christiangamer

Some folks I’ve talked with are under the impression that the Nintendo systems (Wii & DS) are the “family friendly” video game systems.  I would agree to a point.  I’d say they are the most family-friendly systems available.

In the light of recent releases on both the Wii and the DS that should concern the concerened parent, I thought I would do a little experiment.  I navigated over to the esrb website and did some simple searches.  Here’s what I found:

A search for M-rated games on all major platforms (some games are rated and have yet to be released – some are download titles):

• Xbox 360: 135 games out of 751 (18%)
• Playstation 3: 89 games out of 450 (20%)
• Nintendo Wii: 26 games out of 954 (3%)
• Nintendo DS: 7 games out of 1072 (<1%)
• Playstation Portable (PSP): 41 games out of 532 (8%)
• PC Games: 770 games out of 7963 (10%)
• Playstation 2: 259 games out of 1892 (14%)
• Xbox: 193 out of 1006 (19%)

Unscientific but common sense conclusion – Nintendo has a smaller amount of Mature rated games than any other console.  There are some very mature rated titles on those systems however.  Grand Theft Auto (which has been on every system BUT Nintendo until last week is now available on Nintendo DS in the form of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars.  Some titles on the Wii to be wary of are the recently released Madworld and House of the Dead: Overkill; as well as older titles No More Heroes and Manhunt 2.

I recently read an analyst’s report on the GTA Chinatown (DS) game.  It is believed it will sell 2 million copies.  That’s a lot of potential for unknowing parents to allow their kids access to a very mature rated game.  Head’s up mom and dad!  Your kids could be playing GTA right under your nose…

And hey I’m not calling for any boycotts or for developers to be shut down or anything – I just hope parents are aware of what’s out there…