My 4yr old likes D3

[Seme]

Even from a young age children know the difference between reality and fiction. Theres no problem letting your child play these games so long as it is done with proper parenting. Play the game with them, explain what it is they're seeing and so on.

[Amnasty]

Have to go with this. Quite fed up with idiots calling games to blame for people's actions. I grew up on SoR's, Shinobi, Double dragon Final fight and Street fighter. Based on wrong gaming logic I must have became a punk fighting all the time right? Nope, I became a Chef. Fuck stupid logic.

Oh my god... i played all these games too... and i grew up to be a chef....

VIOLET VIDEO GAMES MAKE PEOPLE COOK LATE IN LIFE.... RUUUUUUUN!

[Gereorth666]

Oh my god... i played all these games too... and i grew up to be a chef....

VIOLET VIDEO GAMES MAKE PEOPLE COOK LATE IN LIFE.... RUUUUUUUN!

Haha, are you sure? Because I became a nurse (I don't know what's the male word for it in English) in the hospital. After playing Manhunt, Soldier of Fortune at a young age and several other violent games, I became the one that's taking care of people.
And I realy thank my elders for giving me proper parenting. And I truly hope I'll do the same to my kids (hopefully) sometime.

[Shelly]

I'm with everyone else here.

Let him play but start establishing NOW a habit of monitoring his media. Talk with him about stuff that bothers him and all that. He will be fine, but you'll need to let him know how it all goes.

[Deleted]

Spyro, Zelda and Mario, that's all your kid needs.

Also, ZOO TYCOON 2!!!!

[Pandragon]

Age appropriate is a fallacy really. I grew up playing violent games and I'm perfectly fine while a friend of mine grew up playing childish games and he is screwed up. A game doesn't alter who your son will become when he gets older. It's all on him, the 2 biggest games for me when I was young was Warcraft and GTA. Ofc I was also spanked as a kid where my friend wasn't. And my mom spent time with me when she wasn't working, where his parents ignored him a lot. Take that how you want. lol

[Deleted]

Very bad parenting.

That is a rated M game. A teenager, okay, fine, there is so much that can be done to control those. But a 4 year old???? Too bad I can't, otherwise I would call social services; if the kid is being exposed to that, who knows what else. And people wonder why kids grow up to enjoy blood, gore in general and violent activities.

http://www.esrb.org/ratings/synopsis...tificate=31460

what.. srsly, blood&gore/killing in video games really doesnt mean a squat to anyone, just the kukkahattutädit have to ruin everyone's experiences with overly tight ratings.

[Howard Moon]

Very bad parenting.

That is a rated M game. A teenager, okay, fine, there is so much that can be done to control those. But a 4 year old???? Too bad I can't, otherwise I would call social services; if the kid is being exposed to that, who knows what else. And people wonder why kids grow up to enjoy blood, gore in general and violent activities.

http://www.esrb.org/ratings/synopsis...tificate=31460

Or you could, you know... mind your own business? Lol.

- - - Updated - - -

Are you serious...? Some of the most meaningful bonding I had with my father since age 5 was through video games.

Same here. My dad and I would create super-tough Boulder Dash and Lode Runner levels for each other to beat on the Commodore 64. He'd be raging because I could solve his levels easily, while he would get stuck on one of mine hehe, it was awesome.

We would also play though Puzzle-Adventure games together, such as The Dig or Legend of Kyrandia. They were quite tough games to finish, but we would sit down together and solve them.

Oh and we also coded a super-simple shoot-em-up game for the C64... in Basic, lol.

Thank you, dad, for making me the nerd I am today

[Scummer]

Torchlight 2!
It's a much lighter art style along with it's themes and world. So if you're concerned at all about the things he see's then TL2 will be much easier to compromise on.

But like everybody else says violence in of itself isn't necessarily harmful to a kid because they can differentiate between fiction and reality. Just make sure he's supervised and knows what he's playing and seeing. It's how you interact with him about it that defines how he will approach those themes in the future.

When people mention violent fictional media has affected their child it's an incredibly isolated incident usually brought upon by something else and the game becomes a way to expand how they feel. Ultimately it's the parenting that makes or breaks.

