XBox games - are they that awful?

[ftm42]

My 3 sons, aged 7, 10 and 12 and their friends are all obsessed with XBox games especially "Nazi Zombies"!! They play on the 'age 12' version as I didn't want them to see the 18+ content. However, it's still pretty powerful stuff - shoot-em-up kind of thing!

Given that if I ban it, they'll just go next door and play it there, and it seems to be the main talking point in school these days [amongst others], would I really be a 'party pooper' if I went ahead and stopped them playing it here? I know their father wouldn't have a problem with them playing this game - "they'd just be out pretending to shoot each other" would be the likely response, does anyone have any advice please?

I think you have to sit and watch to form a judgement. As kids we had cowboys and indians and war films and they involved plenty of people getting shot. We didn't turn into crazed killers.

However, some of the content in some games is downright sick, in goriest detail and enough to scare three and seven year olds even though they won't say so because they doesn't want to be different from their big brothers.

Check them out yourself and if they're bad, show your dh, then intervene and stand your ground.

I think if you have reservations about it then you shouldn't allow them to play it at home - regardless of whether they can play it next door. It wouldn't be the first time children hadn't been playing what their peers were playing - that alone isn't reason enough to let them play it if you're unsure. To be honest though, I wouldn't like to buy my DCs games with an 18 certificate even if they have an age-12 setting. They're not going to turn into crazed killers, but shoot-em-ups are a lot gorier and scarier than going outside and shooting each other with sticks. There are plenty of XBox games with lower certificates and some of them can really develop puzzle-solving abilities.

my boys 7 and 11 and have same thing going on.....luckily its all cars and racing and fifa 10 at the moment. but yes,peer pressure for the other games is here too

do you have xbox live?? be cautious with that if so!!

A friend of DH gave us an X box. with loads of games for it. I had a look through the bag an we ended up keeping only 3 car races sort of games as there is no way my DCs will play war games, not in my house anyway!

Kathyjelly, I agree with you about the games we were playing as kids, cowboys and indians, Robbers an Police etc... but they were hard sujects viewed through children eyes not horrible war scenes designed by adults. I think it makes a difference. Even the movies with guns involved were not as graphic IMHO.

Octaviapink, have you got some names to suggest for puzzle solving ones?

There are things like Super Monkey Ball, Pirates and Lego Star Wars. Chime is supposed to be really good too - it's a bit like 3D musical Tetris.

Thank you very much, that is another birthday present sorted!

ThreeBlondeBoys: re XBox Live - so far I am standing my ground on that one! If they want to play with friends, then they can come over and play!

Some interesting thoughts re suitability. Even on the 12 setting, this game is still a bit dubious. Will have another look with DH later and see if it really is that bad!!

It's quite interesting that you posted this message. I am a research psychologist and I am just reading some of the published research on the effects of violent computer games on children. The research is quite worrying in its implications. Children who repeatedly play violent computer games are more likely to be violent in their play, more likely to develop anti-social and violent personality traits and become de-sensitized to real-world violence when they see it. I have read over 50 scientific articles on this issue and as a parent myself it really concerns me - I would strongly recommend not allowing children to play the most violent games, or if this is impossible, talking to them about it afterwards and discussing how using violence is wrong. The research clearly shows that it is not only kids who are already aggressive and violent who are affected by playing these games - ALL children are affected. In fact, some of the most recent research, using fMRI brain scans while children play games, clearly shows how playing these violent games has effects on certain areas of the brain associated with impulse control, learning and emotion - this is worrying as it is a mechamism through which playing the games leads children to learn that violence and aggression are problem-solving strategies they can use in new situations. If you have any questions fire away !

As an update to my last message - I am soon going to be doing some psychological experiments on the effects of playing violent computer games. If you have been shocked at the violent content of any games on the PC, PS, DS, XBox etc, please let me know the game titles as I might consider using those games in my research.

Thanks !

I spoke to a guy in GAME once as we were trying to decide what games console to buy and he told us that the XBOX were aimed mostly at males aged between 25-35 and that the games tend to therefore reflect this. As this was pre-kids (a couple of years ago) thats what we brought.

The guy in the shop did say the Wii was best for families and the playstation was quite a good all rounder.

prince just a thought on your study. How do you tell the difference between the effect of an unsuitable computer game long term and the effect of parenting styles that allow inappropriate games/ films/ behaviour
In my experience as a teacher it is often the more troubled children who have the most shocking games. Is it the parenting style or the games that are to blame?

