Comments on: Ask GamerDad 9/12/08

By: Mike Anderson

Mike Anderson — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 11:49:26 +0000

It is action packed and full of conflict – you start as Darth Vader killing Wookies, and go to being his secret apprentice killing everything. You are tasked to kill Jedi as well.

But there is no blood, and it is all about doing crazy stuff with the Force. The controls are a blast and it really gets you moving.

My son got it for his 12th, and he and my 10 year old play it loads.

By: DeAnna Skalicky

DeAnna Skalicky — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 20:37:05 +0000

I’m trying to figure out if “Star Wars the Force Unleashed” for the Wii gaming system would be appropriate for my 10 year old son.He received as a birthday gift I would appreciate your input.

By: Mike Anderson

Mike Anderson — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 15:26:34 +0000

Exactly what I was trying to say – in the game there is no distinction of whether you are seeing a zombie, a Nazi, a dog, a Rancor or whatever. And none of them are real – just like the cute puppy or kitten on Fate that is your familiar is no different than the cacodaemon in NWN or whatever …

And as you said, it is as was said in Grand Theft Childhood – the small minority of children who cannot tell the difference are the problem, and not the game. Because they would have that issue regardless.

By: GamerDad

GamerDad — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 14:05:00 +0000

Or to put it another way…
From my 10 Things Parents Should Know About Star Wars Force Unleashed,
“No actual Wookies were harmed in the making of this game”

By: GamerDad

GamerDad — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 14:03:17 +0000

Sure, sure, and I know that in Wolfenstein 3D you could literally kick these dogs. The default attack was a kick. I know it cause I played it instead of going to various math classes. The greater point is that there’s no dog to kick.

THERE IS NO DOG!

And kids know this. The ones that don’t are the problem but not because of virtual dog kicking. Because they are divorced from reality and that’s dangerous. Period.

By: Mike Anderson

Mike Anderson — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 13:34:04 +0000

There are many games where you do need to shoot dogs, usually attack or guard dogs … but again it is all part of the survival instinct. It is so easy to take this stuff out of context …