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Call of Duty 4 for 13 yr old?

D

douglas

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 18, 2004
79
0
I'm the parent of a 13 yr old who dearly wants to purchase COD 4, and so am looking for your advice. Is this game appropriate and worthwhile for this age group? Creative, or just mind-numbing violence? Are there other games he should be considering? I'm not big on shooter games in general for kids, but they are hard to avoid. Anything available that taxes the mind and not just the reflexes?

You guys are the experts (and/or the converted?) so we'd appreciate your advice. By the way the games need to play on a G4 Mini 1.5 with 1GB RAM and 64Mb of VRAM, so obviously some graphic limitations there. Thanks.
 
I'm no parent, but I have a younger brother who I really don't mind playing that game. From what I've seen, its really a great game. On top of the graphics being amazing, the game play is on point and the progression of the story is awesome. They have you do so many different types of missions from all types of different perspectives.

I really don't see a problem with the game, & I think you'd also enjoy it... BUT, keep in mind, if you play it online, the experience will change depending on what type of people you play against.
 
It should be fine if your son doesn't play online. But, if he wants to play online (which he probably will) it may not be a good idea. It's not the violence that's a problem, but the type of language you run into when playing online is pretty bad. One solution could be to buy a Bluetooth headset that connects to the game and just keep it on and out of earshot so that all the noise from fellow online players will come from the headset instead of the mac. That way, your son doesn't hear the language but can still play online.
 
I would not get the game. From what I've seen, a lot of the kids at my school come back saying "owned" and swearing out of their minds because of the game. Of course it is the least active and athletic kids playing the game and doing it, but still.

Besides, your Mac Mini cannot even run it. It needs a pretty hefty Intel computer with dedicated graphics to run it.
 
TSE said:
I would not get the game. From what I've seen, a lot of the kids at my school come back saying "owned" and swearing out of their minds because of the game. Of course it is the least active and athletic kids playing the game and doing it, but still.

Besides, your Mac Mini cannot even run it. It needs a pretty hefty Intel computer with dedicated graphics to run it.
Click to expand...
I hope you are not serious. You really think they are swearing because of this game?

Jeeze get off the drugs man. :rolleyes:.
 
lancestraz said:
COD 4 is rated "Mature" for: Intense Violence, Strong Language, Blood and Gore.
Not appropriate for a 13 year old, in my opinion.


Yep. System requirements.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input. Sounds like son's Mini wouldn't handle the game anyway. Any suggestions for great and appropriate games that we should consider (Starcraft, for one, is a hit here)?
 
Yes Starcraft will run great, Diablo 2, Warcraft 3 too.
And Call of Duty 1 will run, maybe even CoD 2 on low settings.
There are demos around of all of them.

And I wouldn't worry about your son playing violent games, as long as it's not the only thing he is doing and you still spend as much time as possible with him.
 
douglas said:
Thanks for the input. Sounds like son's Mini wouldn't handle the game anyway. Any suggestions for great and appropriate games that we should consider (Starcraft, for one, is a hit here)?
Click to expand...

Starcraft, warcraft, and maybe even wow would probably work well
 
Sim City 4 is a fun game and entirely nonviolent. You could also try the Spore Creature Creator (not really a game, but it's fun nonetheless), and for simpler, less complex games that the Mini could run easily, try DEFCON, Redline, and Sketchfighter from Ambrosia Software.
 
Hmm, yeah, 13 may be a little young for that kind of a game... Then again, it depends on the child. If he is mature and responsible, I would see no problem with that. However if you have reason to concern his morality-o-meter still has some developing to do, then I would wait a while. I would just tell him it won't run on his computer though. As for fun and age-appropriate games. I've played The Sims well before that age, also the SimCity series is fun. Starcraft is also great, but WoW I've never really gotten into. Tried it, didn't like it all that much. There aren't many mac choices as far as games I'm afraid.
 
IMO, its totally fine, if he understands what it is he is doing.
Make sure he is well behaved and then let him play.
If he is a overall calm kid, it won't really change him.
If he has frequent tantrums, probably not the best for him.


So, I guess it would be totally fine, unless he is that specific example.
 
Besides the fact that your computer won't run the game...I honestly don't think that the violence in the game is the problem for younger kids. The intensity of the action was even enough to make me need to take "breather" breaks throughout, and I'm an adult with (limited) combat training. I don't think that the intensity level is appropriate for anyone under 16 or so.
 
StealthRider said:
Besides the fact that your computer won't run the game...I honestly don't think that the violence in the game is the problem for younger kids. The intensity of the action was even enough to make me need to take "breather" breaks throughout, and I'm an adult with (limited) combat training. I don't think that the intensity level is appropriate for anyone under 16 or so.
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Thanks for the thoughtful advice. I suspected (incorrectly) that readers of this forum would have been blind gaming converts. My error.
 
nomar383 said:
Starcraft, warcraft, and maybe even wow would probably work well
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i would not get a 13year old playing wow. talk about wasting your life away

as far as cod4, my 13y/o brother plays it as well as halo1/2/3, ghost recon and such. maybe its because he has brothers who are 19, 21 and 23 but yea lol. when i was that age, my parents wouldnt let me watch ninja turtles. anything is ok in moderation i believe


but seriously, dont let him get hooked on wow
 
lancestraz said:
COD 4 is rated "Mature" for: Intense Violence, Strong Language, Blood and Gore.
Not appropriate for a 13 year old, in my opinion.
Click to expand...

For that reason alone I say it's not a good idea.

But that said I was playing Duke3D when I was 10 and Mortal Kombat even earlier and I'm far from a violent, cuss happy young adult. :)
 
It really depends on what your child is like. But i know many parents who own this game and let their 12, 13 and 14 year olds play it. It is very violent, but not entirely mindless violence, there is some story to it. I would say that you buy the game, and let your child play it, under your supervision.
 
iTeen said:
I hope you are not serious. You really think they are swearing because of this game?

Jeeze get off the drugs man. :rolleyes:.
Click to expand...

People do swear because of the influence of the game.

In my mind NO ONE should play these kind of games, if they didn't the world wouldn't be as bad as it is! :(
 
maccam said:
People do swear because of the influence of the game.

In my mind NO ONE should play these kind of games, if they didn't the world wouldn't be as bad as it is! :(
Click to expand...

Whoa there cowboy! lol, what people need to understand is the difference between right and wrong and the ability to make the right choice. A video game may have a negative influence, but it is still the individual's choice to swear or be violent. Video games aren't ruining the world, improper parenting is! It starts with the parents letting the child know what is acceptable. The video game isn't teaching violence, the parents just aren't teaching non-violence to begin with.

I hope that makes sense, I am trying to word it correctly
 
nomar383 said:
Whoa there cowboy! lol, what people need to understand is the difference between right and wrong and the ability to make the right choice. A video game may have a negative influence, but it is still the individual's choice to swear or be violent. Video games aren't ruining the world, improper parenting is! It starts with the parents letting the child know what is acceptable. The video game isn't teaching violence, the parents just aren't teaching non-violence to begin with.

I hope that makes sense, I am trying to word it correctly
Click to expand...

Video games ARE teaching violence!
And what I'm saying is there's nothing good about this game.
 
maccam said:
Video games ARE teaching violence!
And what I'm saying is there's nothing good about this game.
Click to expand...

No kidding ,

Damn that rock and roll also it's causing all kinds of lewd behavior

And those comic books need to go too - terrible influence

Probably need to censor TV down to just the Lawrence Welk show also - too much violence and sex on there -

Next up will be burning all books deemed "bad"
 
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