Xbox 360 Game News, Reviews, and Columns - XboxFocus

Ignorance to "Kid" Games = Stupidity

by Steve Wysowski March 11th 2008 1:04 AM CDT3 Comments

For the past two days, my life has been dominated by two things: getting this bitch of a site up and running, and Super Smash Bros Brawl. Since Sunday morning, I've been smashing my brains out. This game is frickin' amazing, and anyone who has at least some kind of love for Nitnendo needs to pick this game up immediately. It's a testament to being a Nintendo fan, and just being a fan of gaming in general. And yeah, it's pretty kickass to beat the crap out of Mario with Sonic.

However, something happened yesterday that I figured you'd guys would like to hear (and if you don't, piss off). While I was smashing away, my buddy (who will we refer to as Tard in this column) walked into my apartment (without knocking) to come pick something up. He glanced at my television, saw me (as Kirby) beating the crap out of some Japanese dude 5000 miles away, and asked me what I was playing. I told him it was Brawl, and he gaveme one of those "that's kinda gay" smirks on his face. Here's how the convo went down:

TXG: Why are you smirking? You know you look like a rapist when you do that.

Tard: Oh no, its just that, well...aren't you a little old to be playing that game?

TXG: What, Brawl? You play video games don't you

Tard: Yeah, but I play games that suit my age. Like Call of Duty or Halo. You're like, 19 man. What are you doing play a Kirby game.

TXG: This isn't a Kirby game, read a book. It's called Super Smash Bros- know what, I'm not explaining it. If you actually played it, you'd love it. Want to play a quick stock match?

Tard: Nah it's okay. I don't play games for kids.

Anyone who doesn't want to give Brawl a go deserves to get shot.

Now the first couple of things he spat out didn't bother me that much. He doesn't like Nintendo (some, legitimate gamers don't), so that's understandable. But still, the last bit got me. It's ignorance like this that makes me want to punch every Halo fanboy, every casual gamer, and everyone else who doesn't give kids games a chance right in the face.

First things first, I hate the term "kid games". I think it is a false definition for a brand of games that may be marketed for a younger audience, yet still can be enjoyed by adults. Example of these include every single Nintendo game ever produced, games that don't have guns, games that aren't sports related, and platformers. Because of this, many gamers don't give these games a shot, in fearing the possibility of fracturing their own manliness.

Kid games are fun. They offer simple, and not so challenging escapes from a rather complicated and difficult life. Playing a relaxing Mario game after a long day of work is something I'd prefer over a COD4 deathmatch anytime. Many people also feel this way, but there are even more who seem to have a sense of bigotry towards such games.

I'm not quite sure what is a game that "men" shouldn't be embarassed of playing. Shooters and sports titles are supposabley the only games acceptable by this demographic, and I can only imagine what would happen if they were combined. Like Madden with AKs. Oh dear god, let's pray EA didn't see that. Others must include blood gushing out of everything in all directions, constant swearing, and they can't have alot of colors,

The problem is, is that some people don't know what they are missing when they pass out on a kids games. Standard puzzles in Super Mario Galaxy have more thought and depth to them than the entirity of Halo 3's "Rescue Cortana" mission (or whatever that piece of shit level was called).  Even some of the younger based Xbox 360 titles like Viva Pinata contain more depth and strategy than most shooters and sports titles. It's just a shame that people won't tap this potential.

In fact, there is much more variety in these games than there ever will be in shooters. Variety is important in my game collection, as I like to have a little bit of everything. Most shooters are very formulaic and I can name about five shooters in my collection right now that have similar attributes. However, with kid games, there are so many different genres and control schemes to explore. You can be blasting through space in Mario Galaxy, smashing your way through Brawl, or you can even grow little, demented pinatas in Viva Pinata. The possibilities are endless with "kid" games, comapred to other walled off genres like shooters and sport titles. I mean, what can you possibly do with a sport like football that isn't in Madden already? Please don't say something like "NFL Tour" either, because that isn't  a football game. That's just a waste of money.

The hardcore, Kotaku-reading obsessed gamer usually has no problem with kid games (those who don't are most likely some sort of fanboy....probably Halo). Still, there is a large group of semi-hardcore gamers who seem to have a reason to believe that anything kid based is gay, or not mature enough for their overly mature selves. I don't know why people think this way, and I don't really want to know (its probably something with brain damage anyway) but it still bothers me.