any console

So, some of you may be surprised to learn that while the United States has been getting all of the goodies first lately, Europe got a break and will be the first region to see the new Silver Nintendo DS Lite. Congratulations to the Europeans, and I look forward to seeing one here in the United States.

Joystiq’s Article on the Silver DS Lite

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I recently read this telling article on joystiq.com about a guy who sent his 15-year-old kid into Best Buy to purchase a copy of the recently released M-rated game, BioShock. The parent in question is an Attorney named Jack Thompson, and Thompson has declared the ESRB game rating system “a fraud perpetrated upon American families from sea to shining sea.” Well I have a question for Thompson and other like-minded parents…

Since when did it become the responsibility of Best Buy, Circuit City, GameStop, Game Crazy, and Wal-Mart to supervise your kids? You do know that if you are with your kid when they buy a game, that the clerk won’t sell your kid a game if you tell them not to… don’t you?

The problem with Thompson’s ever-so-clever “sting” operation is that he’s putting the responsibility on the retailer. Little Billy is not the ward or responsibility of Best Buy, Take-Two Interactive, RockStar Games, Microsoft, or anybody else other than his parents and/or guardians. As someone who is about to be a parent, I am growing more and more confused about why someone would expect Best Buy to parent their children. Afterall, the money is just as green (or whatever the color of your local currency is) if a kid hands it to the cashier as when an adult hands it to the cashier.

For those of you who are confused as to why I would say that the game retailers and developers have no responsibility, let me pose a question to you: when was the last time you sat down and played or watched your kid game? Do you know what’s in their collection? Do you know what the content of their favorite games are? In my time as a youth minister, I’ve found that most kids are eager to discuss their gaming with anybody who will sit still long enough to hear it. It’s something they enjoy discussing and they’re tickled to death that somebody will listen to what they have to say.

Participating in your kids gaming also gives you two very important parenting opportunities. First, it allows you to grow in relationship with your kid(s). I remember and cherish the times when my dad sat and gamed with me. One of my most vivid childhood memories was when my dad brought home my first console, the 16-bit Sega Genesis, with a copy of Sonic the Hedgehog. My dad and all five of us kids sat around the tube all night with that game and we laughed and joked and had a fantastic time. I was about 8 years old at that time, and it’s something that continues in my family even as my wife and I are about to have a child. My dad still plays games with myself and my siblings. He recently came over and played Burnout Revenge on the Xbox 360 with me and my brother. This is something that we all enjoyed and I know my dad has fond memories of these times just as much as my siblings and I do.

The second parenting opportunity that participating in your kids’ gaming offers is one of control. You can’t control what content your kids see if you don’t know what content your kids see. If you know your kids’ game collection, and you spot a new addition that you do not approve of, you can confiscate and discipline. This is no different than if you found a movie you didn’t approve of or a magazine you didn’t approve of. You may even be able to get your kids money refunded if you take it back to the store.

As an adult who games and as a man who is about to become a father I am increasingly concerned that irresponsible parents are going to damage both my hobby and my children. I do not want any government regulation dictating what games I can and cannot play, and I do not want irresponsible parents holding retailers responsible for their shortcomings as parents.

To all parents who want to try and argue that it isn’t their fault and that they don’t have the time to supervise or participate with their kids, or that it’s the industry’s responsibility to keep “moral standards,” don’t bother. Make time for your kids, make time for your kids’ gaming, make time to supervise your kids. The influences that this world can have on your children that you won’t approve of are infinite, and most of them don’t really care whether or not you approve. Only with your positive influences and constant reinforcement of things you do approve of will your kids get the message.

If you are a parent who wants to learn how to better control your kids’ gaming experience, I have a suggested reading list for you:

1. ESRB’s Resources for Parents
2. Parental Controls for the Nintendo Wii
3. Xbox 360 Family Controls

Unfortunately, Sony doesn’t seem to have a useful parental control manual for any of their systems on their website, so you’ll have to refer to your user’s manual for more information there.

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So, many of us have been sitting around twiddling our wiimotes and nunchucks for the better part of the last year wondering when the hell Nintendo was going to come out with all of these neat games that they had in the demo videos that they were putting up for the Wii when it launched.

Well, now we know that the lion’s share of these well-anticipated games were nothing more than vaporware, prototypes, and unstable-nowhere-near-ready versions at the time of Wii’s release. This leads me to the moral question: did Nintendo lie, blunt-faced, through their teeth, to their fans, and the people who’ve made the Wii the great success that it has become?

Well, to that I would say both yes and no.

Yes, Nintendo lied
Now, Nintendo will probably argue that they didn’t give an official release date for these games so there was no misinformation being spread by them. To that I say “come oooooon!” That’s a load of hooey and you know it Iwata! Those videos that were well-circulated online and offline showing games like Mario Universe, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, and the most-anticipated Smash Bros: Brawl were most certainly put out there to make people think about playing those games in particular, and since there was no official release date, many assumed–and Nintendo did nothing to dissuade this–that these would be released after Wii’s launch or shortly thereafter. Many Nintendo fans–myself included–were very disappointed to have to wait almost a year for many of these titles, and longer for some.

No, Nintendo didn’t lie
Well, I did say that Smash Bros: Brawl was the most-anticipated, but I meant it was the most-anticipated of the post-launch titles. Ledgend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was most definitely a release title, and it was by far the best Zelda title I’ve ever played. Also, Nintendo has more than delivered on the Virtual Console. I’ve been playing a lot of classic games from my boyhood such as Kirby’s Adventure and Super Mario Bros.. The online connectivity and Nintendo DS connectivity has not been anywhere near satisfactory thus far, and I think the recent Pokemon game and Strikers game are the only two that have online capabilities thus far.

All-in-all, I really think that this has prooven the power of vaporware in the market today. I think that early adopters feel a little burned by Nintendo this time around though. In my opinion, all early adopters should get even longer extended warranties or some other gimme (maybe a t-shirt or something) from Nintendo to say “thanks for dealing with our crap this past year.” Because let’s face it, many of the Wii games that have come out so far in 2007 are crap… pure crap. I did not buy my Wii so that I could play Pirates of the Caribean or Shrek 3 on it. I bought my Wii to play Smash Bros: Brawl and Mario Universe and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.

Please consider that idea Iwata. How about thanking the people that make you richer than stink, even after you were not completely forthcoming with us.

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