The morning after the Today Show aired their thought-provoking piece on women and Nintendo, I caught a teaser for a segment about what parents should know about video games. I didn’t watch the show, but when I looked it up later, I found an article and accompanying video. When I read the article and saw that the first tip basically advised parents to know what system their kids have—well, let’s just say there was some scoffing and eye rolling involved. I mean, duh. I skimmed the rest then clicked away from the site, wondering to whom Today would condescend next. The other day, I stumbled on the article again and this time, I went ahead and watched the video.



I expected this John Davison person to be some sort of right-wing evangelical type, condemning to Hell anyone who even glances at a video game, but the more I watched, the more I liked what he had to say. I then surfed over to his website, WhatTheyPlay.com, expecting something crazy like this, but instead I found straightforward breakdowns of video games.



According to Davison, the ESRB can “only list so much stuff” on the back of the box. His staff reviews a game by giving a little background and introducing the story. They then take the ESRB rating and break it down, without judgment, giving specific descriptions of each offensive item listed. Take the game, Condemned 2 for the Xbox 360, for example. The ESRB gives the game the rating M for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Use of Drugs and Alcohol. Compare that to this review and breakdown of Condemned 2. Additionally, the site provides screenshots and video for parents to peruse.



After each review, readers are then given a place for their opinions. Parents and kids alike can offer up their two cents. I couldn’t really tell if these comments were heavily moderated, but what was present seemed thoughtful and accurate. I also noticed a Community link at the top of the site that is currently inactive. If they get it up and running, it seems like it could be a great support center for parents and a safe place for kids to talk to other kids about games/parents/etc.

While I am not in favor of censorship, I think information is always a powerful tool. Any website that encourages parents to be parents is awesome in my book. The dialogue that could be spawned from a parent actually taking the time to understand something in which his/her child is interested is nearly infinite.

WhatTheyPlay.com FTW.