need a shooter game for a 6 year old.

[garytmib]

my 6 year old son wants a shooter game really bad, but i don't want him playing anything realistic. anyone have any good suggestions? maybe a robot shooter? thanks in advance.

 

[Lars]

How about Toy Story 2? It is a very good game for kids. (Not a real shooter game though)

 

[wolf papa]

How about the original Quake (GL version)? The opponents in the single player version are all monsters, ghouls, zombies, etc. There are lots of mods available, and it doesn't require a leading-edge machine to run and look good.

***forgot about the guards *** , but I remembered seeing some paintball shooters (maybe Paint Brawl ?), I think Lego Racers and ReVolt have some shooting involved, even though they're mainly drivers.

 

[NicColt]

whasn't there something called Nerf Arena. or another called Worms Armageddon.

 

[ojai00]

After all those news reports about kids growing up to be murderers when they played games like Doom, Quake, etc...I would try to stay away from those games as a father. A good robot game would be Mechwarrior (I believe the whole series is good. They're up to Mechwarrior 4 right now). How about a few airplane shooting games? I don't know any off the top of my head, but there was Starwars X-Wing, Descent, etc. Hope this helps.

 

[Mingon]

<< After all those news reports about kids growing up to be murderers when they played games like Doom, Quake, etc...I would try to stay away from those games as a father. >>



Anyone who believes this rubbish probably shouldnt have kids anyway, most of the time its the bad parents who like to point the finger of blame anywhere else but at themselves. As a primary school teacher I would recommend something like nerf arena as its not overtly violent and will help hand-eye co ordination, but I would limit the time spent to 30 minutes or so at a time.

 

[bunker]

There was a game that came with Chex cereal called Chex Quest I believe. I thought I saw somewhere that it's a free download now. I actually had this game (I like chex ) and it's not bad. Definitely a kids game.

Also, Nerf Arena Blast is basically a Quake clone using nerf guns instead of real ones. I had a good time with that one too!

*Edit - Download Chex Quest here. Oh, and it's based off the doom engine so it runs in DOS. (Win 98 or below required)

 

[garytmib]

thanks for all of the suggestions. i'm sure my son will appreciate this. he has been after me for a while wanting his own shooter game. thanks again.

 

[NicColt]

>After all those news reports about kids growing up to be murderers when they played games like Doom, Quake, etc... A good robot game would be Mechwarrior

LMAO sorry but i have to agree with Mignon on this one.

Mechwarrior LOL yea it's much better that they play games where the goal is the useless and total destruction of an entire planet. We don't want them playing Doom though.

As for kids growing up to be murderers, that's the biggest BS I ever heard, every single serial killer there ever was in the U.S. has never touched a video or computer game and that's a fact. Second, it's time that parents take their own responsibilities about how their own children use computers or game console and what they watch on TV. Blaming societies ills on TV or the Computer gaming industry is the Patents own coward way out of it. Just because you have kids doesn't mean that you have the right to be idiots on how to raise your own kidz.... Stand up and be a responsible and intelligent parent for Gawd sakes.

 

[techwanabe]

<<

<< After all those news reports about kids growing up to be murderers when they played games like Doom, Quake, etc...I would try to stay away from those games as a father. >>



Anyone who believes this rubbish probably shouldnt have kids anyway, most of the time its the bad parents who like to point the finger of blame anywhere else but at themselves. As a primary school teacher I would recommend something like nerf arena as its not overtly violent and will help hand-eye co ordination, but I would limit the time spent to 30 minutes or so at a time. >>



I'm kind of surprised to hear comments like that coming from an educator. Here in NY State, teachers have to have a masters degree within 5 years of being hired, meaning they are well educated and have been exposed to post graduate studies and research. Anyway, calling the notion "rubbish" that constant exposure to violence and graphic images has no effect seems to be, well, a result of lack of information to put it nicely.

There is a good deal of research already available which suggests that frequent exposure to violence and graphic images has the effect of desensitizing us. It is conceivable that some individuals could be affected to the point which they might do something they wouldn't have otherwise. To think otherwise seems naive. Sure, most of us could expose ourselves to crap daily and manage to keep control of ourselves. It's the ones who are already dysfunction which may get pushed over the edge by something or another. You know the old computer saying: "garbage in- garbage out".

I come from the more conservative persuasion, and I agree that parents need to responsibly raise their kids. But the fact is a great many don't raise their kids responsibly, so WTF do we do with all the kids who raise themselves and are dysfunctional in manyways? Don't know the answer to that, but we as a society have to deal with the fallout of all those dysfunctional kids.

 

[manly]

Mechwarrior 2 was the shiznit.

MW3 and MW4 aren't even in the same league.

I find it curious that a 6-year old "needs" a shooter game though. Buy him a Gamecube and some cool Nintendo games.

 

[Jace]

There's a reason that small children react with shock and sadness to displays of horror and violence, it's because they are sensitive and loving "Out of the Box" so to speak.

