Common Sense Media’s 10 Games to Avoid for the Holidays

December 8, 2009 -

Just in time to disappoint legions of juvenile videogamers for the holidays, Common Sense Media has released a list of 10 games that should be avoided for younger players.

Actually we jest, because the list, entitled 10 Cool Games That Are Uncool for Kids, does a decent job of offering safe alternatives for each title it recommends that parents avoid. The full list, with substitutes in parenthesis, follows:

Assassin’s Creed (Mirror’s Edge)
Borderlands (Infamous)
Brutal Legend (Ghostbusters)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Battlefield: Bad Company)
Dead Space: Extraction (Deadly Creatures)
Dragon Age: Origins (Braid)
Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony (Batman: Arkham Asylum)
Demon’s Souls (Uncharted 2: Among Thieves)
Left 4 Dead 2 (Overlord II)
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (C.O.P.: The Recruit)

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Comments

Re: Common Sense Media’s 10 Games to Avoid for the ...

Submitted by Sigma 7 on Wed, 12/09/2009 - 13:29.

From what I can tell on Wikipedia, it's basically a criminal being turned into a good guy, but then there's a false arrest on your mentor alongside a conspiracy to destroy the city.

Re: Common Sense Media’s 10 Games to Avoid for the ...

Submitted by Neeneko on Tue, 12/08/2009 - 13:17.

I believe the ones in parenthesis are the suggested alternatives.

Re: Common Sense Media’s 10 Games to Avoid for the ...

Submitted by Zero Beat on Tue, 12/08/2009 - 14:05.

I think his point is that while they're T games, they're pretty violent for T games.

The Titan inmates in Arkham Asylum have some of their ribs and vertbrae sticking out of their skin, the whole point of Overlord II is to be evil, and Infamous lets you do very evil things if you so choose.

"That's not ironic. That's justice."

Re: Common Sense Media’s 10 Games to Avoid for the ...

Submitted by Rodrigo Ybáñez ... on Tue, 12/08/2009 - 14:16.

In Arkham Asylum you can take down enemies by breaking their arms and legs. But surely, they think Arkham Asylum is exactly the same as Lego Batman.

My DeviantArt Page (aka DeviantCensorship): http://www.darkknightstrikes.deviantart.com

Re: Common Sense Media’s 10 Games to Avoid for the ...

Submitted by Magic on Wed, 12/09/2009 - 03:52.

No, they'll just settle for arm-breaking violence over the chance of their children encountering any gay people in GTA.

Hang on, aren't both games 18 C anyway?

Shout box

Monte: trolls are just at their absolute worst when it comes to women and feminist. You could bet good money that if the developer were male the trolls would be silent and the conversation would actually focus on the journalism.10/18/2014 - 9:18pm

Monte: Papa: Not the first time we've had a journalism scandals before, but the harassment never got close to this level; the difference with this scandal is that feminists are involved. Without the feminist angle, their would be A LOT less harrassment10/18/2014 - 9:15pm

Papa Midnight: Monte: That's honestly rather short-sighted. As has been proven with other persons who have been targeted, if it wasn't Quinn, it would be someone else.10/18/2014 - 6:26pm

Avalongod: I think that's part of what gives an esoteric news story like this real life...it taps into a larger narrative about misogyny in society outside of games.10/18/2014 - 3:29pm

Avalongod: @Monte, well the trolls made death threats that came to police (and media attention). I think this is tapping into a larger issue outside of games about how women are treated in society (like all the "real rape" stuff during the last election)10/18/2014 - 3:28pm

Wonderkarp: Zippy : Havent tried the PS4 controller. might later.10/18/2014 - 2:37pm

Monte: Seirously, If Quinn was not involved and GG was instead about something like the Mordor Marketing contracts, the trolling would have never grown so vile and disgusting. There have been plenty of movements in the past that never sufferred from behavior..10/18/2014 - 1:57pm

Monte: We have seen scandel's before but the trolling has never been as vile as what we see with GG. Trolls usually have such a tiny voice you can barely notice them, but its like moths to a flame whenever femistist are involved.10/18/2014 - 1:53pm

ZippyDSMlee: Wonderkarp: You might be able to if you had a PS4 controller.10/18/2014 - 1:00pm

MaskedPixelante: http://store.steampowered.com/app/327940/ Night Dive starts charging for freeware.10/18/2014 - 12:21pm

Matthew Wilson: the sad thing is there are trolls on both sides of this. people need to stop acting like their side is so pure.10/18/2014 - 12:19pm

MechaTama31: So, only speak out on a scandal that hasn't attracted trolls? I wouldn't hold my breath...10/18/2014 - 10:49am

Monte: I feel like GG just needs to die. The movement is FAR to tainted by hatred and BS for it to be useful for any conversation. Let GG die, and then rally behind the NEXT gaming journalism scandal, and start the conversation fresh.10/18/2014 - 10:33am

quiknkold: and we dont have a Dovakin to call a cease fire10/17/2014 - 7:37pm

quiknkold: The whole thing is Futile. Both sides are so buried deep in their trenchs that there isnt a conversation. Its just Finger Pointing, Name Calling, Doxxing, Threats. there needs to be a serious conversation, and GG isnt it.10/17/2014 - 7:37pm

quiknkold: I thought it was a good article. Jeff is right. I feel like GamerGate did destroy its message. I am for Ethics in game journalism, but man. so much hate. and its on both sides. I've seen some awful stuff spewed on twitter. Its a big reason why I exited..10/17/2014 - 7:34pm

Matthew Wilson: while he focused on gg, he did call out both sides crap.10/17/2014 - 7:18pm

Papa Midnight: That was a damn good read offered by Jeff Gertsmann.10/17/2014 - 7:17pm

Matthew Wilson: http://www.giantbomb.com/articles/letter-from-the-editor-10-17-2014/1100-5049/ deferentially a nice write up.10/17/2014 - 6:44pm

james_fudge: I think Evan killed it. He's a great guy and super smart.10/17/2014 - 6:38pm

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