Hello all, I am the mother of two boys, ages 14 & 16 who both enjoy video games. With school starting so soon, my husband and I promised them we would buy them each a video game mainly of their choosing if they brought home satisfactory report cards. My question for you: what games would you recommend as being fun, while still appropriate for Christians and teenage boys? I know that some of the "family" oriented games are not targeted towards teenagers but I don't want them playing anything considered sinful or not age-appropriate.  Thanks for your help!!!

P.S. My husband Gary and I have bought them a wii, an 360 xbox, and a PS2. They both also have the latest hand held game systems too by Nintendo.

Tastes vary so much. I mean, some people will just go for the sports genre. Other than that, with the consoles you have I could make a list about a mile long of things I enjoyed at that age (as a young Christian teenage guy  ).

Wii: Super Mario Galaxy!!!!!!!!!! I can't imagine any red-blooded human being not enjoying that, and it's totally family friendly.

(Wii plays all GameCube discs if you have a GC controller and memory card): Metroid Prime (!), Super Smash Bros. Melee (everyone loves this one).

The Wii also has a "virtual console" (you'll need a "classic controller"--$20) and if they are agreeable to older games, they go for $5-$10 apiece for download--I enjoyed some of these when I was younger and they are much easier to "pick up and play" for short periods than newer games. In my mind it's an awesome value: Pretty much anything out of the Mario or Zelda franchise are just about impossible not to like.

http://vc.nintendolife.com/games

Anything rated 8 or higher is a safe bet, and I can hardly think of more than a handful that you could possibly call "sinful" (R-rated violence, swearing, "suggestive themes" etc). Some of my favs (from when I was that age, too): Super Mario RPG, Super Metroid, Mega Man 1, 2, 3 . . .

As for the PS2 also plays PS1 titles which had many of my favorites: I was into everything "Final Fantasy," "Ico," "Kingdom Hearts,"

Xbox360 is good for old Xbox games, in my mind. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Burnout 3,

DS: Chrono Trigger, Mario Kart DS, Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (GBA slot) Final Fantasy VI, Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap, Warioware.

The great news with games is that it's easy to get bang for your buck these days: the old stuff is great, the newer games mostly aren't, and "old"=cheap=more than anything more than a year old.   I could go on but those are some off the top of my head.

I recommend Pokémon SoulSilver for the DS.
It teaches the value of friendship.

Something else to consider is that the popular gaming magazine GameInformer, which is sold at all Gamestop stores (it's published by GameStop) have recently added a new section to the magazine called "All Ages."  It deals exclusively with keeping parents informed on games and gaming controversies so that parents are better equipped to choose games that are suitable for children.  Could be a big help around christmas or birthday time for your kids, cause they could easily ask for a game and it might be able to tell you whether or not it's a good idea