Thus the notion (fact) of "desensitization". Calling these facts rubbish etc. is closing one's eyes to our very nature, which is why it is so unnatural to read of children beating each other to death, then having them look up with innocent eyes and say, "I was just imitating WWF, I didn't mean to kill my baby sister". If you've never read an article (or seen it on your local news station) like that and had your heart feel like it was bleeding, come back down to earth, put your FPS games away for a minute and think. Please.

Thoughts for the day:
Children are an heritage of the Lord...Happy is the man who hath his quiver full of them. Psalm 127: 3 and 5
&
The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame. Prov 29:15.

 

[TheVrolok]

DL a NES emulator and find Duckhunt!

 

[DaveSimmons]

<< "I was just imitating WWF, I didn't mean to kill my baby sister". . >>

Yes, WWF teaches you can slam an elbow into someone's throat or whack them with a metal chair and it won't really hurt them -- a realistic FPS shooter teaches them that guns kill people.

The real point isn't "FPS games are evil" or "depictions of violence are evil" it is that parents must pay attention to their own children and be responsible for them. Some kids should be fed Barney and ritalin or prozac, and some kids can handle Bugs Bunny and Doom. The solution is not to torment all kids with the purple child of Satan, just the fragile ones.

 

[m1ke101]

i'm surprised no one has suggested that harry potter game that was released a little while ago, i heard its decent for kids, and i'm pretty sure theres no blood or anything.

 

[luv2liv]

yep, i agree with NicColt
Quake and Unreal are just polygons, its not even real. maybe if they're actual digitized pictures of real people, being shot n real recorded blood dripping all over, i might have a different opinion.

good parenting = good kids. violent gamings and entertainment are just easy excuses. its always easy to blame something other than ourselves.

oh, they did have that Nerf shooting game, very cute. other shooters for your kids are paint gun (forgot the name) and laser tag arena.

 

[Mingon]

And lets face it any sane person knows wwf isnt real, and hopefully any sane person with children would explain its not real to them. I spent 9 years working and designing military equipment - did that desensitize me, not in the least quite the opposite in fact. The whole point is that if a child does not understand the difference between real-life and make-believe then there is a serious problem, it boils down to respect of all things.

 

[Sebthesupersnail]

Buy your kid a football, otherwise he'll get fat. Word.

 

[Mingon]

Yeah and a proper football thats round

 

[NakaNaka]

when I was six I was playing games but I also played a lot of ice hockey. Have him play sports and stuff too. But for games, when I was six I didn't play any shooters. I was playing the original Nintendo. Packman, all the Marios, that was the shiz.

 

[phreakyzen]

My son loves the Harry Potter FPS and there is no blood or violence. My son also loves Zoo Tycoon that is his favorite right now (he is 6). I think first person shooters are nice with hand eye coordination but really have no other benefit for a child of his age. Try and turn him onto builder games like Zoo Tycoon it teaches management and is really fun for him and you.

I agree though that the best hand eye coordination is a football take him outside and toss a ball around.

 

[NicColt]

>WWF teaches you can slam an elbow into someone's throat or whack them with a metal chair and it won't really hurt them
> a realistic FPS shooter teaches them that guns kill people.

first of all the WWF is Adult entertainment and I would'nt even let my kids watch it until they are 16-18+ and are able to mentally understand that. If the parent let's their own kids 15 and under watch it and they end up hurting someone, it's the parents who should be responsible for letting their child watch Adult entertainment in the first place.

Guns kill people, cars kill people, water, fire, sticks and stones kill people. again it's the parents responsibility to Teach and make sure you child understands and has the mental ability to know that you use a knife to cut your food and not to go out and butcher someone. The same thing applies to video games, if you the parent thinks that the computer game is rated for an adult then make it so. If your child should not have adult material then make it so.

There is nothing that make me more mad than coward parents who are irresponsible and blaming ills on the TV or Computer gaming.

1) monitor and decide what your kids see on TV and how long they watch it.
2) monitor, decide and know every program before it gets installed in the computer.
3) monitor all Internet access. Install a filter, put the computer in an open room.

Giving them full access to unsupervised TV and the Internet is equal to giving them loaded gun and saying have fun.

Failure to monitor your child's activities is the Parents responsibility. Then coming back and blamming TV, Internet or Gaming is truly Moronic.

 

[CPA]

My eight year old loves Zoo Tycoon also. He loves Rollercoaster Tycoon even better. It only took him a few games to get the concept of time and money management, which is MUCH more important than good hand - eye coordination.

That said, he does though watch me when I play Serious Sam or RTCW. But as I play, I explain what is going on and point out the differences between the game and what is expected in real life (at least in my house, what is expected).

 

[NicColt]

well said CPA.

 

[MustangSVT]

maybe find an old NES and get duck hunt?
man.. that game is hilarious! and the DOG I TELL YA THE DOG!!