Parenting Gamers

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Over 1,000 new games are rated by the ESRB every year. Your gamer is keeping up with several of them. How can you stay ahead of the curve?

My goal is to help you do just that. I keep up with the latest news in the video game industry for you. Just enter you name and email address to keep up-to-date. You will also receive a free download of my e-book, Connecting with Your Teenager through Video Games.

Let’s Play Super Meat Boy

This is my next “Let’s Play” video of Super Meat Boy.

This series highlights high quality games I recommend to you as a parent. These are games that your gamer may enjoy with content you will approve.

Transcript:

Hello, my name is Eric Rogers from parentinggamers.com and this is my “Let’s Play” video of Super Meat Boy. In this series of videos, I am playing different games that I recommend to you as a parent. These are high quality games your gamer will enjoy with content you will approve.

So let’s play Super Meat Boy.

Super Meat Boy is a hard-as-nails platformer. The player plays as Meat Boy, a red square of meat trying to save his girlfriend Bandage Girl from Dr. Fetus. He runs and jumps to avoid obstacles like pits, spikes, spinning blades, and other things trying to kill him.

Here you get an idea of the gameplay. As you can see, Meat Boy can jump off and slide down walls. This mechanic, while seemingly simple, allows the developers to create some extremely difficult level. The levels you see here are purposefully simple to help the player learn the controls.

The thing that makes Super Meat Boy great even though it is difficult is how quickly the player can try again when he fails. As you can see here, I died several times on this level. Each time, I was back up and playing again extremely quickly. This helps keep the frustration level down because failure does not set you back that far.

Another cool thing this games does is give you a replay of all the attempts you made when you complete a level. It is not uncommon to try 50 times or more on later levels, which can make this replay pretty cool to watch.

Super Meat Boy is one of my favorite games. It is currently sitting at the top of my Steam library as the game I have played the most. That being said, it is not for everyone. It’s difficulty can make it more frustrating than fun for some. But, if you gamer likes hard games and likes a challenge, it is a great one.

Super Meat Boy is rated T, which is the equivalent of a PG-13 movie rating. It is available on the PC, Mac, Linux, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation Vita.

If you enjoyed this video, please visit me at parentinggamers.com and sign-up for my email list. Signing up with get you notifications when I release new videos and give you a free copy of my e-book, Connecting with Your Teenager Through Video Games. Thanks for watching.

Platform Guide – Which Platform to Buy

ConsoleConfusion

I have gone over the major gaming platforms over the last several weeks. This included the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Wii U, and PC.

If you are looking to buy a console for your gamer this holiday season, your next question is, which one do you get? The answer to that question is going to depend on your gamer. However, here are some questions you can ask to get closer to an answer.

  1. Is there a particular console he wants? This could make your life easier. You do not want to get him a PlayStation 4 if all he has been asking for this year is an Xbox One.

  2. What console do her friends have? She is going to want to play with her friends if you allow her to play online. She cannot do that if she has a different console. If all her friends have a PS4, get her a PS4.

  3. Are there any platform exclusives he is interested in? The Halo franchise is a big one. The new one, Halo 5, comes out later this month (October 27th). If he wants to play it, you will have to get him an Xbox One. If, however, he loves Super Mario Brothers, the Wii U is what you need.

  4. How old is she? If your gamer is younger, you will want a Wii U. The games are much easier to get into, appeal to the younger demographic with their more colorful look, and do not have the more mature content you see in games on other platforms.

    (Just to be clear, I am not saying the Wii U is a kids console and only good for younger gamers. While the games are easy to get into, they are hard to master. My 4 year-old can play New Super Mario Brothers U but even I, a 37 year old gamer with years of experience, have a hard time completing it.)

  5. What is your budget? This question will only effect whether you have to get a Wii U instead of the other options. The Wii U is currently running $50 cheaper than the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. That $50, however, is the price of a game so the Wii U might be the way to go to be able to get a little more for your gamer.

These questions should help you narrow down your choice of console. If, however, you are still unsure, I am willing to help you out individually. Just sign-up for my email list and reply to the email you receive. I will help you get the perfect gift for your gamer the best I can.

Let’s Play Costume Quest 2

This is my next “Let’s Play” video of Costume Quest 2.

This series highlights high quality games I recommend to you as a parent. These are games that your gamer may enjoy with content you will approve.

Transcript:

Hello, my name is Eric Rogers from parentinggamers.com and, in the spirit of October and Halloween, this is my “Let’s Play” video of Costume Quest 2. In this series of videos, I am playing different games that I recommend to you as a parent. These are high quality games your gamer will enjoy with content you will approve.

