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NYT's "Games To Avoid" an Ironic, Perfect Gamer Wish List

Posted by Soulskill on from the more-or-less dept.

MojoKid writes "From October to December, the advertising departments of a thousand companies exhort children to beg, cajole, and guilt-trip their parents for all manner of inappropriate digital entertainment. As supposedly informed gatekeepers, we sadly earthbound Santas are reduced to scouring the back pages of gaming review sites and magazines, trying to evaluate whether the tot at home is ready for Big Bird's Egg Hunt or Bayonetta. Luckily, The New York Times is here to help. In a recent article provokingly titled 'Ten Games to Cross off Your Child's Gift List,' the NYT names its list of big bads — the video games so foul, so gruesome, so perverse that we'd recommend you buy them immediately — for yourself. Alternatively, if you need gift ideas for the surly, pale teenager in your home whose body contains more plastic then your average d20, this is the newspaper clipping to stuff in your pocket. In other words, if you need a list like this to understand what games to not stuff little Johnny's stocking with this holiday season, you've got larger issues you should concern yourself with. We'd suggest picking up an auto-shotty and taking a few rounds against the horde — it's a wonderful stress relief and you're probably going to need it."

1 of 189 comments (clear)

  1. list by sopssa · · Score: 5, Informative

    And the list:

    Assassin’s Creed II
    Borderlands
    Brutal Legend
    Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
    Dead Space: Extraction
    Dragon Age: Origins
    Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony
    Demon’s Souls
    Left 4 Dead 2
    Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars

    Looks like a list of all the fun games of this year.

    But oh, the fun just starts. Check out the alternatives list:

    Alternative: Mirror's Edge
    Alternative: Infamous
    Alternative: Ghostbusters: The Video Game
    Alternative: Battlefield: Bad Company
    Alternative: Deadly Creatures
    Alternative: Braid
    Alternative: Batman: Arkham Asylum
    Alternative: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
    Alternative: Overlord II
    Alternative: C.O.P.: The Recruit

    Many of the games on the alternatives list have exactly the same kind of violence. Hell, in Overlord you're taking control of a evil god like character that controls his minions to destroy and kill enemies, the good people.

    I bet many of us played games that had gore as teens. They should had have sex too - it's even a natural thing, while violence is not (or shouldn't be). The problem isn't the gore and it wont turn a teenager in to a mindless massacer - if it is, then he has other problems that the parents should be taking care of.