Ask GamerDad: Kid Factor vs. Age Seal
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Reader RJerog Asks: “Dear GamerDad – My 14-year old son wants to buy Star Wars Renegade Squadron for the PSP. You rated it 14+ but the last line of your review is: ‘This would not likely be a problem for most kids 10+, but as always, use your judgement and knowledge of your child.” Can you explain a little more? Thank you and thank you for your site. It has been extremely helpful to us (one gamer man, 3 gamer children (10,12,14) and 1 non-gamer mom).”
Answer: That’s a Mike Anderson review and I bet he’ll chime in in the comments section but this is a fair question and easy to explain. The short answer is that Mike is basically acknowledging that some 10 year-olds are more mature than others and that this game rests at the lower end of T-Teen. We don’t have a 12+ Seal here at GamerDad, so he rated it 14+ based on “average kids” and mentioned that 10+ is what he’d probably consider okay for his kids.
We don’t like “lines in the sand” here at GamerDad. We’re all about nuance.
December 6th, 2007 at 10:16 am
GamerDad nailed it exactly – it is a very ‘light T’ in terms of the intensity and realism of violence. However, it is still a first person shooter, and as such I find it tough to *ever* give it a 10+ Age Seal. That is simply because I am of the opinion that in shooters like that you are much more connected with the violence and it becomes more intense as a result.
But my kids are 9 and 11, and shooters have begun to infiltrate – my older son had a sleepover birthday and one of the kids brought a 007 shooter game and they did loads of 4-player matches (also T rated), and now there is Metroid on the DS that they play. It is the minority of what they play – they play more Zelda on the DS than anything else.
When it comes down to it in my house, my older son is much more the ‘intense gamer’ and my younger son loves the social interaction stuff – he loves ToonTown, Webkinz, Club Penguin, Cooking Mama and so on. So it is about keeping an eye on my older son and how he chooses to spend his gaming time – and how he behaves afterward. Intense games pump you up – whether a shooter or racing game or sports game.
So you really have to look at your kids – I don’t say that as a cop out, more as a caveat that while shooters to me will almost always get the 14+ Age Seal or more, the game elements around the shooting will determine whether or not it might work for younger kids.