So let’s play Costume Quest 2.

Costume Quest 2 is a turn-based role-playing game, or RPG. The player controls a group of kids who just want to trick-or-treat on Halloween. Their plans are thwarted by an evil dentist, Dr. Orel Write, who is set on ending Halloween forever. The kids collect candy and costumes in their efforts to stop him.

The hook to Costume Quest 2 is it’s costume/combat system. The player unlocks new abilities by gathering materials for different costumes. In this fight, you can see I am using a Pterodactyl, a candy corn, and a super hero costume. Normally, the player would replace the candy corn costume because the character using it can’t help in the fight, thus putting the player at a disadvantage. However, there is an achievement for finishing the game using the candy corn costume in every fight, which is why I am using it here.

As you can see, the combat is turn-based. Each character gets a chance to perform different moves on their turn. The player tries to time button presses to the prompt on the screen. The closer she gets to perfect, the more damage the character will do. This also works when the enemy attacks. The closer the player gets to being perfect with those prompts, the less damage she takes.

Costume Quest 2 is a fun game I use to help me get in the holiday spirit. I love pulling it out at the beginning of October to help me get the Halloween juices flowing. It is rated E10+, which is the equivalent of a PG movie rating. It is available on the PC, Mac, Linux, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Wii U.

If you enjoyed this video, please visit me at parentinggamers.com and sign-up for my email list. Signing up with get you notifications when I release new videos and give you a free copy of my e-book, Connecting with Your Teenager Through Video Games. Thanks for watching.

Platform Guide – PC

computer-parts

This post is part of my Video Game Platform series.

The next video game platform I am going to cover is the PC. Here is the basic information on it:

Now let’s dig into these a bit.

PC Hardware

The hardware of the PC differs significantly from the other consoles I have covered to this point. With those (the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Wii U), buying the hardware is fairly straight forward. There is a little variation in the hardware and price, such as getting an Xbox One with or without the Kinect. However, you do not have to worry about your Xbox One being able to run Halo 5. Every Xbox One has the same guts so there is no worry about it running games designed for it.

The PC, however, is different beast.

If you have ever shopped for a computer, you will have a little bit of an idea of what I mean. Go into any electronics store and you will see rows of PCs, all with different specs and prices. They will probably range from a few hundred dollars up to $1,500 or so.

The price range for a decent gaming PC is huge. PC Gamer had an article earlier this year where they put together a budget gaming PC for $661. They also have a machine they call the Large Pixel Collider, which would run you over $10,000 to replicate.

So how do you decide what to buy? That is a great question. Unfortunately, it is also too big a question for this post. I am working on something I plan to release sometime next year to help answer this.

For now, if you have specific questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me individually. The best way to do that is to sign up for my email list and then reply to the message you receive.

The Platform Holder – None

Another major difference between the PC and other platforms is the PC has no platform holder. There is no company that controls the hardware or sets the rules for what games can be released on it.

There are advantages and disadvantages to this. The main disadvantage is there is no company out there championing the platform. This is really apparent at trade shows like E3 where Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo have keynotes but the PC does not. Recently the site PC Gamer has been working to change this but they have a ways to go before they really compete.

One major advantage the PC has is its openness. Developers have a lot more freedom in what they build and how they distribute it. Also, with the free resources out there, it is extremely easy to get into video game development on the PC. This openness has lead to the rise of indie games over the last several years.

While the PC does not have one company to rule them all, there are several large companies that are extremely important to PC gaming. Here are a few, although this list is far from exhaustive.

Platform Exclusives

PC exclusives are a bit different than exclusives on the other consoles. There are the normal exclusives in the big genres like the first-person shooter Unreal Tournament or the role-playing game Pillars of Eternity.

Where the PC really shines is in its exclusive genres. There are whole genres of video games that are pretty much exclusive to PCs. This is because the PC uses the keyboard and mouse as its control, which opens up the things it can do.

Here is a list of some genres you will find either exclusively or mostly on PC.

  • Strategy games – This includes real-time strategy games like StarCraft 2, 4X strategy games like Galactic Civilizations 3, city builders like City Skylines, and turn-based strategy games like Civilization 5.
  • MOBAs – This genre has become one of the big e-sports genre. The games include League of Legends, DOTA 2, and Heroes of the Storm.
  • MMOs – This genre has moved to the consoles some with Destiny and The Elder Scrolls Online. For the most part, however, games like World of Warcraft and Lords of the Rings Online are exclusive to PC.

