[This is a re-posting of our most recent Roundtable.]

In the Roundtable, editors and contributors to Forwards Compatible contribute to the discussion topic at hand. If you wish to respond to anything you see here, please write in the comments or email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

For a detailed explanation of these questions and ideas see Matthew Mason’s Spearhead & Lou_Lantos’s Second Take

Matthew Mason
Editor, Forwards Compatible/Writer, TheQuestionBlock.com/Hiking Svengali

I always find it interesting how a Second Take can be interpreted; in this case it took an entirely different tangent from what I was getting at. I kind of glazed over and generalized a “universal appeal” game; I was more interested in focusing on the way my kids get dumped on when it comes to bad games. Then again, how can Lou relate without having known what it’s like to watch your kids suffer through finding a good game at the local emporium that’s rated E or E10+. There are games, but they’re few and far between compared to those rated T and higher. I’m sure Armstrong could point out Leigh Alexander’s article about how developers are in a retarded adolescence; making games that fulfill their teenage fantasies with Tolkien or Terminator bents. At some point I’d like to think that developers will get it through their noggins that there’s bigger audiences to be had and different experiences beyond blood, sex and violence. Let me reiterate; they’ll make GOOD games for younglings to enjoy.

Matt Spayth
Editor, Forwards Compatible

To be fair, I think Mason might be examining the past through rose-colored lenses. Certainly there were plenty of memorable games back in the day specifically tailored for kids; however, for every Duck Tails there were a dozen cringe-worthy titles solely designed to steal allowance money from unsuspecting children.

Still though, he brings up a very good point: the “E” rating today can oftentimes double as both a content guide and a letter grade. When I was a kid, the majority of games were not marketed to the mid-20s demographic. Consequently most of us on this website didn’t have to sit out on the best games during our formative years. That’s certainly not the case today.

Now that the industry has changed, it seems “E” rated titles are not actually designed for everyone, but rather everyone under the age of 5. Obviously there are exceptions to the rule, but most of these exceptions consist of franchises that have been around since we were kids.

Are there games that are fun for both parents and young children? Absolutely, but not nearly enough. When it comes down to it, many gamers are starting to grow up and become parents. And guess what: they’re raising future gamers. It’s perfect business sense to make quality games for the entire family. Besides, I’m sure many gaming parents with young children have trouble finding the spare time to sink their teeth into an “M” rated title. In reality, it’d be much easier to make games that entertain the entire family. Not only does this expose the younglings to quality gaming experiences, but it also saves dad from sneaking in a late-night round of Gears of War 2 during the work week.

Jeff Grubb
Editor, Forwards Compatible

“We are selling to the dumbest, most uninformed consumer in the world: Parents buying shit for their kids.” I can’t remember who said that, but it was some asshole from the early days of gaming. Before Nintendo came on the scene and saved gaming for us all, what was gaming? An endless cycle of garbage that was sold to our parents, and not to us. It is obvious the focus for any major publisher is going to be where the majority of the money lies, I think we all realize this.

What I want to point out is that the way children are treated as consumers when it comes to “the arts” is similar in books, music, movies, and games. Besides Harry Potter what are the books that children read? Probably books that have been around for years and years, and that we read as kids, or that even our parents read as kids. There are always new things for kids to consume, but the quality movies and music have also been around for years. How many 8 year old boys are obsessed with Star Wars?

What can we do as gamers then? Sure, we should be playing Super Mario Galaxy with our kids, but I plan to show them the classics. A video gaming curriculum that will give my kids an appreciation of gaming’s heritage. Just as I will with books, movies, and music.

I’m sort of ignoring the Spearhead, though. Will developers and publishers ever pull out their A-game for children’s gaming? They will, but less frequently. Just as we don’t get truly great children books and movies very often.

Daniel Sims
Editor, Forwards Compatible

I think Spayth hit something when he mentioned our age demographic and how the best games back in the day were aimed at us. I think people of our age group - people who are now roughly between their early 20’s and early 30’s, have always been the main demographic throughout our lives and the life of the industry. When we were kids, as Spayth said, most of the hit titles weren’t marketable to the mid-20’s demographic. As we grew up though, publishers decided to keep pace with us, possibly leaving now-emerging gamers with what’s become a wasteland of shovelware.

A major defense of the videogame industry is that the gaming demographic is getting older and that the average gamer is now over 30 years old. I don’t know how old the average moviegoer or music consumer is, but if that number for games continues to go up I actually see it as a bad thing. It would mean that the apparently limited marketing scope of publishers (outside of the Wii) is keeping interest in gaming centered on one generation of people. A while back before the Wii came out a Nintendo conference was covered where Reggie outlined some startling numbers showing that many teenagers younger than us were in fact gaming less and less these days.

I have a nephew who is a year old and I know for a fact that whenever my brother and I get to the point of introducing him to his first videogames, we’ll probably end up picking many of the same games (or at least games from the same franchises) that we played when we were his age.

Dustin Rodgers
Editor, Forwards Compatible

Is this a gripe about the quality of kids games? I think that, all things considered, we’re fortunate to be having this discussion right now. We owe a lot to the Wii for proving that kids games are a legitimate market. Until the DS, titles aimed specifically at children were very few and far between. The NES was different, it did have a primary focus on children, but not since have we seen kids games made in the numbers that we are today.

By and large, the influx of children’s content has lead to some truly pathetic shovelware, as Daniel aptly put it, and the Wii’s incomparable control scheme has allowed developers to try new things, and even redefine what constitutes as a children’s game. These changes have turned the kids gaming market on its head and many companies are still trying to get it right.

I have faith in the youth that they will eventually seek out better games. The underachieving party games won’t last long if they don’t improve. Also, natural competition between developers will lead to better childrens games over time. Just as games improved with our generation, this new generation of gamers will discern for themselves what constitutes as a good game. Through these new gamers, the new game types that target the casual crowd could evolve into something playable.

As Mason pointed out in his Spearhead, good games are not defined by their target audience. Many famous child-oriented games have come to be remembered as classics, and not as a kiddy cash-ins. As these games either die out, or inevitably get better, today’s children could be ushering in a new era of gaming that we didn’t realize existed. We should at least be open to that possibility, or risk becoming get-off-my-lawn, exclusivist gamers.

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