Family friendly games being mistaken as kid games?

[Yoggtimus Prime]

I really see this trend a lot nowadays, and it's getting to the point that I don't necessarily understand what's going on through that person's mind. I mean yeah, you have games that focus on the younger crowd if they want to play games, but to what extent does it start crossing the line that games that are family friendly are for kids? A good example of this would be Freakyforms. It's a 3DS game that gives you the ability to make a creature out of shapes and given parts, create your world, and share your creations with your friends. Basically, kinda like the game took inspiration of Spore and added a little hint of LBP. One comment on IGN's video of it on youtube, stated that the dislikes given to the video may have been because we "aren't 5 years old anymore". Sure, this can attract to kids, but does this not make it to where anyone older than said age can't play it and enjoy it? Same as LBP. You wouldn't think it, but LBP is family friendly, given you know what keywords not to type in. My buddy has a nephew who is only 6 and he loves LBP tons. I really am starting to think that maybe people aren't ready to believe in the idea of family friendly stuff. I'd rather raise my kid on something I know we can enjoy than raising him on something like CoD or Amnesia.

A company that has been bashed for kid games is Nintendo, which is always a confusing matter. First off, you have fans saying "Oh, they do too much mario and what not, they have no original material". Then when they DO release original material; "WTF is this? Why can't they keep their fanbase pleased and release stuff dealing with liked characters, like Mario." I don't understand. Anyways, it's funny that people mention that the N64 had great games, but they forget to realize how family friendly those games were too. Does that mean these are kid games? If you're looking at the perspective that a game that kids can enjoy is for kids, then you can understand why I would say that. I was young when I played OoT, Banjo Kazooie, Donkey Kong 64, F-Zero, etc. I'm trying to word this correctly without sounding dumb, because lack of sleep, but I'm just wondering why bash companies now for doing family friendly games when they've been doing it for the longest time? I played dark games like OoT, then went straight to MM when it was released. Those had pretty dark moments, but I wasn't turned away from them by my parents, because it's was really light and unnoticeable. Mario's drowning animation in Mario 64 is another example of how light it was. Sure you didn't notice it, but the drowning effect was pretty believable in action. Not to mention that eel was the scariest part of that level, and the fear of just drowning. Family friendly, though.

It's gone to movies now, hence why you hear comments like "Kung Fu Panda was a kid movie". I'm sorry, but I enjoyed that movie, and I went with 6 other people about my age. Why? Because even though it tries to get kids to come, the movie itself is family friendly. Same as Rango, Up, Monsters Inc., PotC, and all sorts of different movies. Would you really want your kids growing up on movies like American History X, Death of an Irish Man or Reservoir Dogs? Probably not.

So really, I just wonder what everyone feels about this topic.

EDIT: I have a lot of typos, so I apologize. I tend to go a little fast and make mistakes, and it doesn't help with the lack of sleep I have.

[Voytrekk]

Personally, its just a way for teenagers/young adults to try and make themselves feel more grown up. One game that I got ridiculed for playing in high school was Viva Pinata. This game may have been marketed more towards kids, but it was a very in depth game. The game was actually very good, but just because it was marketed towards kids, people thought it was just a kids game. I think the main difference between now and back then(N64 days), is that family friendly games are more marketed towards kids, where as it seems like games were marketed towards everyone back in the day. It might have just been that we didn't notice that it was only younger kids playing it, but I know for certain that my dad enjoyed many of the games that I played as well(Banjo-Kazooie being one of his all time favorites.)

[Caiada]

It's a curse that's plagued Nintendo since the N64, when Sony essentially turned the market around on them and grabbed the attentions of the generation of gamers that was just beginning to step into late teenager-dom. Now all those gamers the NES and SNES captivated are in their early to late 20s, and unfortunately, a lot of them feel like they need to play 'mature' games to be 'mature' people.

Just like probably very few guys played Super Princess Peach, it's stereotypes overcoming logic. It's a shame too, because many of the 'family friendly' games, especially those produced by Nintendo, are fantastic.

Also, any person who claims they're too old to watch Pixar movies and enjoy them should probably be burned at the stake for having no soul.

