10 Cool Games That Are Uncool for Kids (and 10 Alternatives)

10 Cool Games That Are Uncool for Kids (and 10 Alternatives)
Kids often give their parents major grief for crossing "cool" games off of holiday wish lists. In kid logic, games are "cool" when they have awesome graphics and gameplay, envelope-pushing storylines, and all manners of weaponry. And they aren't wrong. The games they want typically are well constructed, thoughtful, and exciting. But they're often inappropriate for the teens who hunger for them.
A lot of this season's most talked-about games include ones with excessive violence, negative role models, extreme gore, sociopathic behavior, and other things that have been proven to have a negative effect on kids.
So how do you give kids what they want without giving them what you don't want? Know your options. Follow our tips on a choosing great video games, check out our 2009 video game gift guide, and offer alternatives that don't veer into unhealthy territory.
We've compiled a list of this season's hottest games, plus 10 you can say yes to. In choosing our alternatives, we stuck with T-rated titles geared for ages 12-15, and we matched gaming systems -- so if you nix an M-rated PS3 game, you can replace it with a similar T-rated PS3 game.
Assassin's Creed II
Authentically recreated Renaissance cities, near photo-realistic
action, and historical accuracy make this a great game for mature
players. But playing as an assassin who relies on an arsenal of weapons
makes the violence excessive.
Alternative: Mirror's Edge
Borderlands This first-person shooter earned critical acclaim for its innovative
use of weaponry, comic-book-like world, and online play. But the game
(which has a cover that shows a character shooting himself in the head)
has strong language, human enemies used as target practice, mature
humor, and lots of blood and gore.
Alternative: Infamous
Brutal Legend
Cartoon-like in its graphics and delivery, this fantasy action game
nonetheless features plenty of violence, including the ability to hack
and slash demonic armies with your double-sided axe.
Alternative: Ghostbusters: The Video Game
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 An immersive first-person perspective ups the realism of this shooter,
which contains a controversial (but optional) level where you go
undercover as an enemy terrorist.
Alternative: Battlefield: Bad Company
Dead Space: Extraction
This atmospheric, horror-filled tale offers players a unique
cooperative play option, but its use of violence -- like blood spurting
out of victims' bodies, human carcasses littering the floor,
blood-stained walls and floors, and copious screams of torture -- put
it over the top.
Alternative: Deadly Creatures
Dragon Age: Origins
This is a masterly crafted but combat-heavy game featuring
decapitations and swords plunged deeply into monsters' chests.
Alternative: Braid
Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony
Frequent
and ruthless violence, gratuitous sex, lawlessness, drinking, drugs --
this isn't a game for kids. But the fully interactive open world offers
an immersive diversion for hardcore gamers.
Alternative: Batman: Arkham Asylum
Demon's Souls
It's not just the copious amounts of blood and the smaller enemies who
fall like rag dolls at your feet -- this game also has a depressing
vibe. Because you constantly die, it can break the spirit of even the
most seasoned gamer, but hardcore players relish this kind of
challenge.
Alternative: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Left 4 Dead 2
Teamwork is an essential component of this super-gory shooter, but
violence -- players are meant to gawk at and appreciate the extreme
levels of gore -- plays a much greater role.
Alternative: Overlord II
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
Don't
let the cartoon-like look and DS platform fool you. While this game's
fully realized world and challenging missions are fun for adults,
players can use the services of prostitutes, run over pedestrians, and
kill police officers.
Alternative: C.O.P.: The Recruit
Video Game Editor Jinny Gudmunsen contributed to this article.

Hi. Nice to read that post. I agree that some games here are hard to compare...but some of these are just painfully bad.
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I find it strange that you list Grand Theft Auto as a inappropriate game for kids, this only is imaginary stuff
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The really bad part is that this site just looks like the sort of people that don't even play a game, yet the condemn it because it's violent or has a sex scene.
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I use to be like to play assasin creed, but now that game banned for kids, I agreed because its too much blood, pay attention the games rating before buy it. business directory | job | adjustable bed
For me it's not the ages being almost the same on the games that's confusing, but how can you possibly think some games listed are alternatives to the main one?
Example, ACII, sandbox, third person, quite a lot of fighting (compared to Mirror's Edge). Then Mirror's edge, mission based, first person, minimum fighting.
It's like the writer thought, "Hmm, ACII is popular, you climb buildings and stuff, so obviously a free running game is the alternative".
