The unofficial Mumsnet video game question thread

[NotsoDH]

Having had DW go on and on (mainly laughing) about MN I registered. I am mainly a lurker cos MNers are a scary bunch!

Anyway, I have been a parent for nearly 7 years and a gamer for over 20 years. Any parents with questions about children and video games, please post them here and I will do my best to answer them.

All I ask for in return are biscuits...

Ok try this one.
My DS2 is 12 soon and I was thinking of getting him an x box guitar type game.

I'd heard of guitar hero and rock band but when I look on Amazon there seem to be several versions.
Is there one which is considered better than t'others? £100 + for some compared with £60 for others? Do they have xbox live playability?
He's played the old PS2 guitar game.

Does he already have a guitar hero type game. If he does it gets a bit complicated since the controllers can only be reused on certain games. If he did already have a guitar he could get a "game only" pack for around £30.

The £100+ will be rock band. In there you get a guitar, microphone and drum kit (you may also get a bass, i'm not sure). So if he has friends and family to play with together that would be great.

If it is just him then Guitar Hero at around £60 would be better (with guitar only).

I would only get the special editions (eg Metallica or Beatles) if he loves those bands.

Xbox live features I "believe" extend only to downloading new songs to play.

A quick look on metacritic shows the rock band games and guitar hero 2 are the highest rated.

Hope this helps.

Thanks.Good review site NotsoDh. It's likely to be just him and possibly his brother so Guitar Hero looks the best choice.

My 12 year old son is begging me to let him have Grand Theft Auto 4. It is rated as an 18. He says that this is because ofthe story mode adn he would only want to use freeplay.

Story mode unlocks the features of the game but he says he can download a completed storymode so that he would have the unlocked features without having to play the game......

At least one of his friends has it. His friend has an older brother and their Mum says it is not too bad and no worse than other games her son plays..... What should I do?

I am sure this is worth several jammie dodgers.......

Not been on here for a while. Sorry if you have dealth with this already. I have played GTA3, GTA San Andreas and GTA4 (all 18 rated) so can give you facts rather second hand info from the tabloids.

Story mode or not, the game is not suitable for a 12yo. I would maybe let a 15/16yo have it if I had had a look at the content.

The game is a masterpiece and excellent fun. However, it is full of swearing, violence, sex, racism, etc.

If he doesn't touch story mode he will still be doing the other activities. This involves (depending on what you choose to do), carjacking, murder, visiting bars and strip clubs etc...

Would you let your son watch Goodfellas or Casino? I suspect not. GTA4 is an interactive gangster epic. As such it is an amazing game but it is 18 rated for a reason.

Please don't get it for him. Sorry again for not seeing this sooner.

Thanks for the biccies. And thanks for asking the question.

ph007: I just picked up on something you said: "their Mum says it is not too bad and no worse than other games her son plays"

This person is frankly talking out of their arse. I wonder if the mum plays video games with her children?

As a piece of advice to parents: NEVER place merit on video game advice from someone who doesn't play games themselves.

I shudder to think what else those kids are playing.