XBox 360 - Do all the games involve shooting someone?

[EllenFrasier]

My two sons went together and bought an Xbox360 this past summer. They bought some type of game that is a war game and I don't like it. Guys trying to shoot each other, etc. Now they are looking the Black Op game, which sounds like a war game to me too. Are there any fun games for Xbox 360 that do not involve shooting someone?
PS: One son is 17 and one is 12
Thanks!

 

[Donnask8pro]

Everyone my son owns also seems to be some type of battle.

 

[mrs.beast]

there are lots of games, they are just picking the violent ones. We have shrek, tons of sports games (which my son and husband are playing as I type), and the kinect ones are fun (even I play).

 

[gertiegirl]

Yes type in xbox games and look at all the games that dont involve shooting someone! for example: split second is my son's favorite game and its a racing game.

 

[Hannathy]

Guys 17 and 12 YES!!!!

That is what they like to do. yes there are other games but will a 17 yr old play them doubtful. Just depends what they like to shoot-aliens or people.

 

[Nicolepa]

There are a lot of games that don't involve shooting. My kids love Banjo Kazooie (sp) Nuts and Bolts. You could also download games from the arcade. There are tons of classic games there (dig dug, pac man etc). The nice thing about those is there are only a few $$ each and you don't have to keep track of a disk.

 

[LilyWDW]

My two sons went together and bought an Xbox360 this past summer. They bought some type of game that is a war game and I don't like it. Guys trying to shoot each other, etc. Now they are looking the Black Op game, which sounds like a war game to me too. Are there any fun games for Xbox 360 that do not involve shooting someone?
PS: One son is 17 and one is 12
Thanks!

I hate first person shooters for the most part. The only ones I have ever enjoyed are those that are more RPG then shooter, such as Mass Effect. However, the war games or Halo are just... blah... to me...

and I own an Xbox 360.

Go to gamespot, gamefaqs, or even amazon. You will be able to look at games available for the systems at any of those sites. Many games these days are being released on multiple systems. There are very few exclusive titles any longer.

Some of my favs that have been released on 360:
Final Fantasy XIII
Mass Effect (which is a RPG shooter)
Dragon Age Origins
Fable (the first one)
Marvel Ultimate Alliance
Lost Odyssey

I will say this... a lot of the popular games for males that are the age of your sons are the war games.

I should also note that many RPGs have characters that use gun weapons types. However, it is more fantasy/sci fi type of things and not nearly as realistic as the war games. I didn't want to make it sound like those games will have no guns at all.

 

[TheAceOfAces]

My sister has an Xbox360 (which she got for free- she won it in a raffle at a work Christmas party years ago), and we mostly just use it to watch movies. When we do play games on it, we play Harry Potter, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Cars (yes, the game of the Pixar movie). None of those involve shooting people, and there are countless others that also don't have any shooting.

 

[torinsmom]

At one point I was worried about DS16 playing all those crazy war and shooter games. One day he came in the living room smiling and said, "I just took out three zombies at once!" I didn't know whether to say congratulations or what, LOL.

Anyway, in talking to a doctor, for most teenage boys this type of game can be a healthy way to use up that surging testosterone. None of my son's friends have ever been in trouble for anything more than the occasional sarcastic comment in school or elsewhere in the community, so I don't buy that violent games make kids more violent. They play in teams over Xbox live and plan out strategies and all that.

Now, for younger kids, I would avoid the violent games. Use the rating system to judge; it will tell you what is in the game. When a game is rated M, I always ask the guys as Gamestop, and make my judgement from there. There are a few I refused to buy until he reached the age of 16.

Marsha

 

[mom2boys77]

They don't all involve shooting but the ones your sons will actually want to play do. My son is 15 and has had his xbox for 2 years. I'm of the opinion that they are just games..my son isn't going to go out and get an uzi and shoot nazi zombies in real life. These games seem to be almost like a social event, they "meet up" with their friends online and play with each other. And I agree with another poster who said to ask the guys at Gamestop..they can definitely help you!

 

[delmar411]

They don't all involve shooting but the ones your sons will actually want to play do. My son is 15 and has had his xbox for 2 years. I'm of the opinion that they are just games..my son isn't going to go out and get an uzi and shoot nazi zombies in real life. These games seem to be almost like a social event, they "meet up" with their friends online and play with each other. And I agree with another poster who said to ask the guys at Gamestop..they can definitely help you!

