the other resident evil games had white zombies and they didnt have a problem with it. These games will by no means be banned from my home, my xbox has a setting that requires a password to play T rated games and up and i intend to use it. I can watch my own child and make sure she doesnt get into this sort of content
Lol I find it funny how how little detail they put into the scene of Dom meeting his wife in GOW2. Though I think mario should have euthanized Peach if he found her as a lobotomized vegetable who was enslaved into doing grunt work for Bowser. On top of that still needing to defeat Bowser.
These games aren’t meant for kids, that’s why they are rated M for mature. Anyone who lets a kid play these games should have them taken away and put into a better home because they have morons for parents.
This list is great. Since I’m an adult, and these are all games meant for adults, I have found some awesome games to play.
wahh wahh wahh violence is a part of life, get used to it
this is the dumbest fucking article I have read in a long time. Uninformed hate on video games…jesus christ.
SOF and Resident evil racist, what a joke.
Wow seriously these games are bad? Um do i need to go find the t.v shows and movies that are bad? If we should ban these games from houses, then we should ban twilight i mean.. it does have – gasp- a almost sex scene. Really the world has violence , and parents who want to shun there kids from ever knowing it are setting their kids up for some serious mental issues. Yes the above games are bad, but so is about half the stuff on t.v right and those wonderful pg movies you let your kid watch. Now i’m not saying let your kid play these games, but what i am saying is if your stupid enough to let your ten year or eleven year old to play these games. Well then something is seriously wrong with you, and by the way who ever wrote this is list is seriously mental. Mortal Kombat wasn’t violent back then and isn’t now, the movies they made based off of them were slightly more violent.
that manhunt video was great
Wow this is an excellent case of irresponsible journalism, if you can call this bullcrap article “journalism. The author who probably has never played a video game in her life and has only jumped on the bandwagon of the “mainstream media”, only viewed a few video clips to get herself aquainted with the material and produced this trash. As the other posters mentioned, these games are mature rated games, meant for adults not children. There’s no need to ban any of these games from your home unless you’re an irresponsible parent.
None of these games is meant for children. Educate yourself when buying games, and do your own parenting. Quit expecting others (game publishers, food suppliers, the government) to do it for you.
ahh one of the best thing about hi def and better video game makers now we can watch people get shot with even clearer picture
I guess violent video games aren’t for everyone but I’ve been playing Mortal Kombat since I was 5 years old. For all you stricht parents however, there are a reason that video games have esrb ratings on them, but really, no matter what you do they’re still going to see violence on t.v. and stuff so the best thing for parents to do is teach their kids that real violence is wrong.
strict-
to be fair this reporter could just be taking the most voilent gory scenes of people doing gross thing i mean im pretty sure that these games dont just involve you running around shooting people but in this case mabey the graphics should not be this discriptive
Ummm…these are all M rated games for a reason. If you’re doing your job as a parent, you shouldn’t be buying them for your kids.
Oh…and Resident Evil 5 isn’t racist. If you’ve played any of the games in the series, then you know the T-Virus is slowing turning the Earth’s population into zombies. So what if it’s in Africa? Are Africans immune from turning into zombies? I think not. They’re human, like everyone else.
Point of it all is…every game box gives you the rating and what content gave it that rating. Don’t just assume that the game is safe just because it’s a game. The technology and realism has become far more sophisticated since the days of Super Mario Bros.
Do your homework. Read the game boxes. Then decide if it’s right for your kids.
if you all think that there are not ignorant parents whose children unknowingly get involved with some of these games, rated M or not, then you are sadly mistaken. thankfully someone is attempting to educate people about what these games really are about, so i don’t know why that is a bad thing. if we expect parents to do better, they need information. i appreciate someone standing up and saying, this is not good, and don’t be fooled and let someone tell you these games are harmless.
and if you are fine with allowing these games into your home, fine, but do NOT be surprised when your children find and play them, and then call you from jail. children find everything, and do not understand the difference between reality and fiction, so do what you want, but don’t be surprised at the end result.
This writer and some of the people who are actually trying to support what is being written here are idiots. As what many of the people have said video games have a ratings system called the ESRB that have ratings ranging from E for Everyone to M for Mature and people 17 years and older. All of these games are rated M and are not meant for kids.
Parents in this day and age do not in any way shape or form actually parent their kids. They have everyone else tell them what is good and what is not good for their kids.
And the stuff with Resident Evil 5 like others have said its not racist. Just because the creatures you have to kill are black doesn’t make it racist. They are people who have been infected with a virus that changes them into mindless zombies like it has done in all of the previous games.
ESRB Recently released an updated phone app that allows parents to check video game ratings and info on the go. Here is the ESRB video announcement: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Gs_BRexfrY
“You should ban?” Really?
I’ve always liked Babble for being open-minded, presenting all sides of an issue – for NOT telling me how to parent, but presenting the options and interesting studies and arguments from all sides so I can make my own informed decision.
