CaptJohnSheridan said:
Should there be games of AAA quality aimed at younger audiences or does the vast majority of parents don?t care?
I'm not a parent, but I have the responsibilities of one in many ways. It's a complicated family situation, but we have a 6 y/o boy and 9 y/o boy in the household and while I'm a lifelong gamer and IT pro, kid suitable games isn't easy. I'll tell you my experiences in this regard, perhaps as a point of discussion.
Before I say anything, I'm going to please ask anyone who says "kids should be able to play anything", because, like me, we hate restrictions, boundaries and censorship, while I agree for adults, with kids it's a different story and until you have to decide yourself, it's easy to say "censorship", "restrictions", etc. Please discuss my points, not this issue. Kids do need restrictions for multiple reasons, it's just reality.
That out of the way, when you say AAA it's hard to know what that means. In old money, AAA used to mean highly-polished, high quality, well developed title. Today, it just means any $60 box sold by EA, Ubi, ActiBlizz and Squeenix. They can sell an unpolished, unfinished, bug-ridden game and it will still be called AAA. So ignoring those, and focusing on high polish etc...the answer is...not really important.
First of all, the boys mostly game in either a) ipads or b) my old 360. In BOTH cases I refuse to allow them to play anything online and no in-app purchases. I have no issue with online games directly, the issue is games which specifically allow interaction with other players. They are too young to be exposed to toxic online chat, trash talk, and mainly the fear of adults striking up conversations with them. I would have no objection to them playing online with school friends, peers or known friends/family, but with strangers it's a no-no. Funny enough, the 9y/o tells me most of his classmates are playing Fortnite already, which I won't allow him.
Next topic is violence. Interestingly, when the elder one was like 3-5 and would sit on my lap while I played Skyrim, I had no issue with him watching. At that point he was too young to get disturbed by what was going on and he loved the spectacle of changing into a werewolf and sending bandits flying. After 6 or so, gory imagery is a no-no. After 12 I think it'll be find to watch Predator, Robocop, whatever, but right now, these middle-years, imagery like Skyrim deathcams could have a real negative and/or long-lasting effect, from a bedtime nightmare through a lifelong, uncomfortable memory.
Story really is irrelevant. Completely. Kids have absolutely zero interest in a game's story and won't remember or understand a complex plot. Things like Star Wars Lego, where they've seen the film and the game lets them play out iconic scenes/locations from it they will follow, but that's because of the film and even then they're more interested in gameplay and imagery. A lightsaber and C3PO is enough for them, and combining it with sound effects and the rest is all that's needed.
Controls need to be fairly straightforward too and it helps if they follow conventions (ie. right stick camera, left stick move, etc). Games that are really good are things like Minecraft where they can build and use imagination, but some others I like are Overcooked, racing games or platformers. If I could describe what a perfect kids game would be it should have a minimal failure state that maybe gets harder with progress, simple to learn rules and intuitive controls, cartoon-ish violence only, colourful visuals, non-offensive sound design and a short gameplay loop (ie. no half hour dungeons) so it can be played in short or long bursts. It must also be playable offline.
Lego games are great in most regards because they combine familiar, kid friendly settings like Batman, Star Wars, Harry Potter or LotR with forgiving failure state, rewarding over time (persistent unlocks, etc) and easy-ish rules. My biggest complaint with them is that I cannot often work out how to progress when they get stuck and ask for help. It should be easier to find puzzle solutions.
So that's my main thoughts on games for kids. AAA is irrelevant, story is irrelevant. Simple rules, colourful visuals and good sound/visual feedback, simple controls and rewarding without being too punishing. A short gameplay loop is best, especially when it's bedtime. Would love to hear others thoughts on games for kids, especially recommendations!
