Can I have your opinions on Call of Duty?

[Hot Lava Mama]

My ds 12, is asking for "Call of Duty" for his DS player. Does anyone know anything about this? It looks kind of "kill-ing-ish", if you know what I mean. The only thing he has now for the player is Mario racer or something like that. He isn't usually into violent kind of stuff, so it struck me as a weird request.

 

What is the hive's opinion on games like this? Will it twist his mind?

Thanks for your advice!

Hot Lava Mama

[MrsMe]

Violent! But that's all I know as my neighbor has it.

[Jennifer in MI]

We decided to allow some of these games.

 

My boys say - it is a first person shooter game (he'll be shooting people). But, they are the "good" guys in these games. There is some blood occasionally and there's not much swearing (some da**it and He**). But my boys are older.

 

My kids do not have it on DS, but do have it on XBox 360, so it may be a bit different.

[justamouse]

No. No, no, no.

 

Now, it's not inverted morality (where you get points for hurting people and killing people), but I don't let my kids play violent visual games like that.

[Tmhearn]

My dh plays it. I asked if he would let our ds play it when he's 12. He shrugged and said, "I might turn the blood splatter off." Ha ha ha! Whatever that means. He says it some form of parental controls in the game. Sorry if I sound ignorant. I do play video games but nothing that require parental controls.

[elegantlion]

My son has several Call of Duty games. We were reluctant at first, and held veto power if his behavior changed at all.

 

My son has not had an issue, he played Xbox live for a while. he had group, some homeschoolers (maybe hive kids too, idk) and they played this summer.

 

We opted to allow, he self regulates for the most part, but yes, it's a first person shooter game. My son was into video game design when we started allowing, so he critiques the playability of the game more talks about the killing. Unless it's the Nazi Zombies, which are one CoD, can't remember which one.

 

I think at 12 I would definitely see some of the game first, then decide. You can check you tube for clips of the game.

[Pretty in Pink]

It's a first-person shooter. I think you can disable the blood spatter (we have one of the COD games for PS3). I know my ds13 has watched my dh play, not sure if he has actually played with him or not. I just asked my dh about the language and he said, "Oh, they definitely drop the F-bomb." You are the 'good' guys, you win by killing the 'bad' guys. Some of the games are based on actual wars, some are purely fictitious.

[BarbecueMom]

We are big gamers here. In fact, headed down to play Call of Duty and the Battlefield 3 beta as soon as DS3 conks out.

 

That being said, we view these as family games. DH grew up playing along with his dad. My father-in-law still plays CoD with DH's 16-year-old brother for an hour or so every night. My younger brother grew up playing alone, and if it had any effect it fed his anger. I doubt we would buy them for a handheld system. I would assume it's more difficult to exhibit violent behaviors due to video games if your mom plays with you.

 

There is crude language. It's bloody. I usually stick to multiplayer because the violence is less gory (ok, that's a half-lie, I suck at playing solo campaigns). I don't watch violent movies AT ALL, but I can handle these games. DH and I have a way to go, but we decided that multiplayer with mom and dad was fine whenever they show interest, but campaigns wait until the teen years.

[Joanne]

{insert long story about believing that gender-based play was culture/nurture rather than .nature and spending time trying to keep clean and pure son's play instincts}

 

My sons (nearly 13 and 16.5) play first person shooter games. We have rules around length of play, schoolwork, chores, language, if I tell them to stop playing, etc.

[Jennifer in MI]

{insert long story about believing that gender-based play was culture/nurture rather than .nature and spending time trying to keep clean and pure son's play instincts}

 

My sons (nearly 13 and 16.5) play first person shooter games. We have rules around length of play, schoolwork, chores, language, if I tell them to stop playing, etc.

 

:iagree:

 

And, I've never heard the f-bomb in this game in our house. Our game systems are in the open family room and I would've heard it by now!!

