CaptJohnSheridan said:
Does a video game have to be M rated to have a good story?
The World Ends With You is rated T, and it has one of the best stories I've ever experienced.
Xenoblade 1 is rated T, and it has a fantastic story.
And so on, and so on and so on.
Having good characters, or a good core concept or kickass dialogue or pacing are all WAY more important to producing a good story than whether or not it has a Mature rating because of adult material.
I mean, it can help, if you want to tackle mature themes (*nods at Spec Ops The Line*). But that's not always needed if you want to tell a good story.
In fact, if a game leans too heavily on appearing mature because of copious gore and so on, it might actually work against the story. Like...Does anyone think Resident Evil 5 has a good story? It was a fun co-op game with some brutal action and gore and stuff, but the story is the last thing I cared about when I played it.
Should there be games of AAA quality aimed at younger audiences or does the vast majority of parents don?t care?
I kinda think so.
Like, I enjoy games made for adults like myself, stuff loaded with complexity and depth and deep or dark themes.
But on the other hand, we do need to keep bringing future generations of kids into gaming if we want gaming to keep existing.
That and sometimes taking a more kid friendly approach can vastly improve a game. I enjoyed the largely goofy plots of Sonic Colours and Sonic Lost World a hell of a lot more than the overly serious Adventure 2, for instance.