[lmenvs]

I kinda had to post on this thread because my fiance and I just came back from Walmart after checking out the new Spyro game, the one with the little figurines. I thought they were adorable, and he thought some of them were really cool. Some people might consider the game childish, hell I was about 7 when the first Spyro came out and I loved the hell out of that game. But the game has multiplayer coop and that's a huge thing for the both of us, being gamers.

I will always like cartoons, bright and colorful video games, and the like. And I have no problem with that. Of course, the people I hung out in high school had the same thoughts on this as I, so I didn't get ridiculed nearly as much. I have no insecurities about my maturity levels because of the fact that I play 'kiddie' video games, and honestly it's probably the insecurities they have that avert these people from these games. Their loss honestly. There's no problem with kid movies, either. In fact, I took my fiance to see Tangled with me when it was in theaters, and he even enjoyed it. We even watch MLP XDD

Sure there's people who think that people like us are juvenile, but just because of our 'childish' preferences, doesn't mean that we are incapable of being mature people. I'm kind of rambling at this point, but I've been made fun of for playing Pokemon.

If the game's fun or the movie's good, I'll play it/watch it.

[Sorrior]

Ironically i'd say the people who complain about things like this are the immature ones. I mean i'm 25 but comfortable enough with myself to watch power ranger, pokemon and play games like Pokemon, Digimon sonic games and evfn proudly display a wii right next to my ps3 snd 360.

So yeah i'm guessing it's mainly people obsessed with "being an adult" or "acting mature" which ironically seems to make them seem less mature.

[Pool of the Dead]

Hell I play just about any games, apart from ones "SPECIFICALLY" aimed at kids (difficulty-wise and based around learning), like Dora the explorer:the game, etc

Anyone that says they don't play certain games just because they are childish like; Pokemon, Mario Games, Crash Bandicoot Series, Jak and Daxter, Ratchet and Clank, basically games that have animations that look inclined to be towards a younger crowd, are generally the people that do need to "grow up" and learn that Fun is Fun regardless of the "opinion" of the age group things are set at.

But meh, let them not play "childish" games, I'll be having fun while they are off playing their generic shooters or "adult" games.

[lmenvs]

Hell I play just about any games, apart from ones "SPECIFICALLY" aimed at kids (difficulty-wise and based around learning), like Dora the explorer:the game, etc

Anyone that says they don't play certain games just because they are childish like; Pokemon, Mario Games, Crash Bandicoot Series, Jak and Daxter, Ratchet and Clank, basically games that have animations that look inclined to be towards a younger crowd, are generally the people that do need to "grow up" and learn that Fun is Fun regardless of the "opinion" of the age group things are set at.

But meh, let them not play "childish" games, I'll be having fun while they are off playing their generic shooters or "adult" games.

Yeah, R&C trumps CoD every day in my book. :P

[Throrion]

Insecure and undefined people will always define themselves by what they do, not by who they are, and thus react fiercely against anything that conflicts with their perceived identity.

[silentk59]

I think you people are taking the title "kid" games out of context.

I grew up with all those games to like Spyro and Banjo and Pokemon to and if someone wants to play those games then cool, thats fine with me.

But the games that people my age and older dont usually play are 1. not games we grew up with therefor have no personal connection to them or 2. ARE marketed toward little kids. Iam thinking mainly of the Wii, they said it themselves, they are aimed at entertaining the whole family. You cant do that without making it either insanely stupid easy, or childish. As in little bouncy smiley characters, interactive gaming(which can be fun) cartoony looking graphics because there not only appealing to younger kids but also older seniors. Lots of them absolutely LOVE the Wii.

All those things make it for a childish game, I dont care about context or the like. But if I can smash every level with no effort, the characters have a never ending smile, or their isnt any violence its a kid game. Thats what the ESRB is for after all.

But shit Pokemon! One of the most addicting games of all time I remember running out many a AA batteries playing that game. And to say its for 'little kids' is bullshit, its little monsters fighting each other nearly to the death. I guarantee it could have gone either way, kid show/game or hardcore adult manga. Both would be sick.

