Hey guys, this is DeltaBurnt and I’m posting my first discussion/fun blog! Reviews are nice but every now and then it’s time for a fun blog , don’t you agree? Anyways I noticed that lately alot of Wii/DS games (and some other games) are getting labeled as kid’s games even though they are loved by all ages and have tons of action. So this has got me wondering…what exactly makes people classify games as kid’s game?
So like I said more and more awesome games are getting bashed as kid’s games, sometimes just because they’re on the Wii/DS. If you have a Wii or DS you may know what I’m talking about. Let’s take Kingdom Hearts for example, very good game(s), get’s high ratings, addicting, and each installment is greatly looked forward to. But there’s a large amount of people who call it a kid’s game because it has Disney characters included. Which is of course very silly to say because everyone knows Mickey is way more bada$$ than some Final Fantasy character.
How is mickey jumping in and saving you with a black coat on and gold keyblade childish?
I even have a jock in my gym class that hums the theme song to the first Kingdom Hearts at times. Now Kingdom Hearts is somewhat of an exception to the “Wii/DS games are called childish” because it’s main 2 games are for the PS2.
Which brings me to my next example; Pokemon. Pokemon is a widely popular franchise/series that has multiple games made of it. It’s a very unique RPG that is actually the best type of RPG. It’s an RPG game that let’s you have 300+ different characters, each character has it’s own version for male and female, plus most of your characters can evolve into different, much stronger character. How is that not awesome? It has concepts no other RPG has or had at the time when Red/Blue were created. Sadly though the game is labeled childish…but there’s no reason to call it childish. It’s an RPG that let’s you control monsters…hundreds of them at that. Most people probably label it as childish because of the anime that goes along with it. But this again is silly because it’s like saying a movie will be no good because it’s book version was bad or vice versa. Anyways onto real world examples. I have friends that still play pokemon, and I don’t mean nerdy friends I mean friends who live in the ghetto. Plus I have my brother and his friends who are 18 who all got DS’s just to play Pokemon Platinum! Yet alot of people would call it childish. Take a look at this picture:
These are monsters that have the power to destroy the world. The anime and game have both made it clear countless times that these monsters are killing machines. But most aren’t, know why? Because their confidence is shot down when people say they’re for kids only.
Lastly here’s a more recent hard hitter from G4’s Morgan Webb, they were going over the recent Rachet and Clank game and saying how this is the last real action platformer. They bring up Super Mario Galaxy, a 5 star excellent game that’s very fun and should be enjoyable to all ages, and they say “Well that’s just a kid’s game”. See the full video here.
Anyways, you get the point. I could continue on with dozens more examples but that would take awhile and alot of writing that isn’t necessary because my point is proven. This blog may seem like a rant but it’s just a fun blog to state a point. It’s just confusing to see/play these widely fun games and reviewers give them 5 stars saying they’re for anyone, but then a week later they shoot it down as a kid’s game when comparing it to something else that has guns.
So what do you guys think? What makes a game get classified, or should I say demeaned with the title of, a kid’s game?
Honestly it seems lately most games that don’t have guns are labeled as childish. Which is pretty sad.
Also there’s nothing wrong with a game being a kid’s game it’s just not as many people would get the game if they heard it was for kids.
I do not think KH is necessarily a kid’s game; to be honest, I haven’t played it. But Mickey, Donald and Goofy have never been characters that connect with adults. Disney has always been marketed as a company for children, and that’s how people perceive it. Therefore, anything that has anything to do with Disney will be labelled childish.
I don’t think Pokemon is a kid’s game because of the concept, or because of the storyline, or even the anime. But, I do feel it’s targeted at a younger audience, simply because of the dialogue.
Nice post, though.
This is one of the best posts on DSdatabase.org, I agree with this so much. I was talking to my cuzins and I was were I suggested them a new PS2 game which is Kingdom Hearts. I told them and they started to laugh at me because they though it was “gay” and childish because they had Mickey Mouse in it.
Jakob95, I hope you don’t judge a post’s quality by how much you agree with it.
Heh, couldn’t have put it better myself benjamin!
I was hoping the comments to have more of a discussion on why they think games are labeled kid’s games. But agreeing with me is fine I guess :\
@Ben I already knew that people see Disney as a kid’s thing and that’s why it’s labeled childish. I probably should have used a better example there.
I thought I left a pretty long comment, actually.
Well it depends mostly on how the games are presented. Games like imagine are definitely childish and full of gibberish, and Disney games can be childish alone, but they can be integrated in games of great wonders, like Kingdom Hearts…
i think that games like kingdom hearts can really be labeled childish because of the story. A great example is the recent movie where the wild things are. The premise seems to be that it is a kids movie. But after actually watching the movie, most kids 12 and under probably wouldn’t understand the movie. Pokemon is a good example too. Unless the kid is ridiculously smart, actually playing the game to the fullest extent is impossible, as i think it would be with most RPG´s. For a game to be childish, it would have to be really simple, and easy to understand. Something a kid could pick up and play. Games like kingdom hearts and pokemon are definitely not pick up and play.
oh whoops in that last comment i meant can´t at the beginning not can….
Great post Delta. Very good read. 🙂
Give me a day to think about something good to write in response to this, but for the most part, I feel there are no “childish” games at all, just games suitable for children. Afterall, they say 6 and up, not 6-8 years old only.
Games are often classified as kids games because of several reasons:
1. They are based of a kids TV show (Pokemon), and therefore people automatically associate the game with being childish
2. People mistakenly perceive good graphics and fantastic fantasy worlds and characters as childish, just because it could never happen in real life. Come to think of it though, Games like Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (Definately not a kids game) isn’t that real world either.
3. Kids play it, therefore it’s considered a kids game. That’s a bit stupid, though. If I got my little cousin, who’s 5, and all of his friends to play Resident Evil, would that make Resident Evil a kids game, just because some kids are playing it? I think not. And even if the majority of the audience of a game is kids, that doesn’t say a thing about the quality of the game. Same thing with games aimed at adults. Ju-on the Grudge was a terrible game, even though it is clearly aimed at adults. Games are being constantly being discriminated against because of their audience, and it clearly is not fair.
my whole family besides me bought a ds just for pokemon i got it for a bunch of games but i see more adluts playing it more that kids
oh and animal crossing thats labled a childsish game but more adluts play it than kids and i love it
ChocoMint those are valid reasons except for number 3 IMO. Like I said there’s tons of adults who play these “Kid’s Games” and kids are just a small percentage. So I don’t see just a small crowd of kid’s playing a game makes it a “Kid’s Game”.
Plus tons of 12 year olds play Halo, does that make it a kid’s game?
I’m gonna point out and say that I play alot of high violence games like Killing Floor, Left 4 Dead, Resident Evil, and they are all epic. But I am also addicted to Pokemon, Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy…etc. All of them are epic. To be honest, games like Kingdom Hearts, Ratchet and Clank, are some of the best games I ever played, I’m 17 and fapping over KH3..
Shadz I’m the same as you…except for the fapping…
Anyways yah I play alot of shooters but I tend to enjoy RPGs and things like Ratchet and Clank even more.
@chocomint
the anime was based on the games, not the other way around.
I do agree with the rest of your post though, most peole at my school label ds/wii games childish without ever playing them, while they’re ranting on about how divine CoD MW2 is. And don’t get me wrong cuz it is a breat game, but that doesn’t make games without extreme gore kid’s games.