I agree. The OP's boys are teens and the older one is nearly an adult. They want to play 'war' games. It's what's fun for them.

My little boys (4.5 & 6) are in love with zombie killer type games. I've put my foot down though as they were playing Left for Dead and other adult rated games when DH got them for himself. I wasn't paying attention to what they were playing as they do have a teen rated cartoon zombie game that I do let them play so I didn't monitor them close enough. Those games don't scare them but I think they might scar them, yk? They are very realistic and I think can make little kids callous about violence.

 

[LeslieG]

Any more specific game recommendations? My DS9 and DS11 are getting one for Christmas.

 

[foltzy]

We have a few kid friendly games as my kids are only 3 and 5 and not allowed to play Daddy's games (He goes for the first person shooter type games) we have

Viva Pinata (Sure pinata's get into fights and some get eaten but they are pinata's so candy comes out)

We have one called Beautiful Katamari (I will say it's a fun game you roll a ball and pick up stuff (Food, games, people and it makes the ball bigger, what I don't like about this game is that if you don't get the ball to the correct diamitor then the "King" is very rude to you and actually he's not that nice when you win either)

We also have Rock band and as long as I'm picking songs I'm making sure what they play are songs that aren't that bad (We downloaded walk like an egyption and they love to sing and play that one).

I also want to get the Kinect (That'll be sometime after Christmas) because they are loving the new commercial for Kinectimals and the Kinect Sports. As I find them very kid friendly and they'll be up moving I told DH that we'll be buying it.

 

[DisneyNutMic]

Forza 3 is a great racing game. Favorites at my house are:

Forza 3
Need for Speed games (new one just came out and my son is loving it)
Paintball (shooting but not bloody and gross)
Madden
NHL

 

[shortbun]

We have all those shooting games. We also have lots of sports games that do not involve violence. The new Kinect that will interface with your 360 has some really family friendly games but you must be in a spacious room. DS is moving his 360 to the family room so his Christmas present (Kienct) is accomodated. Get thee to Gamestop. They employees know everything BUT...just because you have non shooting games does not mean they will play them. Boys tend to play what they like.

 

[solfan68]

BLACK OPS is the latest in the popular Call of Duty war simulations. Its rated M for a good reason(violence and language being key). The other popular franchise on the Xbox consoles has been Halo... another shooter. The 360 and PS3, as a rule, do tend to offer more action-oriented titles. That can mean violent/bloody titles like Assassins Creed or Grand Theft Auto.

That said, the Lego titles are available for the 360, as is the Madden football franchise. There's also great racing games and new sports titles that will tap into the new Kinect accessory this holiday.

 

[Hannathy]

And not all shooting games are bloody and gross! Like in Halo there isn't any blood that looks like blood. they are aliens and just kinda explode, it is not realistic at all.

and in the ones with blood like COD you can turn that feature off. My DS plays with it turned off by personal preference, I never made him do it.

For two teen boys you can't go wrong with any of the Halo games. Halo Reach just came out.

 

[JamesMom]

I agree. The OP's boys are teens and the older one is nearly an adult. They want to play 'war' games. It's what's fun for them.

My little boys (4.5 & 6) are in love with zombie killer type games. I've put my foot down though as they were playing Left for Dead and other adult rated games when DH got them for himself. I wasn't paying attention to what they were playing as they do have a teen rated cartoon zombie game that I do let them play so I didn't monitor them close enough. Those games don't scare them but I think they might scar them, yk? They are very realistic and I think can make little kids callous about violence.

LOL! My DS5 and DS8 are obsessed with Plants vs Zombies. For those who don't know, it's a game where you collect sun points to buy plants that fire missles, etc at approaching zombies. It is a cute game that requires strategy and patience. Young kids like platformers (Sonic, Mario). Older kids want something to shoot, lol.
Hubby plays all the war/battlegames online with his co-workers every Friday night. I've played Fable and others (PS - complete Final Fantasy line), but mostly World of Warcraft on the PC, a game in which I kill things - lot of things, lol.

IMHO, all of this is simply the modern way of playing Cowboys & Indians, or hunting/battle training of adolescents in aboriginal cultures. Same thing, different methods.

 

[WheelCEO]

the new need for speed racing game is great.. black ops was a major let down

 

[Planogirl]

I personally shoot zombies on the XBox (Left 4 Dead) but I understand what you mean. There are other games (even the Sims!) but the most popular do seem to be shooters.