[KatA]

I also asked my husband, and he wasn't really sure. He said "By the time I was 12 my imagination was much worse than COD." Single player is fairly gory and there's a bit of cursing from what he said, I'm not sure how parental control works on a DS. I'd use caution, maybe look into the type of parental controls that are available. Does he have any friends that play the game? Peer pressure might be a reason why he's asking for the game. (I know the same thing happens with by husband, all his friends play a new game on the Xbox and he has to buy it... at $60 a piece.) :glare:

[didadeewiththree]

This one is our first "violent" game and I have to say I havnt seen any negative changes in our 11 yr old. My husband plays it with him, and I think the only downfall is the cussing factor. You also have to have the sound on, so that you can hear the zombies coming. So if you are ok with that....maybe rent it first and see what you think....

[BarbecueMom]

:iagree:

 

And, I've never heard the f-bomb in this game in our house. Our game systems are in the open family room and I would've heard it by now!!

 

Almost positive it's said in the Modern Warfare 2 campaign. That's one of the more controversial campaigns. I would avoid that one for now.

[Rhonda in TX]

Have you ever looked at Common Sense Media? They have reviews for movies, music, video games, etc. They are not religious, but they do tend to be conservative in age suggestions. One thing that's nice is that you can look at comments made by other parents who often add information not mentioned in the review.

 

I don't have a personal opinion about "Call of Duty" because we have a hard and fast rule against "M" rated games.

[In2why]

I HATE, HATE, HATE, C.O.D.! Did I mention I hate it? I don't have a problem with the first person shooting game as they are the good guys and they kill zombies the majority of the time. My problem is that my children do not handle time limits with it well. I have really had to curtail their playing time because they can't self-regulate. It might be different on DS, I don't know, but it seems like the online component makes it easy to replace actual face to face contact with online friendships. I think our other problem is that we never had to limit before this game so we didn't already have the rules in place before it became a problem.

[Jennifer in MI]

Almost positive it's said in the Modern Warfare 2 campaign. That's one of the more controversial campaigns. I would avoid that one for now.

 

I just googled it. It is there! I swear I've not heard it. My kids say maybe they haven't hit that level yet as they haven't heard it either. Hmmmm. . . . I'm not opposed to swearing but I don't want my 5 yo hearing it.

[SeekingHim77]

My 16 year old son has several games of this nature, including Call of Duty. He turns off the dialogue so he doesn't have to hear the cursing. On some of the games, the really bad stuff is in a certain part of the video game that can be turned off as well.

 

I was very anti video game for a long time. I still don't think they're great but, in our situation they've actually been good for my son. He's able to get on Xbox live everyday and chat with his friends while playing with them. All of his friends are either real life friends or friends of real life friends. He's not allowed to play with strangers.

 

However, if we lived somewhere different and my son had more activities to choose from, close in age brothers, or neighborhood friends(all his friends live too far away to hang out with on a day to day basis), I would still probably be banning video games from our house. They are so addictive!

 

As it is, we limit his time on the xbox and he's not allowed to play until all schoolwork and chores are finished. He also has to have a good attitude overall (not be perfect) to keep this privelege.

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

I think for this game and any game you will get different opinions on whether it is appropriate for a 12 yr old. Some are opposed to all violence, some accept cartoon violence, good guys vs bad guys, or accept any type of violence. What is right will be different for each family and no family is wrong in their decision on this in my opinion.

COD is violent, it has cursing, and if you play online you are not playing good guys vs bad but one team against the other. There is also a zombie mode which is graphic....shooting heads off and cursing. I have not seen the Nintendo ds version but just remember most ds versions are different then the tv game systems...graphics (not as realistic) and game play.

 

For the record, I do let my older boys (15, 19)play this game and others similar to it. I do not let my 7 yr old watch them play it however.

