Decker

I'm experiencing some guilt today. My daughter (and the rest of us, I suppose) got a Wii for her birthday last week. My dad told her he'd get her any game she wanted as a present. She selected Just Dance. I tried to convince her to get Endless Ocean instead because I'd heard some good things about it. She was adamant and got that dreadful dance game instead. My god, it's so awful. Limited tracks, many sound-alike artists, terrible motion detection and looks so ugly. She doesn't care -- in fact she and my four year old boy both love it. It puts me in an unusual position : On one hand, I hate to support such a crappy shoddy product, especially one that somehow sells so well and stinks up the NDC charts; on the other, there's something to be said for a game that entertains your kids, especially one that gets them to be a little active to boot.
I know that these sort of games always sell well and that just perpetuates the development of more and more crappy games. The same thing goes for terrible movie tie-in games that fill up the game shelves every Summer. It's one thing when an uneducated grandma picks up any old game because the kid likes the box, it's another when a quality-game aficionado has to buy one of these shovelware titles. I hate being part of the problem, but when your kid really wants a bad game, what can you do?

orangecrush

I feel sort of the same way about the Dora and Deigo Wii games. They are very short and basically the same game w/ different skins. They are simply a cash cow to 2K. However, they are the only games I have found that my kids (3 and 5) can play easily w/o any help and they love Dora. I am hopeful that they will be a gateway to better games.

devilshalo

As long as they have fun, why care? Isn't that the whole purpose? It reminds me of a comic strip showing a kid getting this really expensive gift that the parents want the kid to enjoy and he has more fun with the empty box it came in.

old_mate

I would say that the game is not crappy, just not targeted towards you. If your kid is loving the game who cares what you think about it? Would you rather get a game that you think is better but your kid doesn't like as much?

cruzness

My 8 year old loves all sorts of crappy games and movies. As long as she enjoys it and I spend some time with her, I'm OK with it. She completely redeems herself by loving to be the vocalist in GH and RB/RB2.

Daryl

When my boys first got DS's, I would just buy the game they wanted, even knowing it was crap - living by the "as long as they have fun" mantra. Now they are a little older (7 and 9) and I started to notice that the crap games get the "I'm bored with it" response within a week or two and then collect dust - so now I'm a getting a little more choosy or at least we look at videos online together to make sure that's the game they want.

Groucho

I bought my kids "Hot Shots Golf" on the PS3. All they want to do with it is make the customizable character and walk around the online lobby.

Decker

Yup, that's kids for you. I'll spend 15 minutes setting up the instruments to play Rock Band and all my daughter will want to do is customize her character's clothing and hair.

PerryD

Yeah, I feel worse about the AAA titles that don't get played than I do the Monsters Inc Dodgeball game that they played constantly for a few weeks. Sometimes a game just needs to be fun.

Michael Corvin

Mine are 3 & 5 and Diego/Dora are great games for that age, and definitely a gateway to something like Mario. My 5 y.o. started with Diego, but is now loving NSMB: wii and even some of Galaxy now.

kgrogers1979

I got ET for the Atari 2600 for Christmas 1982. At first I thought my parents loved me, but then once I started playing it I realized they actually hated me.

cruzness

This is exactly what my daughter wants to do. Digital dress up is what I call it.

Spiderbite

Exactly. I only feel bad when I get my kid a game he wants (or a game I think he will like) and he ends up hating it for any reason. If they love it, what did you lose?

Eric D.

As long as the kids are happy, nothing else should matter. Why would you want to deny them something that they enjoy just because it doesn't meet your standards?

orangecrush

My son (5) loves watching me play galaxy, but always hands me the controller after 5 min of playing himself. I can't complain too much.

rocketsauce

You should have just showed them PS Home. Cheaper, though I'm sure much much worse.

Michael Corvin

yeah, my daughter just started getting the hang of it a few weeks ago. She's managed to get through the first 10 levels or so. Even managed the first boss battle. Her face just lit up when she beat the lava octopus because she kept trying to pass the controller to me and I wouldn't let her. I had to take out the bug boss in Honeyhive.

Groucho

Last night my kids made me think of this thread. They told me they all played "Plants vs. Zombies" at recess. My five-year-old: "I was the zombie with the newspaper! If you tear it up, I get mad and RUN!"

bralph

Yeah Galaxy is much tougher to control because of having to use the nunchuck. My 5 yr old son is great at NSMB, but just watches Galaxy.

orangecrush

htfdwhal

I feel bad when one of the games my kids want is rated really bad. I try to convince them that the game is no good but they want it anyway. I then get the game they want only to find out that after a couple of hours into it, they hate it and it gets stuck on the shelf. They use their birthday money which makes me feel guilty for I know they could have gotten something alot better for their money.

sniper308

I've actually got my son reading reviews online, and often waiting for used games or a good sale, since he's often spending his own $$ or possibly going in 1/2 on a game we both want. Since he started paying for games, he does his homework before making a purchase. Having demo's on the 360 also helps a lot with this.