Nintemper tantrums

[obnoxious | 107]

Yeah, ask for those educational games, without destroying or killing

Edited September 14, 2021 by obnoxious

[twiztor | 849]

"offer to play a board game instead"

LOL. because that's the same thing. i can only imagine my reaction if my parents had tried that.

[Tulpa | 3,490]

I'm trying to think of a first party NES game that was considered overly violent.

 

[RH | 4,898]

5 minutes ago, Tulpa said:

I'm trying to think of a first party NES game that was considered overly violent.

 

Not agreeing with the article BUT Nintendo did (and to some extent still does) maintain an iron grip on what they allowed on the NES, at least in the US.

If you thought Contra, Rush'n Attack or Bad Dudes where "too violent", it wouldn't surprise me at all if Nintendo would have taken that in consideration before approving games.

That said, NES games as an influence were a drop in the bucket compared to cartoons, and even their influence was minimal. There have been similar complaints about entertainment like Bugs Bunny cartoons and The Three Stooges. I don't think any of that entertainment meaningfully ever influenced a child to harm or violence, and if they have, it has been negligible. Children learn poor behavior patterns from either their home (parents or siblings) or their peers. Rarely is it media, and if it is, line action is what had the most significant influence because cartoons/video games simply feel like pretend, even to a 5 year old, where anything live action at least gives the illusion of reality.

What amazes me is that this poor reasoning about video games was deeply ingrained into the "good" parents of the 80s. We don't play a lot of video games in my house and I largely enjoy collecting and gaming a few hours each week. Regardless... one parent of either my wife or I is largely against video games as an influence on children. They really hated that "Nintendo stare" which is less about being mentally numb and more about concentration, and you'd think that a kid learning how to concentrate to solve a problem AND having to learn how to control emotions when things aren't worling the way you plan would have been considered a GOOD thing, but no, the media made video games out to be a childhood scurge and a lot of adults still see it that way.

They thought the same about mass produced novels 150 years ago too. Well, we don't see it that way now. Hopefully we can get there with video games one day.

[Gloves | 11,771]

14 minutes ago, Tulpa said:

I'm trying to think of a first party NES game that was considered overly violent.

 

When I was a kid I was babysat for a while by a very religious woman who wouldn't let me play ANYTHING with ANYTHING RESEMBLING killing.

She told me I had to consider the men inside the tanks, whom I was murdering.

She wouldn't let me play Battlezone.

[The Count | 526]

I am uncomfortable with you talking in violent terms while you are playing this game. I'll have to remember to mention this the next time I play online.

[a3quit4s | 4,096]

Does the third point mean to say don't keep the games with the console? I mean if I want to play a game I can sure get up and get it lol. I feel like the second bullet point is all you need. Like I'm not buying you a game that I think is to mature for you, so pick another. I guess this is another reason ESRB  was created.

edit: now I'm looking forward to arguing with my Bubba when he gets older that a game is to violent for him. And then buying it for myself when he isn't looking ha

Edited September 14, 2021 by a3quit4s

[Tanooki | 4,931]

I remember seeing that long ago, Marilyn was and is, an idiot.  Blasting Nintendo was going to do nothing to change it, hell Nintendo was and mostly still is the family friendly fuzzy game maker who doesn't do the whole blood of profanity killing spree stuff, it's the other third party developers.  Attack them (then, and now) if you don't like it because trying to talk a hardware maker into winners and losers choosing on licenses is a dead end.

The other points, duh, common sense.  Don't give a killing game to a child obviously.  Placing the games elsewhere to go walk and pick it up isn't going to stop a thing, nor will unplugging the power cord either, other than just be mildly annoying.  She really has a whole slew of stupid comments, which is why dumb groups like that decades ago and now, get nowhere.

Keeping mind when this was done (1980s) and the limits of what a console could put on screen, and what Nintendo censoring would even dare allow they were NOTHING compared to the active media blowouts with toy+cartoon show combinations, that's where you get the violent behaviors if anything.  It took some years before PSAs started to creep out towards the end of GI Joe and the others, and even then, kids probably just went to take a pee or get a drink before the next show popped up as they didn't care as they didn't need master Splinter, Duke, Optimus Prime, He-Man, and the others preaching at them.