[Lolly]

Ds has been playing it for years. I am not overly concerned about first person shooter games. My ds has the ability to realize the difference between fantasy and real life. He also shoots in real life and plays paintball where you do shoot real people (just with paint!). The sad truth: if he didn't play these games on Xbox he really wouldn't have anything to talk about with other boys his age. Okay, so he had rather discuss aviation. The random kid isn't going to be able to go very far with that discussion. On the plus side of violent video games, ds has learned a whole lot about history from them. :lol:

[Lucy in Australia]

We had it and got rid of it. My older DS got his first one a few years ago and I reluctantly agreed. His behaviour became very unpleasant, especially towards his younger brother so it had to go. I have no idea what it was about that particular game that affected him in that way (he, of course, denies it to this day). He has Assassin's Creed also, and that doesn't affect him the same way.

[6packofun]

The DS version of Call of Duty has less violence AND cursing, just fyi.

 

Our kids play many first person shooter games that we preview--mainly for the ability to turn off language/violence/blood--but the DS games are not on the same level, quite honestly. If guys shooting one another in a war-like setting on a tiny screen so that details aren't all that vivid anyhow isn't OK with you, then I'd choose something else. (This opinion is based on the DS version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, btw, but ds17 says he's pretty sure the tamer aspects apply to all of the DS versions of CoD. They are still rated T for teen and sometimes there are perks to shooting characters in the head (headshots) so if that sort of thing bothers you, maybe go with another game.)

[Free]

We own a PS3 and I do not allow my ds10 to play anything that is rated 18+ or Mature. I look at the PEGI ratings...I believe there are other rating systems as well.

 

Call of Duty - Nintendo DS version - PEGI rating

[southernm]

Has your child ever played a first person game? They can make some people very nauseous! My DS 6 yes 6 loves strategy games. He enjoys Command and Conquer which requires him to play out different strategies to kill alien troops. I suggest looking into it!

[Free]

Has your child ever played a first person game? They can make some people very nauseous! My DS 6 yes 6 loves strategy games. He enjoys Command and Conquer which requires him to play out different strategies to kill alien troops. I suggest looking into it!

 

My son does not like FPS (first person shooters) either. This genre is pretty popular among hardcore gamers but not usually among casual gamers. Check out some other strategy, treasure hunt or action games. That said, I don't have any suggestions for DS, sorry.

[Lady Florida.]

Ds has been playing it for years. I am not overly concerned about first person shooter games. My ds has the ability to realize the difference between fantasy and real life. He also shoots in real life and plays paintball where you do shoot real people (just with paint!).

 

:iagree:I was against such games for a long time and unlike Joanne, I'm going to tell you my story. :lol: Well, the part where I relented. One of the many times ds and I were discussing it went like this:

 

DS: Mom, I'm not going to go crazy and shoot someone because of a video game.

 

Me: I know that. But I do think you can get desensitized to violence.

 

DS: I know the difference between a game and real life. I'm never going to shrug over real life violence.

 

When I type it, it sounds like he was being snarky, but he wasn't. The conversation went on a bit longer, and he actually made his case. We set down some rules such as not playing the games around friends unless he knows they're allowed, time limits, etc. When the discussion was over, I decided to allow it (dh had deferred to me so it was my decision).

[Free]

:iagree:I was against such games for a long time and unlike Joanne, I'm going to tell you my story. :lol: Well, the part where I relented. One of the many times ds and I were discussing it went like this:

 

DS: Mom, I'm not going to go crazy and shoot someone because of a video game.

 

Me: I know that. But I do think you can get desensitized to violence.

 

DS: I know the difference between a game and real life. I'm never going to shrug over real life violence.

 

My ds is a very sensitive child. He has been playing action oriented games for quite a while (not FPS though) and I do not see any adverse behavioral issues at all. In fact I feel video games have given him additional interests to pursue such as history (many games interweave historical characters and mythology), drawing, designing costumes and weaponry, etc.

 

We do limit screen time and we do check the reviews and ratings of the games before allowing those in the house.

