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Editor’s note: When I was younger, "children's games" never earned a spot in my collection simply because they were usually poorly executed. I suspect those experiences have carried over with journalists reviewing games today. And I fear that I won't have the same patience as Matthew to sit through Bakugan with my own son when he's older. I can only hope to instill a decent sense of taste…. -Rob
When I read reviews that are meant for a younger mindset, I cringe. No matter how many times the reviewer says that he’s doing so with respect to the game’s audience, you can tell that just isn’t true. I don’t know whether it’s because reviewers can’t think like a 9-year-old or that they’re just afraid of losing their “hardcore” cred in whatever culture they wrap themselves, but they miss the point every time.
Want to know how to review a game with adorable woodland creatures sporting googly eyes or whatever flavor-of-the-week cartoon character happens to be the current fad? You play the game with a kid.
More often than not, we insult the intelligence of children. Although stereotyped to have an affinity for SpongeBob and Ben 10, the truth of the matter is that their taste is as subjective as ours. As in, my son would rather play Halo than the latest Disney game.
Unfortunately, this is more my fault than his; I used to be a twentysomething gamer who thought everything was created on a whim for my demographic, so I never gave a second thought to renting or buying something of his level. He’s well aware of the quality of the latest Mario game and such, but he finds playing something with an antihero in a world filled with unrealistic social interactions much cooler.
Fully blaming myself for this faux pas, I’ve gone out of my way looking for games that: 1) don’t raise eyebrows with other parents, and 2) also maintain some semblance of engaging gameplay without smelling like a complete cash-in.
The land of children’s game reviews is a veritable wasteland replete with blowing dust, a harsh sun, and the occasional artifact of handing out ridiculously low scores based on the fact that Nickelodeon funded the title.
I fully understand that there’s a contingent of die-hard gamers out there, but there’s just as many — if not more — players who don’t know what a first-person shooter is and don’t care if another installment of a long-running role-playing series is coming out.
I know it’s the popular thing to mock people who farm on Facebook or play Bejeweled on their phone. If we as gamers want to legitimize this hobby to the public-at-large, we need to not just acknowledge but respect what other people play. Remember in school when the popular kids picked on you because you were a gamer? Same concept, only now we hide our bully behavior behind anonymity.
Taking what I’ve learned from the lack of information on the Internet, I did what any dad would to make amends: set out in said wasteland — with kids in tow — and find the games on our own. Let me tell you, the journey wasn’t — and isn’t — easy.
We played the unmitigated disaster. We found something so great that it’s like discovering a lost civilization, and all you want to do is share the experience with everyone. But more often than not, we found something in the middle.
In this case, mediocrity isn’t as bad as gamers believe — it actually means that we both find something appealing in our own different ways. Like most of you, I look for technical refinement and a gameplay hook to pull me in; my son is more forgiving of SNAFUs in that department so long as the story and/or action grabs him. It’s worked out pretty well so far.
And even when I’m not into a game and he is, I’ll still hang around the room to passively watch him play, and see what he likes and he doesn’t. Doing so provides some much needed perspective and is extremely helpful when we’re ready to rent the next game. Context is good, folks.
In the end, I realized that maybe I shouldn’t rely so heavily on erudite gaming critics; they write for a certain audience of which I’m not normally included. I also can’t depend on my gut instinct, either. In the end, my intuition is always watching out for me and not my kin.
So who holds the power as to what my children play and what they like? It so happens to be my children themselves. I can point them towards certain things, but they choose what they like. I don’t like when people tell me what I should and shouldn’t play, so why would I force my views and tastes onto my kids? I’m just happy that I can enjoy gaming with them no matter what we play — even if it is Bakugan.
I'm not a real games journalist; I just play one on the Internet. You can check out my personal blog, The Question Block, or follow me on Twitter @MHMason.