 

Edited September 14, 2021 by Tanooki

[Tulpa | 3,490]

1 hour ago, RH said:

Not agreeing with the article BUT Nintendo did (and to some extent still does) maintain an iron grip on what they allowed on the NES, at least in the US.

If you thought Contra, Rush'n Attack or Bad Dudes where "too violent", it wouldn't surprise me at all if Nintendo would have taken that in consideration before approving games.

I was more thinking in terms of what Nintendo themselves were making. I do find it amusing they thought you could call up NOA and be "hey, we need more games like Donkey Kong Jr. Math."

[Reed Rothchild | 9,511]

3 hours ago, Gloves said:

When I was a kid I was babysat for a while by a very religious woman who wouldn't let me play ANYTHING with ANYTHING RESEMBLING killing.

She told me I had to consider the men inside the tanks, whom I was murdering.

She wouldn't let me play Battlezone.

I mean, don't you stop and think about it sometimes?

Like, playing Uncharted, and you construct these elaborate backstories for these men who came from broken homes in poor industrial towns.  Their only escape is enlistment, where they discover the only thing they've ever been any good at: soldiering.  After the war they struggle to find employment, and struggle with rejoining civilian society.  Eventually, taking on work as a mercenary is the only avenue left to them.  I mean, you get to see the world, and the pay is decent.  What's not to like?

And then Nathan Drake comes through and heartlessly slaughters their entire platoon, leaving a dozen widows, and even more children who will never see their father again.  The funerals all hold empty caskets.

[Gloves | 11,771]

1 hour ago, Reed Rothchild said:

I mean, don't you stop and think about it sometimes?

Like, playing Uncharted, and you construct these elaborate backstories for these men who came from broken homes in poor industrial towns.  Their only escape is enlistment, where they discover the only thing they've ever been any good at: soldiering.  After the war they struggle to find employment, and struggle with rejoining civilian society.  Eventually, taking on work as a mercenary is the only avenue left to them.  I mean, you get to see the world, and the pay is decent.  What's not to like?

And then Nathan Drake comes through and heartlessly slaughters their entire platoon, leaving a dozen widows, and even more children who will never see their father again.  The funerals all hold empty caskets.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,511]

2 minutes ago, Gloves said:

Spoiler

 

 

[Tenjikuronin | 1,719]

Tetris it is then....

[GPX | 1,369]

Marilyn Droz has lost touch with reality. The irony out of all this, is that Nintendo is one company that makes the most kid-friendly games, compared with all other gaming companies in the modern era.

[Alder | 243]

Reminds me of the "video games cause violence" controversy.. my dad was always stubborn about that. Any time there was a shooting, it was because those kids were obsessed with violent video games. Meanwhile I grew up with Mortal Kombat, Goldeneye, and Perfect Dark. Yeah... let's just ignore mental health entirely and blame it on the games.

21 hours ago, RH said:

They really hated that "Nintendo stare" which is less about being mentally numb and more about concentration, and you'd think that a kid learning how to concentrate to solve a problem AND having to learn how to control emotions when things aren't worling the way you plan would have been considered a GOOD thing, but no, the media made video games out to be a childhood scurge and a lot of adults still see it that way.

That's a great point. I'm not a psychologist or anything but I never really thought of it as concentration. And another important thing is the difference between passive and active games. "Just pause the game" - for some games that's easier than others. I might be busy keeping track of projectiles and stuff. You wouldn't expect someone to just stop playing a game in real life while the ball is in play. So of course I'm going to be a bit pissed off when you rip me out of the action instead of waiting for a reasonable place where I can pause the game.

[RH | 4,898]

Regsrding my comments above, I will say that today parents should absolutely censor the games they put before their kids, but comparing 2021 to 1991 isn't apples to apples. Gory, hyper-realistic games, or those with nudity should be monitered just live movies. Today, especially with the new XBox and PS5 levels of graphic quality, games are really starting to get close to realistic.

I know people's opinions vary on where the line should be, but above I just wanted to point out that people complained about blocky graphic being an influence on kids in the 80s and early-90s, and I can say that wasn't the case.  For every bully/semi-violent kid I grew up around, sure, they may have played video games that might not have been allowed in my house, but me and my friends knew those kids.  They all came from rough home lives. In all honesty, most of them were either neglected or possibly abused. Calling out games or cartoons as the problem was puting the blame "cart" before the horse.

