Notes

There are plenty of people telling you what your kids should not be playing, but criticism toward games that are not appropriate for children is usually unfocused an ill-informed. I hope this guide helps to rectify this.

I don't support the condemnation of computer games simply because of their content -- to be honest, almost every game listed on this site either is on my hard drive or was at one point, and I do enjoy playing them for what they are: games. McCarthyistic witch-hunts and and the blame game takes responsibility for what people learn from these games away from those most responsible: the people themselves. But the undeniable fact is that, yes, these games are violent. Were films made with similar content, they would easily be assigned an "R" rating or higher. These games are definitely not things you want your six-year-old playing.

The best way to come to a judgment as to whether a "violent" computer game affects people is to understand the game itself -- how it appeals to players, what the players gain from it, and if and how it affects them. Games like Quake aren't popular because they allow players to use shotguns; if violent content were the sole basis of a popular game's success, our society would be in serious trouble.

This guide is not an exhaustive psychological asessment of the developers or the players -- that's beyond the scope of my knowledge and wherewithal -- but I hope that at the very least that it will point those concerned in the proper direction.

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