List of 10 Games Not Kid-Friendly Shocks No One
by Jeff Bakalar - December 7, 2009 12:55 PM PST

Straight from the No-Brainer Department comes a list of games that parents should not buy their children this holiday season. The New York Times has republished a collection of 10 titles deemed totally uncool for kids to play by the media watchdog group Common Sense Media.

While we're all for educating parents about the naughty video games their children want to play, we can't help but slap our foreheads at how obvious some of them are. Besides, all a responsible parent needs to do is stray away from the big fat "Rated M for Mature" logo on the box art of such titles.

We wouldn't disagree with any title on the list, but some of the suggested alternatives for these titles are a bit suspect. For example, replacing Modern Warfare 2 with Battlefield: Bad Company only brings the blood level down a bit--the war combat and violence are still present in Bad Company. We absolutely loved Uncharted 2, but there's plenty of gunplay and headshots in the T-rated blockbuster as well.

Ideally, we'd love to see parents become more involved in their child's gaming habits. The only way to make sure a game is right for the younger ones is to have Mom or Dad sit in on a few sessions.

Naughty: Assassin's Creed II
Alternate: Mirror's Edge

Naughty: Borderlands
Alternate: Infamous

Naughty: Brutal Legend
Alternate: Ghostbusters: The Video Game

Naughty: Modern Warfare 2
Alternate: Battlefield: Bad Company

Naughty: Dead Space Extraction
Alternate: Deadly Creatures

Naughty: Dragon Age: Origins
Alternate: Braid

Naughty: The Ballad of Gay Tony (GTA IV)
Alternate: Batman: Arkham Asylum

Naughty: Demon's Souls
Alternate: Uncharted 2

Naughty: Left 4 Dead 2
Alternate: Overlord II

Naughty: Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
Alternate: C.O.P.: The Recruit