Recently, a good friend asked me if my son could participate with their child in an upcoming video game tournament. What caught me off guard was that this friend is usually opposed to kids playing video games. I was eager to look into registration for my son knowing that he would be thrilled to participate with his friend.
Then I found out what game was being played: Marvel VS Capcom 3.
I love Marvel VS Capcom. The graphics are great, the gameplay is intense, the moves are amazing. As much as I would love to blindly enter him into the tournament and just assume the organizers know what they are doing, I cannot. As a parent I MUST research any game to which my boys are exposed. And I am sad to say Marvel VS Capcom 3 failed my “family-friendly test. “
The main failure of this game was the portrayal of females. To understand my point, see the following site:
Female Characters in Marvel VS Capcom
http://marvelvscapcom.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Female_Characters
My “Family-Friendly” Test is a very simple three-questions:
- Would you allow your kids to wear the exact outfits as portrayed in the game?
- Would you allow your kids to watch a live-action reenactment of the violence/sensuality?
- Would you allow your kids to mimic the behavior and personality of the main character?
Based on a couple of the female outfits, I cannot answer yes to the first question. Although I do not have daughters, if I DID, she would not be allowed to dress this way. I understand this is a minority opinion, but since I am a Christian trying to raise Christians in an impure and immoral world, I am already in the minority.
To be fair, Marvel VS Capcom is much better about female outfits than Mortal Combat:
Female Characters in Mortal Combat
http://mortalkombat.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Female_Characters
While I am more cautious about my kids exposure to sex and sensuality than to violence and gore, I also want to understand the violence they are exposed and what they think about it. I occasionally watch them or play with them and ask them questions like; “Isn’t that too disgusting for you?”, “What if that were to really happen to someone?”, or “Why do you like watching that?”
A recent segment on The Daily Show even highlighted the immoral times we live in when lawmakers feel extreme violence and gore should be allowed to be sold to kids. See the video clip below:
Segment on Violent Video Game Ruling – The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-june-30-2011/moral-kombat
So what can parents do to ensure their kids are not adversely effected by video games? This is simple but requires effort.
First and Foremost: The parent MUST take an interest in their kids’ entertainment. Games, movies, TV… whatever. Find out what they do for fun and join them. Yes, this might mean you sit through an annoying kid show from time to time. But by doing so, you can be certain you know what they are watching. The added benefit of this is that you are spending time with them… and that almost always reinforces their trust in you.
Second: Research, research, research. The cover art and text description on the box is usually deceptive and limited. When a game contains roughly a few thousand images and scenes, and the box will only fit two or three individual photos, the game makers will usually only pick the few images that sell a game. So it’s important to know what’s in a game by looking it up on Wikipedia (which offers factual and non-biased information). This applies to movies, TV and music also.
Finally: Ask your kids WHY they like certain games. What excites them? What makes them laugh? What characters do they like an why? If their interest is nothing more than a visceral fascination with the game’s violence or sensuality, you might want to limit or ban that game for a time until they can find more family-friendly alternatives.
For example: My son loves a game called Unreal Tournament 2004. The game is rated M for mature based on violence and language. BUT being the PC geek I am, I can easily modify the game to remove the violence and language; in essence turning it into a rated T for teen game. But the violence is not the issue with my son. He is obsessed with the game so much that if he loses even one minute of game time he has uncontrollable crying attacks. He shows all of the clinical signs of addiction. Therefore, we have banned that game from the house forever.
I want to encourage my boys to seek out entertainment that is fun AND family-friendly and does not create unhealthy habits. I can only do that by getting involved with them.