I do think, however, the illusion of realism can both influence or at least psychologically affect kids. That's where we are today. I don't want my kids numb to violence. I know some of you guys are into horror, and gore and a lot of that is definitely fake looking. That's fine if you are, to each their own and whereever you draw your lines for your family is up to you. However, in my house I'd rather my kids not have the illusion that it's normal. Regardless, it doesn't mean I wouldn't play a modern FPS with my kids, so long as death is still "cartoony" with minimal or, little, realistic blood and canned death animations. However, anything that branches toward hyper-realism, I not only want it to not influence my kids, I'm personally not interested in playing that stuff myself.

That's just a clarification of my perspective. Again, everyone is different, as are your kids and how you consider to raise them and show them media. Regardless, 1985-1995, was nothing to worry about from all I can recall.

[RH | 4,898]

12 minutes ago, Alder said:

That's a great point. I'm not a psychologist or anything but I never really thought of it as concentration. And another important thing is the difference between passive and active games. "Just pause the game" - for some games that's easier than others. I might be busy keeping track of projectiles and stuff. You wouldn't expect someone to just stop playing a game in real life while the ball is in play. So of course I'm going to be a bit pissed off when you rip me out of the action instead of waiting for a reasonable place where I can pause the game.

I actually try to be mindful of this as a parent. As with ANY form of play, young kids will push the limit to keep doing what they are doing, sometimes until the real threats are made of lost privileges.

Regardless, when it's game time, I give my kids 5 minute warnings and I pay attention to what they are doing. If I had been busy, I spend that last five minutes paying attention to what they are doing and I encourage them in their game. This way, I can see when a level ends, or the player dies, and I can tell them it's time to cut the game off at that point.

BUT, I am a first-generation gamer and I grew up with a context of what that felt like. I give my Mom a pass and on the whole because she was cool with video games. Still "cut the game off, it's dinner time!" meant just that and there was nothing more frustrating in my childhood than getting to that new level and 15 seconds in hearing "cut it off!"

Funny thing, as I got older, my Mom let me self regulate, but in High School, I still had a bed time, usually at 10:00. Xenogears was the frickin bane of my existence. It never failed... 9:45-9:50, a text-based cut scene would start and... crap. 15 minutes later the thing was still going! I was a good respectful kid, but after reading 15 minutes of text the LAST thing I wanted to do was cut it off and have to start over. I would close my door and try to rush through the cut scenes, but some were legit 45 minutes. I think that game is the last game I've ever left on over night. I awoke early that morning to hopefully finish the cut scene.

Edited September 15, 2021 by RH

[Andy_Bogomil | 815]

I've never seen anyone throw a tantrum over a board game

[Reed Rothchild | 9,511]

30 minutes ago, Andy_Bogomil said:

I've never seen anyone throw a tantrum over a board game

Ever played intermural adult sports or beer league softball? 

[twiztor | 849]

1 hour ago, Andy_Bogomil said:

I've never seen anyone throw a tantrum over a board game

this is a man who's never played Monopoly with a group of people.

[Andy_Bogomil | 815]

Sarcasm my friends... any games night (board games) that doesn't end with someone super salty just isn't a true games night. Monopoly, cards, Risk, you name it.

[Tulpa | 3,490]

I recently talked some friends of mine to play Uno with the 0s and 7s rules.

 

We now call them "friendship-ender rules."

Edited September 15, 2021 by Tulpa

[Reed Rothchild | 9,511]

The robber in Catan.

aka the guy that makes your wife not talk to you for 24 hours

[RH | 4,898]

3 hours ago, Tulpa said:

I recently talked some friends of mine to play Uno with the 0s and 7s rules.

 

We now call them "friendship-ender rules."

I have never heard of this but my gosh, "friendship-ender" almaot sounds like it's putting it to lightly.

[Tulpa | 3,490]

35 minutes ago, RH said:

I have never heard of this but my gosh, "friendship-ender" almaot sounds like it's putting it to lightly.

Yeah, basically you play a 7 and you swap hands with another player. Play a 0 and everyone passes their hands in the direction of play.

Sharp objects should be locked away when those are in effect.