And the really bad part is that this site just looks like the sort of people that don't even play a game, yet the condemn it because it's violent or has a sex scene.
(I'm sure everyone on here knows the sort of people I mean).
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Oh, hey The Conduit it a good replacment for DSE, and Mecenaries 2 for GTA (maybe, [shrug])
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I think Grand Theft Auto is the worst of them all! It has so much unnecessary violence/SC/language/drugs you should not play this game until you are 18 imo. Kids should just stick to playing Disney Games until then. http://www.disneytvgames.com
Ok, look I have 7 m-rated games. I know that's not many but I just go my 360. Ok, so if your gonna bother to get your kid AC 1, why not get them AC 2. My parents were gonna get me AC 1, when the lady at gamestop told us the games ate really similar. The only sexuality in either games is when you see enzio kiss a woman and than start to pull down her sleeves. It then goes dark. I know this implies sexuality, but you have to quickly press a series of buttons to get this to happen. So really now I have both, and that have the same blood and gore.
double post, my bad
as a thirteen year old hardcore gamer i think the alternatives are garbage. i have every game on that list, even some of the alternatives. even my brother plays modern warfare 2, and hes 9!The only people in know that object to voilent video games are my aunts, but my mom even plays halo when im not home. its not like im going to go around and start a school shooting over halo like some people.
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wise guy not that much sexual content in ACII it is really just interaction and heavlly inplied so that would be a 4
i would have to agree. my parents freak about any rating regardless if its movies or games, what these parents probadlly are talking about is for the little 5 year olds..... in which case it should BE A NO BRAINER not letting them play any M and most T games. My friend told me he went to see the new Nightmear on elm street and there were 4 year olds in the freaking theater........... I would have to say the should change the rating so its more clear what age group the games should be in....
and i am the same w/ behavior, youll never see me walk into a street and start shooting people.
I think the altenatives are ok . Brutal Legend is not my type ... i wouldn t recommend , remind me of submit your website ..
WHAT?!?!? These games have nothing to do with one another!!!
Parents! Here is a REAL list!
1. Assasins creed 2: Batman arkham asylum
2. boarderlands: The conduit
3. Brutal legend: Overlord (one or two)
4. Call of duty modernwarfare 2: Battlefeild bad company
5. Dead space extraction: Ghost squad
6. Dragon age origins: Final fantasy XIII
7. GTA 4: Mercenaries (Or infamous)
8. Demon's souls: resonance of fate
9. Left 4 dead 2: Section 8
10. GTA the chinatown wars: C.O.P the recruit
O.K, so they where right on a couple of games, but most of them where way off! This should be the real list!
WHAT?!?!? These games have nothing to do with one another!!!
Parents! Here is a REAL list!
1. Assasins creed 2:
2. boarderlands: The conduit
3. Brutal legend: Overlord (one or two)
4. Call of duty modernwarfare 2: Battlefeild bad company
5. Dead space extraction: Ghost squad
6. Dragon age origins: Final fantasy XIII
7. GTA 4: Mercenaries (Or infamous)
8. Demon's souls: resonance of fate
9. Left 4 dead 2: Section 8
10. GTA the chinatown wars: C.O.P the recruit
O.K, so they where right on a couple of games, but most of them where way off! This should be the real list!
these alternatives are dumb. they make no sence. its like a diet saying instead of eatin cheese cake eat dried leaves
Alot of those games are violent, and alot of the alternatives are fairly better, but Assassins cred 2 should be paired with uncharted 2! By the way, Mirrors Edge is a very different game, it is very fun, but very different.
Here is a good list
Assassins Creed 2: Assassins Creed 1
Borderlands: Oblivion
Brutal Legend: You can turn the blood and gore off!
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2: Call of duty 4
Dead Space: Extraction: House of the Dead 2 & 3
Dragon Age: Origins: Oblivion
Grand Theft Auto IV: Mercinaries 2
Demon's Souls: It's not that bad!
Left 4 Dead 2: You can turn the gore off.