Just curious!

Also I am pro computer games but at an appropriate level for your child. I think you have to play then first to know whether they are ok for your dc.

Can't comment on 'Nazi Zombies' - I believe it's a user made modification and not an official release. But...

My family are all gamers. My children are a little younger and still at the Little Big Planet/Animal Crossing age.

But I think MrsFlux raises a pertinent question.

I don't give my children Modern Warfare to play, but they have occasionally seen me or DH playing that, or Grand Theft Auto.

The main issues for me are fear and nightmares and imitable behaviour.

Re: Fear... I've actually found they self-censor what they watch. If something is too scary, they make a decision to walk away. I can imagine with a group of boys though, there is peer pressure to play. That said, Dr Who scares me (and them) more than any game has.

As far as imitable behaviour goes... I think this is VERY complex and most research is far too simplistic. Some children will imitate behaviour from video games and tv shows. Some won't. It also depends how the behaviour is framed the game, how repetitive it is, how much the children identify with it...

Personally, I think with guidance from parents, they will have more of an idea what is allowable in the real world and what is only allowed in fantasy play or not allowable at all.

In fact, I see Modern Warfare as quite a good opportunity to talk to them about war and terrorism (and probably with a bias towards my own bleeding heart liberal values).

To be honest, my stepfather watched high bodycount Schwarzenegger and Stallone movies all day long when I was a child. I just found them boring.

To Mrsflux - well there are of course tricky issues disentangling causality - do violent games make children more violent and/or do violent kids find themselves attracted to and playing violent games more than not so violent kids. There is strong evidence already that playing violent games is ONE factor in causing increased anger, aggression and violence, both in kids and adults. It is rarely the sole cause, but it is one piece of the jigsaw. This doesn't mean ALL kids are always affected by playing violent games, but some are, and especially so if they already have violent tendencies. In experiments you try to remove the possible effect of personality differences by randomly allocating research participants to conditions - so that some are randomly allocated to a non-violent game condition, and some to a violent game condition. Because allocation to condition is done at random, you should get an equal number of participants with aggressiuve personality issues allocated to the different conditions. Consequently, what you look for using statistical analyses is a change or effect IN GENERAL, in the violent game condition of the experiment. The statistics look for an effect that can't be explained by chance, and the fact that we have randomly allocated to condition means that personality should not be able to explain why most participants in the violent game condition respond with elevated aggression. Sorry to blind you with science but you did ask !

That's cool! I did have to read it three times tho. ;)

what I was getting at was the daily mail attitude of ban this sick filth and also the way games are blamed for truely awful events caused by very messed up people. I hate it when the media gets it's knickers ina knot over games designed for adults that people let their kids play.

Prince we have an Xbox (I hate it), my two boys love it, obviously.

When we first got there was no discussion about the age-level of the games we could get, I just assumed that we would have appropriate ones.

My husband bought them the 'Godfather' game. It is an 18. I came into the room and there was a sequence where a man, on his knees, was being repeatedly punched in the face. The gamer (my son) was controlling this. I was horrified. I think that exposure to this must be desensitising.

The game went in the bin.

To Mrsflux: yes, it's stupid to think that computer games alone can turn a normal child into a violent one - but it can push a child further towards becoming violent, especially if they already have those tendencies, and it can lead to copycat violence where kids try to emulate what they have seen. The tabloids usually blow things up out of proportion or sensationalise things.

But in this case I think there is cause for concern. There are very realistic computer games in which a child or adult plays a character who viciously murders other people on the game in very realistic, bloody, gory detail, including blowing the heads off people with guns, cutting limbs off with axes, swords, etc. I have two toddlers and there is no way they are playing games like that until they are 18 or over.

To Merle - good idea.But the reality is that many kids under 18 are hooked on video games, some of which are very violent. It's often impossible to stop them playing them totally, as they will find ways, whether it is around a friend's house or just hiding it from you. The best thing to do is to ensure they are playing age appropriate games when you canm, but also talk to them about the violence in games and ensure they realise that (a) violence hurts people and (b) it is never a good thing to solve problems using violence. Actually, the same advice is given in regards to talking to kids about villence they see in movies and on tv.