Questions of the Month for November

12/11/2012

Video Game News Console Handheld Advice Accessibility Questions of the Month

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Each month we field all manner of different questions on askaboutgames. Some people have intricate queries about particular games while others want to know which console will be best for their family. Here are our picks this month.

Question: How do you save in Wii Skylanders giants?

Answer: Skylanders Giants saves progress in two ways. Firstly the upgrades, money and hats of each character is saved onto the toy figure instantly. Secondly progress through a level is saved when you get to the end of a particular chapter. This is the same for all versions of the game on 360, PS3, Wii and 3DS.

This means that you can access your toy character progress on another person's game, but not your progress through the level. Also, some levels are a good 20 minutes to complete so it can be a little while between saves.

Question: I have recently discovered that my 8 year old daughter is allowed to watch her father play 18 rated games such as Call of Duty, Saints Row, etc and sometimes play parts of them. I know the law is more strict now regarding games, but can you please tell me if it's an offense to allow a child to view such material, or just an offense for a retailer to supply it to someone who is underage?

Answer: The law relates to the selling of games to under-aged persons at retail. Parents should use this information as a guide about the content and suitability of the game for younger players.

It is not an offense for a parent to let a child play these games in the same way that it is not against the law to let children watch films that are BBFC rated older than their age. That said, the PEGI ratings should be taken seriously as a strong guide about who should be playing the game.

Question: Why can I no longer connect to "Scrabble 2007 interactive"? I have a very good internet connection but both my father and I are unable to connect - he also has a very good internet connection - except when it comes to this Scrabble game. We have both 'uninstalled & reinstalled' but to no avail.

Answer: As games get older the publishers sometimes discontinue the servers for online play. It is also possible that a newer version of the game exists that you require to play it online.

There are a wide range of Scrabble games available to play online, I would suggest looking for an alternative is Scrabble 2007 Interactive no longer works for you.

Question: What would be the best advice to a teenager who wanted the latest Call of Duty for Christmas but they're under the age rating for the game? Will they just play it at someone else's house.

Answer: The PEGI ratings on games like Call of Duty provide a good guide as to the experience they offer. This can be a route to talking about it with a teenager. The starting point should be that children don't play these games until they are the appropriate age.

Where a teenager is very play an older rating game, an approach that some parents take is to suggest that they try playing the game together, or play it in a family room. This means that any difficult content can be discussed as it is encountered. The approach you take will relate to your child, who you know best, but finding a way to engage with the experience with them is a good step in the right direction.

The point about playing games at other people's houses is a good one and not something you can totally control. However, it is good to encourage other parents to check with parents about age ratings on films and games before letting visitors play them. One way to do this is to check with them about the films and games when visiting children play them in your home.

Check back next month for more great questions from readers, and our best attempts to answer. If we've missed anything in our responses this month, why not fill in the gaps in the comments. Also, you can ask your questions here.

[Image Credit: flickr/mathrock]

Andrew Robertson

Andy Robertson is the editor of AskAboutGames and has written for national press and broadcast about video games and families for over 15 years. He has just published the Taming Gaming book with its Family Video Game Database.