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars: War Hammer
What ever happened to turning blood and language off! You can do that in many T and M games! Just sayin!
call of duty rules i have both battlefeild bad company and it sucks call of duty is awsome
If your kid wants. AC 2, get him AC1. It has less violence, less language, and no adult content whatsoever .
you guys dont get it. you know why we want the games? they are fun and our friends have it. do you think that a stupid "alternative" is going to make it ok? NO. its not the same game. a "alternative" doesnt replace what we want.
wow. thats all wow. some of the alternatives are worse than the main one like Demon's souls and uncharted 2. i have both games. in demon's souls you try to save the town of bolitaria from an evil colorless fog that spawns demons. yeah it might sound bad but i didnt hear any swear words. you can also turn off the blood. but in uncharted 2 you can snap necks, shoot people. and thers like 20 uses of sh*t, 50 of d**n, and 30 uses of sons of b*cth. overall a 10-12 year old could play both.to be honest a 11 year old could play every game hear ( but the kid has to handle blood and swearing). what is wrong with common sence
Some of the games on here are great, some aren't.
Dispite what anybody says, the real idiots are the people who are so perfect they're able to ignore their own flaws. All are entitled to opinion, and everyone is subject to correction.
Prince of Persia is a good option for AC2. Medal ofhonor is a good option for MW2. LFD and overlord?! Seriously?! I'm not even going to talk about this. Final fantasy is a better option for DA:O. Infamous would've been a better option for GTA
Modern Warfare 2
Language:6
Violence:7-8
sex:0
gambling or drugs:0
consumerism:0
I do not get why everyone panics over the rating. I am 15, I have honor roll, I behave very well and I have played rated M games. I started when I was like 10? It's not a big deal if you're MATURE enough. I played rated M , T and E games.
These alternatives are nothing like the bad games. And batman arkham asylum is not good for kids, it is scary and violent. And deadly creatures is nothing like dead space extraction. Although Batlefield bad company is a good alternative for Modern Warfare 2. But this chart has no vaule what so ever. The bad games are all M and the good games are all T. That doesn't help anyone! You should say, "well lego batman is much better for kids than Batman Arkham asylum" or "Borderlands is not recommended for kids, here is a list of T rated role-playing shooters" But clearly you are not smart enough to tell parents and kids anything that will help them! It's kind of sad to me!
The Elder Scrolls lV: Oblivion
Assassins Creed ll
Gears of War 2
Left 4 Dead 2
I got him Oblivion and Gears of War 2. But I play Gears more than he does. Fun fun.
In fact, infamous is a really good alternative to GTA. Better than Arkhum Asylum which has no relevance.
my mom and my dad allow my 13 year old brother to play my M games and they buy those games for me since im 1 year short of buying it myself
I have all these games Brutal Legend, Modern Warfare 2, Borderlands, Assassin's Creed 2 all of the games on this list I have about like 30-40 M rated games and I have been enjoying them and I'm only 16 my little brother likes or loves to play Gears of War 2 which is rated M for blood and gore where you can hack people up close with a chainsaw and he's only 13. I try not to look at the ratings or the violence or anything I just like to play games because of the story no offense just my opinion
@noah99
I agree with you becuase what does a M tell you? nothing you could rate a M game E also you could add a snapshot of the game to show why the blood is medium or why the innapropriate content is low so parents can decide.
@noah99
I agree with you becuase what does a M tell you? nothing you could rate a M game E also you could add a snapshot of the game to show why the blood is medium or why the innapropriate content is low so parents can decide.
the battlefield: bad company game also is having a sequel which i believe very much might be an M rated game so if you buy your kid battlefield:bad company and they like it they will very much likley want battlefield badcompany 2 wich i heard has a F bomb
The demon soul's alternative isnt for children 11 and under it has many sh*t words and Da*n words
These appear to me to be pretty bad alternatives. How does Dragon Age: Origins get replaced by a game like Braid? Try Lost Odessy or Oblivion (which may still be too violent).
@noah99
That sounds like a really good idea, except I would take out the age recommendation. I would also add a box that would read "Dismemberment: Yes or No" as well as a box for Sexual Content and one for Language. I also may replace the "Mild, Moderate, Extreme" system with a "Scale of 0 to 10" system, with zero being a non-issue and ten being pervasive and all over the title. To me this sounds like a much better system than the ESRB system. Now, isn't it sad when a thirteen year old can come up with a better system than a group of adults with college degrees. ESRB, if you're following this thread, listen to this kid, he knows what he's talking about.