[Loaf]

some things I'll never grow out of. Others it's just b/c of what they are. I'll never watch MLP b/c even though I love cartoons, I'm not one for watching a cartoon that's based on girl toys. Idc how much depth and whatnot it has.

People who call things kid oriented(like Kung-Fu Panda and in turn, MoP), either a) forgot what it's like to be a kid and think that 14+ means BLOOD AND GORE or b) are just trying to make it seem like they "mature" people who don't like those things.

[Pool of the Dead]

I think you people are taking the title "kid" games out of context.

I grew up with all those games to like Spyro and Banjo and Pokemon to and if someone wants to play those games then cool, thats fine with me.

But the games that people my age and older dont usually play are 1. not games we grew up with therefor have no personal connection to them or 2. ARE marketed toward little kids. Iam thinking mainly of the Wii, they said it themselves, they are aimed at entertaining the whole family. You cant do that without making it either insanely stupid easy, or childish. As in little bouncy smiley characters, interactive gaming(which can be fun) cartoony looking graphics because there not only appealing to younger kids but also older seniors. Lots of them absolutely LOVE the Wii.

All those things make it for a childish game, I dont care about context or the like. But if I can smash every level with no effort, the characters have a never ending smile, or their isnt any violence its a kid game. Thats what the ESRB is for after all.

But shit Pokemon! One of the most addicting games of all time I remember running out many a AA batteries playing that game. And to say its for 'little kids' is bullshit, its little monsters fighting each other nearly to the death. I guarantee it could have gone either way, kid show/game or hardcore adult manga. Both would be sick.

Every game released no matter how mature, has been a fucking cake-walk in the last 10 years, Since when does Violence make it "mature" . Movies like Saw and hostel seem to attract more teenagers then adults because kids see a bit of gore and think OH WOWEE THATS COOL, nearly every game has violence, even "kiddy" games unless the game is primarily a puzzle game only, there is always something you have to bash or smash to further yourself in the game, and i have played many fun games, with characters that always smile.

once again people calling that "childish" tend to be the ones that have to try and seek ways to make themselves seem "mature"

[cleveland4life]

I have problems with this to, I work at wal-mart and they dont seem to understand the fact that a 6 year old could have just as much fun with super smash brothers as a 20 year old.

[Caiada]

Every game released no matter how mature, has been a fucking cake-walk in the last 10 years, Since when does Violence make it "mature" . Movies like Saw and hostel seem to attract more teenagers then adults because kids see a bit of gore and think OH WOWEE THATS COOL, nearly every game has violence, even "kiddy" games unless the game is primarily a puzzle game only, there is always something you have to bash or smash to further yourself in the game, and i have played many fun games, with characters that always smile.

once again people calling that "childish" tend to be the ones that have to try and seek ways to make themselves seem "mature"

That is both an exaggeration and an oversimplification.

[Pool of the Dead]

That is both an exaggeration and an oversimplification.

I have not had trouble completing any game in the last 10 years hell i would go even as far as 15 years, back to when I was 8 I finished ny game i hired out or bought. Even the so called ball busters like demon's souls ended up being cake walked once you got past the first 30mins of the game.

The only time i've not just cake-walked through is when I've but the game on the hardest difficulty possible, such as european extreme MGS or Master Ninja Gaiden.

Even then on normal modes those games were Cake-walk.

Using his logic of game-difficultly = maturity level, every game made in the past 15 years has been "kiddy"

[Voidgazer]

The "family friendly" games ARE kid games - a game's target audience is determined by its lower threshold. You can't make a game aimed mostly for older people, but suitable for kids at the same time. BUT you can make a game aimed for kids, but interesting for mature people too!

[Edge-]

The "family friendly" games ARE kid games - a game's target audience is determined by its lower threshold. You can't make a game aimed mostly for older people, but suitable for kids at the same time. BUT you can make a game aimed for kids, but interesting for mature people too!

You mean this awesome game isn't child friendly?

http://wii.ign.com/articles/115/1152147p1.html

But I agree, it's determined by the minimum appropriate age. That being said though, there are a decent number of non-violent, non-vulgar, non-suggestive games that are suitable for children, but still fun in their own right no matter what age you are.