Tiny Diggers – An iPad Construction Truck Game for Kids Age 2-5

My morning RSS feeds included this gem of a Reuters feature story: “New arsenal of shooter games target older players” Here’s the opener:

Coming to a video game console near you, an onslaught of new military-themed shooter games — and they’re not all for children as game publishers target a more mature audience.

First of all, a new “onslaught” of military-themed shooter games? In the last ten years, when have we not had a barrel of military-themed shooter games on the way? Did I miss a drought or something? Was there, like, a month when you guys didn’t get some drab kill ‘em all macho murder sim, and everybody freaked out?

Fine, I get that your average Reuters reader probably isn’t up on upcoming video game releases. Neither is Toys R Us. But how disconnected do you have to be to still be unaware that NOT ALL VIDEO GAMES ARE MEANT FOR CHILDREN.

The article spends a lot of time on Sony’s MAG (certainly more time than I will), and name-checks the usual suspects Call of Duty and Halo. Then, somewhat hilariously, the author quotes another “videogame reporter” as backup on the topic:

“Parents and those buying games for kids should realise that video games are no longer toys for children,” said Mike Snider, videogame reporter for USA Today. “The average age of a person playing video games is 35 and many games released target adults, just as films such as “Inglorious Basterds” and “The Hurt Locker” are meant for adults.”

No kidding.

Believe me, I know how news writers work. They copy/paste, paraphrase, and repeat over and over again, because that’s what their old school editors want. Still, I have to believe that we’re approaching the point where more readers see something like this and think “Yeah, no duh, idiot” than think “Gee, I never knew.”

The article ends on a bright note, pointing out that while video game sales have skyrocketed, juvenile crime rates are actually down. Plus, one former game dev is cheerily quoted as suggesting it’s only a matter of time until games get the social respect they deserve.

To my view, as long as we can still field the “YOU WON’T BELIEVE THIS, THERE’S VIDEO GAMES MADE FOR ADULTS?!?” mass media story, that day is still a long way off.