If a hot new Playstation 4 or Xbox One is on the wish-list in your household, the next must-have item will likely be one or two blockbuster video games. Those titles could include anything from colourful puzzles and cute characters to post-apocalyptic zombie slaughter and battlefield bravado. So how do you, as a parent, even begin to understand and speak the language that your little gamers seem so fluent in?
The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB Rating) can help make sure Santa doesn’t deliver the video game equivalent of leaving your kids at the local pub on dollar beer night. It does involve some decoding, however, so we’ve decided to take a look at what games your young folks are pining for and what you need to know before that glitter-wrapped goodness goes under the tree.
The expanse of this game allows plenty of time-sinks, like real estate, stock market play, biking and tennis but most players will gravitate to the boundless crime, heart-pumping automotive anarchy and illicit kingpin ruthlessness that carved the name of the GTA franchise to begin with. Plenty of violence, criminal activity and adult language to push the limits of its Mature 17+ ESRB rating.
2. Battlefield 4 and Call of Duty: Ghosts
- Invasive strep: ‘Don’t wait’ to seek care, N.S. woman warns on long road to recovery
- Grocery code: How Ottawa has tried to get Loblaw, Walmart on board
- ‘Super lice’ are becoming more resistant to chemical shampoos. What to use instead
- Canadian food banks are on the brink: ‘This is not a sustainable situation’
As First-Person-Shooters (FPS) go, the Battlefield and Call of Duty franchises are among the most highly anticipated, hands-down. Gamers love the open world physics, solid multiplayer gameplay and hours upon hours of online possibilities. Highly strategic and engaging; however, it’s hard to make wartime games in terms that are ‘kid-friendly’ and apparently Marines swear often. Maybe that’s poetic on some level, as is the accurate Mature 17+ rating for both.
3. Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag
Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag puts you in the role of a more-than-capable pirate assassin. Another title boasting incomparable possibilities for open-world gameplay, the side activities of whaling/shark fishing, deep sea diving and treasure-hunting are counter balanced by the less savory antics of the high seas. These include privateering, ship fighting, shooting and slashing, drinking and lots of swearing, which keeps this one on the Mature 17+ list for the ESRB.
Not only are the LEGO games fun and easy to pick up, they have some of the BEST multiplayer co-op gameplay on the market. This means you might find a new way to connect with your young gamer and play side-by-side as their favourite Marvel superheroes. No swearing, just straight-up clean fun earning an Everyone 10+!
Skylanders matches cute, colourful action figures with their in-game counterparts. Players can ‘SWAP’ parts of these characters to create new combinations and conquer goals in the game. This is highly engaging and becoming more popular with gamers who are of the Pokemon generation. Very ‘youth friendly’ and worry free for parents, represented by its Everyone 10+ rating.
For more information on the ESRB system for rating game content, check out the Official ESRB page. They have a great utility that will allow you to search the titles your young gamers are chomping at the bit for this season and generate all the ESRB details you need to keep your entertainment fun and worry free.
Happy gaming!
Tell us in the comments what video game titles hold the top spot on your kids’ holiday wish-list!
Comments