Of course some stuff is inappropriate. I wouldn’t let a young teen watch The Audition either. Age restrictions are in place for a reason.
And I realise that some parents don’t know video games at all and may think they’re all Super Mario-ish the same way my local video store thought all anime was the same and shelved some very nasty hentai next to The Cat Returns.
Yes, some games are gruesome and inappropriate – it’s great to be made aware of the content, but treat us like grown-ups, please.
“Should ban” is hectic and scare-mongery and reminds me of how my parents were advised that they “should ban” dungeons & dragons and Def Leppard because they were satanic and would lead us on the road to devil-worship and human-sacrifice and worse, black nail polish!
“Should supervise”, “Should have a discussion about”, “Should examine closely before you let your teens play and really, really not appropriate for pre-teens” with links to some solid studies and articles on video games influence on behaviour and desensitation to real life violence would make this parent and long-time reader much happier.
I don’t think the author has any actual experience with any of these games.
Why wasn’t the game Postal at the top of the list?
Firstly, this is an article? Seriously? Article kind of implies there is a discussion or factual piece to be read, whereas you have just seen fit to reproduce other people’s uploaded videos from youtube…
Secondly, do you know anything about video games? Ratings? These games are marketed towards adults, funnily enough, many of who have perfectly good IQ’s and reasoning skills making them perfectly capable of judging what games they should and shouldn’t have in their household for their own personal use.
Thirdly, of course children shouldn’t play these games and you’ve got a screw loose if you think any sane, rational individual would knowingly allow that in the first place.
@TheWorldIsTwisted
First of all, a number of the games in this list should not be played by anyone, for the simple reason that they aren’t very good. But if even the gratuitous display of simulated violence is going to undo all of your influence as a parent, I really have to question your engagement and your relationship with your child.
Some of these games, such as God of War, are extremely challenging and requiring a great deal of perseverance to complete. They are also very engaging stories.
Really, a child who is old enough to be entertained by these games is old enough to understand that a) blood does not erupt by the gallon from a human body under any circumstances, and b) this is fiction and fantasy, and not to re-enacted in real life.
There are no studies that show a long-term, causal effect from playing violent video games. On the other hand, there are plenty of studies demonstrating a number of important causes of child delinquency. If letting your kids play violent video games is the “worst” thing you ever do as a parent, your kids are gonna turn out just fine.
Instead of trying to ban the video games how about banning the parents who buy the games for children who should not be playing them it is rated M anyone with an ounce of brains can check the rating for the game and see that a CHILD should not be playing it in the first place ITS FOR ADULTS HENCE THE (M) FOR MATURE
Wow. Racially profile? Really? So when they’re shooting zombies are they singling out & picking on the living impaired? Its a video game for ADULTS.
As if tv should be banned, I don’t want to live in a world where Dexter, the Sopranos and Breaking Bad never existed. Also, the reason that Heavy Rain is not suitable for kids is not because of the violent parts but because the story is genuinely intelligent and mature and kids wouldn’t understand it. I take offence with this article suggesting that games that aren’t suitable for kids shouldn’t be made. One more thing is that Heavy Rain has you cutting your own finger off to save your child so if anything it is a postive scene.
Really…..Look people some video games are bad and evil yes. but its really up to each person to decide on there own on if they should ban or not ban games in their house. games are made to be played so if a video game is too violent don’t play it.
when i was 6 i played sonic and everyone complained about his attitude and its a kid game then i played MK 1 and i beat goro when nobody else could then when i got a ps 1 i played alot of violent games from tomb raider to medevil and metal gear solid which was my first sleepover gotta complete it kind of game when i was a kid my favorite hero was spawn not superman not spider man and not batman who i place in a tie it was SPAWN, batman and X-men when i got a N-64 i had killer instinct,zelda OOT, mk triligy, and goldeneye, as my violent games i also was an outdoor kid, and had as many kid games as well as more mature
to this day i got the classics of my youth on various newer systems and my sisters 6 and 4 can live the joy i felt when i was a kid
and for those willing to see both sides watch the simpsons episode were marge wont let bart and lisa watch itchy and scratchy then goes on a campaign to ban it from tv then at the end trys to stop the statue of david from being viewed by anyone because of nudity
same story in reality children who are shelterted from violence will have to learn sometime and its gonna be a crash course when he has to understand the world is violent it always has been and always will be so teach your kids balance a little mario kart here a little mortal kombat and naruto there its how i lived and i wouldnt hurt a fly outside of a video game as for your studies your witnessing the maturity growth of your child or the child of another not the creation of a murdrer what i wanna see is how parents come their barney trained pre teens handle the sex talk or how long they can avoid sex ed permission slips.
and a word of caution from my fav jurrasic park line: nature will be contained nature will cross any barrier or blockade quite painfully need be to continue on.
(NATURE ALWAYS FINDS A WAY)