Parental Controls

One other disadvantage of not having a platform holder on PC is there are no centralized parental controls. Some companies have good controls, like Blizzard, but for the most part you are going to have to pay closer attention to what your gamer is doing  on the PC.

Video Game Fall Preview

Fall

Fall is almost here. Man, I’m excited! This is my favorite time of the year. Football is back. The leaves will start changing colors. The weather will get cooler. Halloween decorations are starting to come out, followed by Thanksgiving, and then Christmas. I am so ready!

It is also a good time to be a gamer. The summer months are extremely slow. There were a few big games that came out but not many.

September marks the beginning of the Christmas push for the video game industry. A lot of big games are scheduled to come out in the next few months as publishers try to take advantage of the Christmas shopping season.

Here is a list of the big games your gamer might be watching for the fall.

Parenting Gamers Review – Ryse: Son of Rome

Here is my next video review. In this video, I give you a quick overview of Ryse: Son of Rome, go over the rating and content, and let you know if I think it is good for your gamer.

If you enjoyed this video, please sign-up for my email list to receive notifications when I release new ones.

Transcript:

Hello, my name is Eric Rogers from parentinggamers.com and this is Parenting Gamers Review of Ryse: Son of Rome. In this video, I am going to give you a quick overview of the game, go over the rating and content, and let you know if I think it is good for your gamer.

So the first question is, what is Ryse: Son of Rome?

Ryse: Son of Rome is a third-person action game. A third-person game is a game where the character the player controls is visible on the screen. This view is popular is story driven games because it helps the player connect more with the main character of the story. You can see what I mean in this clip here.

Ryse also feature sections where the player controls more than just the main character. The main character is a Roman soldier. In some sections, the player is tasked with moving a group of soldiers through a given area, as you can see in this clip here.

There are two other things I want to mention about Ryse’s gameplay.

First, Ryse is a heavily story-driven game. There are a lot of cut scenes that take control away from the player to move the story forward. The gameplay is very linear and has very little freedom for the player to leave the given path.

The second thing I want to mention is the execution system. Whenever an enemy reaches a certain threshold of health, a skull icon appears above his head. The player then has the opportunity to perform an execution, which finishes the enemy off in a very brutal fashion. Performing an execution will give the player different bonuses, such as filling the health bar up or awarding more experience. So the player is encouraged to perform these executions whenever possible.

The next question is, what about the content?

A quick warning, I am about to show you some clips explaining the rating Ryse received. These clips are graphic and contain some sexual content.

Ryse: Son of War received an M rating, which is the equivalent of an R rating in the movies. The rating includes these 5 descriptors:

“Intense Violence” and “Blood and Gore”

“Strong Language”

and “Partial Nudity” and “Sexual Content”

The other thing to keep in mind is Ryse contains a multiplayer component that allows players to team up to kill enemies. You need to be aware of this because you will have no control over who your gamer might play with in a public game.

So what’s the verdict? Is Ryse: Son of Rome a game you should allow your gamer to play?

I have to say I cannot recommend this game to parents. The executions are pretty brutal and happen very frequently throughout the game. That in and of itself is enough to make me say hold off.

But then the nudity takes Ryse into the definite no category. The ESRB gave it the “Partial Nudity” descriptor saying, “female characters are sometimes depicted topless (e.g., pasties over breasts; covered in body paint)”. However, the clip I showed you was much more graphic than “Partial Nudity” implies, in my opinion. Yes, the nipples of the female characters are covered but that makes the scene only slightly better than what you would see in the strip club in Grand Theft Auto 5.

With the violence and sexual content in this game, I have to say give it a pass.

If you enjoyed this video, please visit me at parentinggamers.com and sign-up for my email list. Signing up with get you notifications when I release new videos and give you a free copy of my e-book, Connecting with Your Teenager Through Video Games. Thanks for watching.

Video Game Career – Professional Gamer

ProGamer

This is the next post in my series highlighting different careers in the video game industry.

Today I am covering the career of a professional gamer.

What does a professional gamer do?

A professional gamer, as the term implies, is some one who gets paid to play a video game, similar to how athletes get paid to play a sport.

If you mention this to your gamer, he might react with, “Paid to play video games? Sign me up!” While it does sound awesome, there is more to it that might not be as glamorous as your gamer thinks.

One thing you may have noticed in my definition is this is some one who gets paid to play a video game, not video games. If you think about it in terms of sports, this make sense.