Examples of My Revisions to noah99's System:
Assassin's Creed II:
Violence: 8
Blood: 7
Dismemberment: No
Sexual Content: 7
Drug/ Alcohol Use: 1
Language: 7 (English) 8 (Italian)
Average: 7
Halo 3
Violence: 7
Blood: 4
Dismemberment: Infrequent
Sexual Content: 0
Drug/ Alcohol Use: 0
Language: 3
Average: 5
heres an idea instead of having set limits on boxes (like e, t or m) have somthing like this
violence:moderate
innapropriate content: low
drug/alcohol use:low
speciffic ammount of blood: medium
average rating: low-moderate danger
reccomended age to play:9+
please comment on this (let me know whay you think) and add ideas, both general public and common sence
the reason im doing this is because most parents freak out when they see
m or 17+ in huge letters.
really ersb needs to be more specific
I don't want to drag on so ill just keep it simple, do not listen to common sense media on what age to let your kids play a certain video game. Look at what content each game has and discuss with your child if they understand it and if they are mature enough for something like this.
im 11 and im not allowed to play M games but i have played GTA and CoD WAW, 4, and MW2. i know u r all going 2 stereotype me for being a kid but i think i should be allowed to. im a straight A student, a brown belt in a karate dojo in minnesota, spelling bee winner and a "smart kid". i just wanna play M. AND YES some of you think im just a stupid kid but im mature enough trust me. MPAA lets PG-13 movies say f*** 1-2 times and lets blood spatter on the wall. ESRB says M if one TINY drop-o-blood stays on the ground and most of the time if it has any blood what so ever and says sh** a couple of times its M. but like i said MPAA allows f*** a couple of times and minimal blood splatter. im no parent but im your kids sees a violent movie like Matrix and starts running around the house with toy guns saying BAMM! "i shot you daddy and your head came off and your blood's everywhere." obviously dont let them play M games. but otherwise test them by buying them CoD MW2 and see if they say " hey dad this games M." and say "here play it for a while" see how they react to see if they can handle it and even YOU play it to see what its like. im no parent but GTA is WAAAAAAAAAY over the top with shooting people's heads off and saying you motherf***er! so please just let them try them out if they're ready for it. : )
im 11 and im not allowed to play M games but i have played GTA and CoD WAW, 4, and MW2. i know u r all going 2 stereotype me for being a kid but i think i should be allowed to. im a straight A student, a brown belt in a karate dojo in minnesota, spelling bee winner and a "smart kid". i just wanna play M. AND YES some of you think im just a stupid kid but im mature enough trust me. MPAA lets PG-13 movies say f*** 1-2 times and lets blood spatter on the wall. ESRB says M if one TINY drop-o-blood stays on the ground and most of the time if it has any blood what so ever and says sh** a couple of times its M. but like i said MPAA allows f*** a couple of times and minimal blood splatter. im no parent but im your kids sees a violent movie like Matrix and starts running around the house with toy guns saying BAMM! "i shot you daddy and your head came off and your blood's everywhere." obviously dont let them play M games. but otherwise test them by buying them CoD MW2 and see if they say " hey dad this games M." and say "here play it for a while" see how they react to see if they can handle it and even YOU play it to see what its like. im no parent but GTA is WAAAAAAAAAY over the top with shooting people's heads off and saying you motherf***er! so please just let them try them out if they're ready for it. : )
im 11 and im not allowed to play M games but i have played GTA and CoD WAW, 4, and MW2. i know u r all going 2 stereotype me for being a kid but i think i should be allowed to. im a straight A student, a brown belt in a karate dojo in minnesota, spelling bee winner and a "smart kid". i just wanna play M. AND YES some of you think im just a stupid kid but im mature enough trust me. MPAA lets PG-13 movies say f*** 1-2 times and lets blood spatter on the wall. ESRB says M if one TINY drop-o-blood stays on the ground and most of the time if it has any blood what so ever and says sh** a couple of times its M. but like i said MPAA allows f*** a couple of times and minimal blood splatter. im no parent but im your kids sees a violent movie like Matrix and starts running around the house with toy guns saying BAMM! "i shot you daddy and your head came off and your blood's everywhere." obviously dont let them play M games. but otherwise test them by buying them CoD MW2 and see if they say " hey dad this games M." and say "here play it for a while" see how they react to see if they can handle it and even YOU play it to see what its like. im no parent but GTA is WAAAAAAAAAY over the top with shooting people's heads off and saying you motherf***er! so please just let them try them out if they're ready for it. : )
double post lolwut.
@Ja13
Welcome to my world. When my I asked my grandpa if I could borrow his copy of Battlefield Vietnam (yes,he plays video games), he said:"IT SAYS T ON THE BOX! YOU AREN'T THIRTEEN SO YOO CAN'T PLAY IT"!