Why don't we have family-friendly FPSs?

[Zhukov]

And while I know kids don't start going around killing just because they saw it in a game, I still am not exactly interested in my hypothetical future child reenacting WWII at the ripe age of, say, nine.

Heh. You realise your hypothetical kid is going to do that anyway, right? If it's a boy, he will find a way to reenact scenes of phyiscal violence, come hell or high water.

I didn't have TV or video games until I was thirteen. But by age nine I was still running around with my friends pretending to shoot each other with guns made of lego.

As for kid-friendly FPSs... I don't see it taking off any time soon. The trademark visceral violence is a large part of the appeal, all the more so if you try and label it as 'forbidden'. Kids aren't as stupid as we like to think, or rather, they're not stupid in the way we like to think. If you try presenting them with Kinect Water-Pistol Fun Time, they will see right through you in a heartbeat. They will quickly realise that it's not 'The Real Thing' and they won't like it. And of course, any such attempt will only heighten the appeal of said Real Thing.

 

[Erana]

And while I know kids don't start going around killing just because they saw it in a game, I still am not exactly interested in my hypothetical future child reenacting WWII at the ripe age of, say, nine.

Heh. You realise your hypothetical kid is going to do that anyway, right? If it's a boy, he will find a way to reenact scenes of phyiscal violence, come hell or high water.

I didn't have TV or video games until I was thirteen. But by age nine I was still running around with my friends pretending to shoot each other with guns made of lego.

As for kid-friendly FPSs... I don't see it taking off any time soon. The trademark visceral violence is a large part of the appeal, all the more so if you try and label it as 'forbidden'. Kids aren't as stupid as we like to think, or rather, they're not stupid in the way we like to think. If you try presenting them with Kinect Water-Pistol Fun Time, they will see right through you in a heartbeat. They will quickly realise that it's not 'The Real Thing' and they won't like it. And of course, any such attempt will only heighten the appeal of said Real Thing.

The whole point of my OP was saying that a family-friendly FPS could be a great thing because it would go outside the genre norm if done successfully, and with kids obviously interested in the genre, it has a place in the world.
I said, "And all in all, I'm not saying that it would be better to have something that could be marketed towards children for the sake of being child friendly, I'd just like to see someone do it well, because from happy games like Mario to the visually stunning Rez, there are tons of precedence of incredible games without violent overtones."

In the future, please take the time to stop and comprehend what the OP is trying to say, rather than posting a kneejerk reaction.

 

[Dr Druza]

Its simple really:

Who will buy a mature game?
Kids, Teens and Adults.

Who will buy a kids game?
Kids.

Bigger audience = moar moneyz.


Here's an idea though:
Step 1: Devote your entire life to making money
Step 2: Put up a bounty of, say, 10 million dollars to any game company that can make an "E" rated FPS that meets your requirements.
Step 4: Profit.

OR

Make it yourself.

 

[Wintermoot]

I think there are a few paintball games out there.
also this:

 

[Singularly Datarific]

How about this?

It's a Bible-based FPS built on the Wolfenstein engine. I don't know about quality, but it's certain to fly under anyone's radar!

Fun fact- it's not just built on the wolfenstein engine, it is Wolfenstein. Down to the levels, it is a reskin of the FPS! It even has the swastika layout of one of the maps!
It is also the only unlicensed game ever to be released for the SNES! The SNES had a verification chip in all official cartridges, so the console would not work without it. This game went around that by requiring a REAL cartridge inserted into itself, then loading it into the actual console. That way it uses the certification chip of the real game, but runs the software of the unlicensed title! It's really fascinating to me, at least.

 

[Magicman10893]

Yeah, I know. Its the whole, "Gun" thing.
But kids play them anyway.

And while I know kids don't start going around killing just because they saw it in a game, I still am not exactly interested in my hypothetical future child reenacting WWII at the ripe age of, say, nine. The genre is absolutely huge in the total offerings of "Core" games in the Western market.