[Lily_Grace]

We worry about the desensitizing here. A lot of ds12's friends play COD and we still don't allow it in our home. It's hard, though, when the 8yo down the street can and ours is miffed that he can't. We decided to allow first person kill games, BUT:

-no military/war

-must be strongly fantasy

-must not be the central focus of the game.

 

In its place we decided to allow Assassin's Creed. It's a swordsman in the 14th/15th centuries who has to kill the target. Most of the game is spent doing Spiderman-like moves jumping from building to building and talking to other characters in the game who give clues. I'd rather that, where it is very much not real, to a war game any day.

[southernm]

We worry about the desensitizing here. A lot of ds12's friends play COD and we still don't allow it in our home. It's hard, though, when the 8yo down the street can and ours is miffed that he can't. We decided to allow first person kill games, BUT:

-no military/war

-must be strongly fantasy

-must not be the central focus of the game.

 

In its place we decided to allow Assassin's Creed. It's a swordsman in the 14th/15th centuries who has to kill the target. Most of the game is spent doing Spiderman-like moves jumping from building to building and talking to other characters in the game who give clues. I'd rather that, where it is very much not real, to a war game any day.

 

Are the clues given orally or do they have to be read?

[Lily_Grace]

Are the clues given orally or do they have to be read?

It's oral for 99% of it. Sometimes the characters get a bit longwinded, too. :lol: The game takes place in 14th/15th century Italy so pictures are used whenever there are words. It's great for us because when we go visit the cities all of us already have a very accurate map in our minds - Italians don't change a whole lot unless they have to! :D

[livingnlearning]

My dad plays COD a lot (he's turned into a gamer in his retirement years) and I've let my son play it with him-probably from the age of 10 to now, at 14. They play and talk on xbox live and since we live across the country from them it's a great way for my son to stay in touch with him, plus relate to other guys his age. It's not my son's first choice of games but not b/c the violence or anything bothers him, he just prefers Halo and I think he can beat Grandpa at Halo but not COD.

 

I used to think it could be desensitizing to violence but that hasn't proven to be true in our case whatsoever. I've never met a more compassionate, sensitive, intuitive and kind person as my son. He loves animals, babies, small kids and his sister. He doesn't have a TRACE of voilence in him, not a trace of it.

 

I can see how it would bring it out in a kid already a little edgy but I don't think the games CAUSE any problems. My son will get frustrated and crabby when he's going on a losing streak but he'll rant and rave in his room with the game and then come out here, pick up his cat and feed her treats and pet her to calm down. So not a violent gamer! LOL

[Retired]

We decided to allow some of these games.

 

My boys say - it is a first person shooter game (he'll be shooting people). But, they are the "good" guys in these games. There is some blood occasionally and there's not much swearing (some da**it and He**). But my boys are older.

 

My kids do not have it on DS, but do have it on XBox 360, so it may be a bit different.

 

:iagree:

[SailorMom]

My sons have it on the Wii - of the shooter games I've seen - this one is one of the better of them.....

[Elvis and Miss Kitty]

:iagree:I was against such games for a long time and unlike Joanne, I'm going to tell you my story. :lol: Well, the part where I relented. One of the many times ds and I were discussing it went like this:

 

DS: Mom, I'm not going to go crazy and shoot someone because of a video game.

 

Me: I know that. But I do think you can get desensitized to violence.

 

DS: I know the difference between a game and real life. I'm never going to shrug over real life violence.

 

When I type it, it sounds like he was being snarky, but he wasn't. The conversation went on a bit longer, and he actually made his case. We set down some rules such as not playing the games around friends unless he knows they're allowed, time limits, etc. When the discussion was over, I decided to allow it (dh had deferred to me so it was my decision).

 

:iagree:My conversation with my son about this game went almost word for word like floridamom's.

 

Julie

[Jean in Newcastle]

I have allowed other FPS games but not Code of Honor. Ds has played it but it affected him negatively. Ds has struggled with gaming addiction, though. This game affects his addiction negatively. Other games do not. (Not sure why. Something about how it affects his brain.)