Lebron James is an amazing athlete. However, that’s not what makes him the best basketball player in the world. He is the best because of one thing, focus.

Yes, he could probably excel at many different sports. But he choose basketball. He focused on it and honed his skills in it until he became the best. And even now, he still has to work at his skills to keep them up.

It is the same with professional gamers. These gamers have chosen to focus on one game and become the best they possible can at that game. Playing their chosen game became their full-time job. They spend their days playing and honing their skills.

The question your gamer needs to answer before going this route is whether he would be willing to give up playing almost every other game out there to focus exclusively on one.

How much money is there to be made doing this?

The money to be made as a professional gamer depends on a lot of factors. Recently Valve hosted their International Tournament for their game DOTA 2.  This tournament had a total prize pool over $18 million with a little over $6.6 million going to the winning team. That’s not bad for 5 days of playing a video game.

Now, to be clear, that money is not just split evenly among the players. A DOTA 2 team consists of 5 active players. Each player of the winning team did not take home $1.3 million. Instead, that money went into a pot and then divided among the players and other people involved with the team (i.e. their manager).

The amount of money a gamer can make will depend on the game he chooses. Did he choose a team game like DOTA 2 or League of Legends or a solo game like StarCraft 2? How big are the prize pools in the tournaments for his game?

Tournament prize money is a big source of a professional gamers income but is not the only source. They also make money from sponsorships and streaming their play, among other things.

How would my gamer get started?

There are a few things I would recommend your gamer checking out of he is interested in becoming a professional gamer.

  1. Check out the ESports Today podcast. They go over the happenings in esports every week.
  2. Check out ProGamerHub. They have articles on how much pro gamers make, what the top paying games are, how to be come a pro gamer, what a typical day for a pro gamer looks like, and more.
  3. Pick a game and start playing. It will take a lot of work to get good enough to make some real money so he needs to get on it now!

Platform Guide – Wii U

This post is part of my Video Game Platform series.

The next video game platform I am going to cover in the Wii U. Here is the basic information on it:

Now let’s dig into these a bit.

Wii U Hardware

One thing you will notice about the Wii U is that the hardware is cheaper than either the Xbox One or the PlayStation 4. Nintendo works really hard to keep the price of its hardware down. The downside to this is it is not as powerful as either of the other consoles.

So why would you buy a Wii U instead of an Xbox One or PlayStation 4?

There are two things that set it apart from the other consoles. The first is the platform exclusives, which I will detail in a little bit.

The second is the hardware itself. When the Wii came out in 2006, it started a revolution with its motion controls. Both Microsoft and Sony jumped on the motion control bandwagon, although without anywhere near the success of Nintendo. Between its novel controls, the inclusion of Wii Sports that brought non-gamers in, and the lower price ($249.99 in North America), the Wii was a huge success, selling over 100 million units.

Nintendo attempted to similarly revolutionize the industry with the release of the Wii U. This time, they added a tablet to the console.

Unfortunately, the tablet has not revolutionized the industry as they hoped it would. That being said, there are two features of it that make it pretty cool.

  • Asymmetrical play – The tablet allows developers to create games that allow for asymmetrical play. This means one player will be doing one thing on the tablet while up to 4 others will be doing something different on the TV. The greatest example of this is Nintendo Land, which lead to a great, recent video game memory for me.
  • Play off the TV – The other thing the tablet allows is for the player to play a game on it instead of the TV. This can be good if there are several people in the house wanting to use the screen at the same time. So your gamer can play something on his Wii U while you watch something on TV.

The negative of these things is Nintendo is really the only one taking great advantage of the features.

The Platform Holder – Nintendo

Who is Nintendo anyway?

Nintendo is the granddaddy of platform holders these days. It has been around since the 1800s and has been making consoles since the early 1980s, when they released the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The follow system to the NES, the Super NES, is considered by many to be the best console ever made.

Nintendo, more than any other platform holders, marches to the beat of a different drummer. While Microsoft and Sony are chasing more and more powerful hardware, Nintendo is willing to try something different. Sometimes it works, as with the Wii U. And the sometimes it does not.

The other area Nintendo sets itself apart is in its treatment of its exclusive franchises. Instead of going for big budget action and pushing the limits of content, Nintendo strives to create high quality, family-friendly games. If it is a Nintendo game, you can bet it is good and the content is acceptable.

Platform Exclusives

Platform exclusives is where Nintendo really shines. Nintendo owns some of the most iconic franchises in video games. Nintendo consoles are the only places you can play Super Mario Brothers, Zelda, Metroid, and Kirby games, among others.