As gamers (And probably pixar lovers, too), we are well familiarized with the fact that things child-friendly do not have to be devoid of quality or depth. I don't see some sort of well-made, stylish FPS out there that has a timeless, family friendly quality doing badly. And all in all, I'm not saying that it would be better to have something that could be marketed towards children for the sake of being child friendly, I'd just like to see someone do it well, because from happy games like Mario to the visually stunning Rez, there are tons of precedence of incredible games without violent overtones. And we've seen in multiple instances that when you go outside the standard subject matter of a genre,(And make a good game) new doors are opened for everyone. (Yes, even Lara and her cones did this for the previously mostly cartoony platformer genre)
I suppose it just weirds me out a bit that even when it comes to Nintendo, we wind up with shooting to kill things in a harsh, serious game universe when they are working in this genre.

Personally, I find this lack of such titles is most likely due to two points: The first being that its a risk, and risks may or may not sell as well as standard fare.
And then there's the risk of making a game that the media will make a field day over, because of its resemblance to its serious, mature brethren.

What are your thoughts? Do you feel its fesiable? Do you know of any quality, family-friendly FPS titles that have simply passed under my radar?

Edit: By "Quality" I mean a genuinely good game that is a great FPS and just happens to be child-friendly, not just asking for an image of the box art of some mediocre, long-forgotten entry into the FPS genre.

...They're called Paintball games and they're absolutely horrible. If you want quality though, there is a paintball mod for Call Of Duty 4, and then there's Portal.

I think the closest you are going to get are games like "Jak and Daxter" and "Ratchet and Clank" and while they are not an FPS they do involve heavy shooter or "combat" elements, aside from that what part of "First Person Shooter" seems child friendly?

"First" sounds family friendly because you always want to put your family "first"..... that was my awful joke for the day.

 

[AtheistConservative]

It's an interesting idea but unfortunately anything marketed towards kids has a few problems, kids are a "bubble" audience, something that is cool with 8 year olds in summer might be unwanted by fall, where as shooting Nazi's has remained pretty popular among young guys. Secondly, say you create a smash hit for 8 to 12 year olds, who do you market your next game to in 2 years? The original players, thus becoming less kid friendly? Or do you stay with your target demographic and forsake your previous players? Additionally even a quality "non-violent" fps is going to run into the issue that your playing a simulation of toys that are meant to recreate some aspects of actual weapons. Think about it this way, say it's based on nerf guns, ultimately even those silly belt-fed models have an extremely low rate of fire compared to real machine guns. The problem is, as you tighten up game mechanics you're going to have to jump through more hoops to say "Nah, these aren't guns. This is a family game."
An example is the difference between the games in Ratchet and Clank as the series progressed. While the later games were by no means anti-family or overly violent, the weapons got more serious as the games progressed, in the first one for instance one of the weapons launched little robotic chicks (as in baby chickens) that would attack your enemies, whereas in later titles, the weapons were really just cartoonish versions of assault rifles, rocket launchers, shotguns etc.

 

[General_Potatoes]

there are family friendly FPSs.

Damn. I was about to say that.

I think there are a few paintball games out there.
also this:

Is there actually a mod for counter strike that has all this? Looks like fun

 

[Wintermoot]

there are family friendly FPSs.

Damn. I was about to say that.

I think there are a few paintball games out there.
also this:

Is there actually a mod for counter strike that has all this? Looks like fun

I think they used existing retextures/skins (except for the puppy and the extreme gore edition)

 

[General_Potatoes]

Although the puppy thing was awesome

 

[Asuka Soryu]

We do. It's called Laser Tag and Nerf.


I believe there is a family friendly FPS, it's a Paint Ball simulator. No one dies, no one bleads, bright colours and lots of paint splattering.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

I'd say that TF2 is pretty family-friendly. It's cartoony, has a sense of humor, no cursing, and wacky hats. Hell, if you turn gibbing off it's one of the most kid-friendly games around.

 

[Gabriel Dragulia]

Judging from the trailer it looks like the new Harry Potter game is going to be kind of a shooter. I didn't necessarily think that that was the best choice for this game, but for an FPS for kids I think it is pretty ideal.

I think that while water gun wars and paintball games can work, there is a big risk in making it too childish. I know my little brother when he was like 8 didn't want to play games or view shows that were obviously for kids, because he was 8 now, goddamnit! That's almost grown up!
I think that if you make a game that is obviously an FPS for small children, a lot of those children won't think it is cool. Pretty much everybody likes Harry Potter, so that could work (although it's probably for ages 12 and older).

