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It was a year ago this week that we launched What They Play. It was back on November 12, 2007 that we took our first brave little step into the world outside the comfortable familiarity of the hardcore gaming audience, and tried to build on the growing interest in video games from parents and families. It’s certainly been a surprising first 12 months, and we’ve learned a lot of unexpected stuff, so indulge me for a moment to share some of these with you. Pretty much everything you see here is based on feedback from readers, or our friends in the industry. They are based on responses to stories, or to polls and surveys that we've fielded over the past 12 months.
Parents are more worried about the possibility that their kids might play Grand Theft Auto while at a friend’s house, than they are that they may end up drinking beer or watching pornography. We assume this is because they would never expect your kids to do the latter, while the former is more of a possibility.
When asked what they would find the most offensive in a video game, they said that a man and a woman having sex would be most offensive, followed by two men kissing, and then the sight of a graphically severed human was ranked third in a list.
Polls can get picked up in the strangest places. Like scenes in the TV show Boston Legal. In a recent episode, James Spader's character, lawyer Alan Shore, in defense of a sexual therapist, quoted the above poll word-for-word.
As a general rule, people worry about sex much more than they worry about violence.
When it really comes down to practical considerations, what moms really worry about the most is the language used in games. Why? Because it's the one thing that can be instantly copied, and change your kids' behavior at home. We had more moms ask about the language in Assassin's Creed than about the, y'know... assassinating. “It’s called Assassin’s Creed, I get it,” they told us. “But why does it have a ‘Strong Language’ descriptor from the ESRB? Isn’t it set in medieval times? Did they say ‘fuck’ back then?”
When people initially hear that we're a site about video games aimed at parents and families, their initial response is to think that we're all about family-friendly games, and nothing else. That, or we're some crackpot anti-games group crusading against the evil industry that’s corrupting our nation’s impressionable youth, but that’s another issue entirely. In fact we've found that there's a great deal of demand for coverage of M-rated games from moms and dads, because it is these that parents need to know the most about when their tweens and teens are demanding to play them. For many moms, the gaming tastes of a 14 year-old boy are quite terrifying.
Game reviews have a strong influence on what moms and dads will spend money on, but the initial spark always comes from the kids themselves.
When it comes to saving money, given the current economic situation, parents have told us that they are more likely to simply "buy less" than turn to renting games, or seeking cheaper alternatives like buying used games.
The tension that we see and feel in this industry between the content being "for kids" and "for adults" goes beyond content, and beyond intent. As the games industry fights it's "toys for boys" and woefully out of date "only for kids" image, the kids themselves defend their turf aggressively. We have both parents and kids posting comments on our stories, and we've found that those identifying themselves as boys aged 11 to 13 are the most aggressive and defensive. They seem to take considerable offense at the notion of parents becoming more informed, and choose to express this in the most disdainful manner possible.
The fact that Spore was based on real science, and arguably had some educational benefit didn't really influence parents’ feelings about it, if they’re completely honest.
Gore and language filters in games don't really change the way parents feel about them. They are tools for the kids who will use them to justify requests for games with ratings outside of their reach.
A kid talking about a game is the single most important factor in making a parent pay attention to its content.
Kids only have indirect spending power. Mom and dad (usually mom) controls the budget, and she increasingly wants to know more about what she’s letting into the house.
Mario Kart Wii and Super Smash Bros. Brawl have been in the top 20 most popular games on What They Play since they were each released.
Games aimed at moms and girls are going to be huge in the coming year. Interest in game content designed specifically for girls on What They Play has steadily increased all year, with the free-to-play virtual worlds taking the lion’s share. Our single most popular article was a parents guide to Club Penguin.
While we knew that the games industry was starting to look at family initiatives, and focus outside the "core" gamer more, we've been overwhelmed by the level of support and positive comments from publishers, developers, and the platform holders this past year. Along with this, we've received more notes of thanks from parents, educators, librarians, caregivers, grand parents, and families in the past 12 months than any of us have in our entire careers. For all of this, we are truly humbled.