If you can make sure that he's fine with what he see's then no problem. If he doesn't understand, then pulling the plug and talking will work out fine.

[Aphrel]

pretty much anyblizzard game, they are all very userfriendly.

if you have a nintendo id reccomend mariocart. incredibly fun game

[Afrospinach]

I was playing GTA at the age of 8/9. I haven't murdered anyone or had the urge to round up prostitutes and slice their heads off with a katana.

Indeed. It is also difficult for an adult to decide how these things are going to affect their kids anyway. I remember watching the usual suspects when it came out, I was quite young at the time and all I remember was it was a great movie. What I *didn't* remember was how much swearing was in it, probably because a big deal was never made of it. Parents worry to much imo.

pretty much anyblizzard game, they are all very userfriendly.

There is this quest in the troll zone in WotLK that has you murder this guys wife and kids and use their weapons to make a tiki and kill him with it. It is pretty disturbing when you think about it :P

[Deleted]

There is this quest in the troll zone in WotLK that has you murder this guys wife and kids and use their weapons to make a tiki and kill him with it. It is pretty disturbing when you think about it :P

There's another where you have to torture a man to make him confess and another where you feed mammoth's dynamite and blow them up, only to then collect their remains for food. Not to mention you've killed what, million or so animals, people, demons, players and so on while playing. :P

[PBitt]

I played Duke Nukem when it first came out and I was three, my dad had it and he didn't give much of a shit if I played at the time and I have yet to murder anyone, get arrested or steal bubblegum from children. Granted today's games have much better graphics so I suppose that is something to consider with the gory details and things, but if he likes it...well, that's your call. There are plenty of more family-friendly options out there, though, but I don't think a little exposure to more adult-themed games/movies/books etc before the child is 'old enough' is a bad thing, either. Most of the games I played as a young child had an educational aspect to them as well, so that helps.

[Nerevar]

Meh, I've been going Postal 2 since 10 yo. Nothing wrong. If you parent him the right set of mind, he will not become a drooling idiot or a violent crack. Do not listen to ignorant parents who think otherwise. They failed at parenting themselves probably, preferring the technology to look after their kids instead of themselves.
Currently work as a translator btw, and have a degree in psychology. Yep, play too much postal it will lead to a "dreadful" life of languages and understanding of humans mind.

As for the age appropriate games. Minecraft?

[Nevermourne Studios]

If you think you can explain to him that the stuff in the game is exactly that-a video game. If you can do that and explain to him that it is imaginary like a movie and stuff then there shouldn't be a problem unless you are looking for something more violent. I'd say try something like a racing game or minecaft if you'd prefer him to stay away from violence.

[Yalingo]

Give him a go of torchlight dude. Its art style is much less dark and gritty and just as fun gameplay!

[Forsedar]

Just like others are recommending, go with Torchlight 2. Its like D3 but has a more 'kid' appeal to it with its graphics and how animations look.

Just like others were saying, I was playing Shadows of the Empire (Star Wars) on the N64 when I was really young. I was born in '91 and the game was released in '96. I also got into Grand Theft Auto when I was in Middle School (yes a little older) but I have never had the urge to do anything remotely bad.

I am an arrogant asshole, but that is because my father was too. The influence you have on your child will be much greater than that of a video game, because its exactly that... a game.

Honestly, as long as hes not picking up swear words then its fine. He'll learn more bad things in school than he will playing a game as he will have access to other children who more than likely will have way worse parental guidance. Gaming allows you to have exceptional hand-eye coordination and a lot of other factors. When I joined the USAF, I had never fired a gun in my life yet I shot Marksmen for my ribbon (and 1/3 of the shots fired were wearing an uncleaned gas mask). I attribute that to skills I've gained by gaming, as a lot of depth perception, hand eye coordination and prediction are picked up through games.

[Darksoldierr]

Age of Empires 2. Every child should be brought up with that game.

So much truth in a single sentence

[Tebayo]

MapleStory is a really easy game and not that violent

[Kilpi]

I was playing Star Wars on N64 when I was 4-5.

But Star Wars is pretty much suitable for children anyway.