It would be really cool if there was a section of the store that had only games that were approved for children
Ideally, parental controls would not only let parents lock the store to just the Children-approved area, but stop games already downloaded that aren't suitable for kids being played.
An extra added bonus would be if parents could set a "pocket money" allowance for kids to spend on IAP, after which they can't buy any more
Probably not a priority, but would be sweet if this could be done at some point
SpoonThumb
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What I meant was doing it the way all other game consoles do it - you tell the system the highest rating to allow to be played without a password (ie, E10+), Then if someone tries to play a game higher than that, that's when it asks for a password. No flagging specific games, no need for "kid-friendly", all it needs is for the store to be able to sort by rating.
However, if you're a non-gamer parent, you probably want some help deciding which games are safe for your kid. A strictly curated kids zone means that a busy parent with concerns about games has a place where they can be 100% confident in the content.
It's the same as sticking your kid in front of Nick Jr or CBeebies. In the Night Garden isn't going to cause your kid to start asking awkward questions
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A rating system should be about giving parents those boundaries, and allowing them the flexibility to place those boundaries where they feel is appropriate.
The idea of a Kids Zone is really about setting the base boundary. The lower limit, the boundary below which a parent feels their child is too young for any sort of video game
As for genres, it's the same problem as for music and literature and any number of artistic media. You need a way of describing a piece of music quickly and succinctly. You could say "it's in 3/4 time at 130 bpm with a lead guitarist playing pentatonic scales" but most people would stare at you blankly, whilst if you said "it sounds like <insert band x>" or "it's a cross between <genre x> and <genre y>" they understand you.
You're right in that game genres are particularly silly, but by letting people make their own categories or tags (I like the idea of players setting multiple tags for each game and only the top 1 or 2 most popular being visible), you allow them to fix those problems themselves. Better category labels and/or tags will be more useful, and so float to the surface
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A kid's zone would establish a much greater fence like what you have described. This kind of maturity/age difference is exactly why I think a kid's zone is problematic, because it lumps kids more generally. Age ratings provide ideas that graduate much better as a child ages, and provides specifics on what kinds of things are in a game concisely, so more appropriate decisions can be made. Is your 10 year old kid good to play 12-rated stuff? Done.
You could even just cut out the age ratings altogether and just put in descriptors, or use descriptors as an alternative to age ratings. You could just filter the child's storefront to say, have only things with moderate violence, mild sexual references and no drugs, etc. etc.
No it isn't. Game genres are much more specific than other genres of media. Movies and music cover much broader terrain than games do.
By saying that something is FPS, it means it has:
- Predominantly or partly Gun-based gameplay
- First person camera viewpoint
These are specifics that very much affect the way the game plays and the kinds of interaction that can be had.
With music, if I said 'electronic' it would just mean:
- This song uses mostly electronic instruments or focuses on them.
The usual broad music genres don't dictate specifics the way usual game genres do. What people do with them is their choice, but with games, its harder because the ways that people find games are structured around these archaic and very specific genres, and most games go across several of these now, making them even more invalid.
@arcticdog - Consumer information is already there in the form of ratings and the summaries they provide, ie. this game has moderate violence, this has sexual references, etc. etc. It is very to the point and easy to read. Most ratings boards even have icons.
Ratings and filters provide those means of giving people the kinds of things they are looking for, and far more specifically and tailored to the individual.
So what if they disagree? These kinds of businesses thrive on traditional flawed tactics. They don't care if it's that great or suitable for the audience, they just use the tactic that by flagging something as kids friendly, parents will flock to it looking for something that they deem 'safe' for their precious kids. It doesn't matter about the individual, nor if it's any good, it's just what they think will sell, and since a lot of people go to sellers because they don't know, it's easier to guide someone into purchasing something without really knowing that much about it.
So what if many actual parents would disagree? It is likely that the average parent would want something like this, but wanting doesn't mean needing. Just because someone might want something, it doesn't mean it necessarily fits their needs as well as something else. Just because something is easier, it doesn't make it better.
If OUYA had a way of quickly showing a parent how to filter out a child's storefront for age ratings, content types, etc. (violence levels, explicit language, and so on) it may take a few minutes, but then the parent can actually make more informed choices for their kids, and at least be more involved in what they are playing, then just sitting them in front of a kid's zone.
Enabling people to make informed decisions will elevate them from just being consumers into actually thinking about what they play, or what their kids play. An empowered audience is far better than a passive one.
Parents are always going to err on the side of caution, so the only other solution is to not let their kid play on the console at all, and no one wins from that (except perhaps some hardcore gamers with an abstract point of principle)
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As you've stated yourself, many parents have differing views on what is and is not appropriate.
The point of the kids zone is to provide a safe area that kids can enjoy and explore freely, and allow parents to exercise their judgement when their child wishes to explore outside those boundaries.
What I like about the original suggestion is that it's simple, minimal effort solution to providing some parental controls for a console that at $99 will undoubtedly be a popular gift for children.