The thing that makes these franchises great is not just the characters but also the quality of the games. Two of my favorite games of all time are The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Super Metroid, both on the Super Nintendo. Looking at this list of “video games considered the best“, you will see 5 Nintendo games in the top 10.

These platform exclusives and the lower price makes the Wii U the secondary console of choice for many gamers. They may go back and forth between the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 but they will also have a Wii U.

Parental Controls

Modern consoles are doing a better job of including tools to help parents control the content their children can access. The Wii U is no exception.

Check out this video from Hungry Gamers on how to setup the parental controls on the Wii U.

Free Games for September

In my platform guides on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, I mentioned how signing up for their respective online services would get your gamer access to free games each month. Each month I will layout the free games on offer so you will know what your gamer may be downloading.

Here are the free games on Xbox Live for the Xbox One this month.

And here are the free games on PlayStation Network for the PlayStation 4 this month.

Parenting Gamers Review – Borderlands: The Handsome Collection

Here is my next video review. In this video, I give you a quick overview of Borderlands: The Handsome Collection, go over the rating and content, and let you know if I think it is good for your gamer.

If you enjoyed this video, please sign-up for my email list to receive notifications when I release new ones.

Transcript:

Hello, my name is Eric Rogers from parentinggamers.com and this is Parenting Gamers Review of Borderlands: The Handsome Collection. In this video, I am going to give you a quick overview of the game, go over the rating and content, and let you know if I think it is good for your gamer.

So the first question is, what is Borderlands: The Handsome Collection?

Borderlands: The Handsome Collection is a collection of two games, Borderlands 2 and Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel. In this review, I will be showing you clips from Borderlands 2. The content of the pre-sequel is comparable.

Borderlands 2 is a loot-based, first-person shooter with role-playing game elements. Let’s break these terms down.

First off, a first-person shooter (or FPS) is a game where the player experiences the action from the first person perspective, as if she was actually in the game. You can see what I mean in this clip here.

Next is the term role-playing game, or RPG. An RPG is a game where the player selects a character that performs a specific role. In Borderlands 2, there are 6 different classes the player can select when starting a new character. The one she selects will determine the way she plays the game. For example, Maya, the siren, has a special ability that allows her to control enemies, which makes her play much differently than Salvador, the gunzerker, who’s special ability is to it duel wield weapons and do major damage.

Once the player selects a character, she makes it stronger by defeating enemies and completing quests to gain experience. That experience then translates into a higher level and points she can spend on abilities to tweak her character even more.

Here you see Salvador’s skill trees. The skills I select will affect the way my character plays, allowing me to customize my character to be more in my style of play.

The last term I used is the hook of the Borderlands series. Borderlands 2 is a loot-based game. When an enemy is defeated, it has the chance to drop randomized loot based on that enemies level and strength. This loot includes health, money, guns, and shields.

The hook comes from the random nature of the guns that are dropped. The gun could have a random enchantment, like a fire ability that burns the target for a while after it is hit. So the hook is getting stronger to kill more powerful enemies to get better guns to then kill even more powerful enemies to get even better guns, etc.

The next question is, what about the content?

Borderlands 2 is rated M, which is the equivalent of an R rating in the movies. The rating includes these 5 descriptors:

“Blood and Gore” and “Intense Violence”

“Language”

“Sexual Themes”

and “Use of Alcohol”

One other thing to keep in mind is that Borderlands 2 was designed to be a co-op games. Players can join a game with up to 3 other people to play through the story. The more players in the game, the stronger the enemies and the better loot they drop, which encourages players to play together. You need to be aware of this because you will have no control over who your gamer might play with in a public game.

So what’s the verdict? Is Borderlands 2 something you should allow your gamer to play?

As I gamer, I really enjoy Borderlands 2. It melds two of my favorite genres (first-person shooters and loot-based role-playing games) better than any other game that has tried. And it’s definitely fun to play with friends.

However, as a parent, my recommendation, as it is with most M rated games, is to hold off until your gamer is older. The M rating carries with it a “17 and up” qualifier. Most stores won’t even sell an M rated game to anyone under the age of 17. So I would say, use that as your gage. If you wouldn’t allow your gamer to watch an R rated action movie, you probably shouldn’t allow them to play Borderlands 2.

If you enjoyed this video, please visit me at parentinggamers.com and sign-up for my email list. Signing up with get you notifications when I release new videos and give you a free copy of my e-book, Connecting with Your Teenager Through Video Games. Thanks for watching.