I think here's the problem...
Who do you make it for? The kids that are really young (up until 4-5 years old) won't play these games because they're too fast or whatnot. and quickly above that (from 7-8) they think they're too old for kids games, and they quickly become attracted to the normal FPS... where do you find the middle-road that still sells properly? doesn't really seem quite that possible.
It's a great idea, don't get me wrong... if it could be done and made interesting it could sell a bundle, but if you focus on getting something family friendly for younger kids to play... I think it'll be quite hard to do so.

 

[Oracle144]

It doesn't sound that crazy, really. It just shouldn't be marketed as family friendly. I mean, it can carry the E stamp, but in all other respects it should just look like another FPS (minus the blood). And it doesn't have to suck either. Just make all the enemies weird alien things that explode into piles of green goo or something. Make the guns shoot plasma/beam/laser type stuff instead of bullets.

Unreal Tournament and Halo come pretty close to being family friendly, on a conceptual level at least. I'm not sure what's required to get an E rating, but I'm pretty sure parents would feel a lot better about their kids shooting things that don't even resemble humans... with weapons that bear little resemblance to real-world guns.

Actually, Metroid Prime is a great example... although it still carries a T rating for some reason. What does it take to get an E? If cartoon violence is out of the question then that puts a bit of a kink in the whole thing.

And E doesn't mean older gamers won't play it. My friends and I play a wide variety of games, including many E-rated and T-rated titles, even though we're over 20.

 

[Jordi]

Judging from the trailer it looks like the new Harry Potter game is going to be kind of a shooter. I didn't necessarily think that that was the best choice for this game, but for an FPS for kids I think it is pretty ideal.

I think that while water gun wars and paintball games can work, there is a big risk in making it too childish. I know my little brother when he was like 8 didn't want to play games or view shows that were obviously for kids, because he was 8 now, goddamnit! That's almost grown up!
I think that if you make a game that is obviously an FPS for small children, a lot of those children won't think it is cool. Pretty much everybody likes Harry Potter, so that could work (although it's probably for ages 12 and older).

I think here's the problem...
Who do you make it for? The kids that are really young (up until 4-5 years old) won't play these games because they're too fast or whatnot. and quickly above that (from 7-8) they think they're too old for kids games, and they quickly become attracted to the normal FPS... where do you find the middle-road that still sells properly? doesn't really seem quite that possible.
It's a great idea, don't get me wrong... if it could be done and made interesting it could sell a bundle, but if you focus on getting something family friendly for younger kids to play... I think it'll be quite hard to do so.

That's why I think doing something like Harry Potter could work. Kids of all ages like that, so when 7-8 y/o kids see much older kids and adults liking HP, they probably will too. This new game is 12+, but maybe it would be possible to decrease that? I don't know how the ratings work exactly.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

I can think of two ways that an E-rated FPS could work: Nerf guns, and magic. Nerf shooters have already been discussed, but another option is to replace the guns with magic wands and call "killing" something else -- like, say, sending to a different dimension. However, if the game is going to have guns, I don't see a rating lower than T, or mayber E10+ on a very good day with a heavily watered down game.

That said, what's so bad about a T-rated shooter? The original Time Splitters, for example, had nothing in it worse than what can be found in a PG rated movie -- I'd certainly call it "family friendly." Religiously sticking to the ratings, which are handed out by people who don't even play videogames, is almost as bad as not paying attention to them at all in my book.

Captcha:

I find this captcha amusing, and highly relevant to the discussion.

 

[Fenn]

Google "Battlefield Heroes" nuff said.

 

[orangeapples]

LOLOL I just love the idea behind the Wii water-gun game and chex quest.

 

[jedizero]

There's another old FPS...ish, game, called I.M. Meen.

For a bonus, the cutscene animations are done by the guys who were behind the LoZ:Cdi animations, so there's a lot of fodder for hilarity.

In reality, it can be at times, a kind of creepy game. You play as a kid running around a magical labyrinth. Always low on weapons, always afraid of what was around the next corner.

And no strafing controls! *shudders*