A lot of people dislike Temple of Doom. I'm not one of them.

"How come Dad is playing that and we can't?"

What? Wouldn't they be more likely to say something like "How come Dad has 5 Oscars on his shelf, and earned 59 Kazillion Dollars last year, and my friend's Dad didn't?"

And Indiana Jones movies are awesome. Give me Lego Indiana Jones already!

Speilbergo would love GTA IV if he just tried it....and he knows it.

Jeez, he's right!! I mean last time I saw Manhunt 2 it had a big cuddly bear on the box!! Damn evil videogame people luring away our children with promises of bears and candy!

Afraid of video games? Come on, Spielberg. Weary of them, maybe. But out right frightened? Do you not trust your children? Do you not trust your ability to elaborate on the difference between reality and the virtual world? Naturally, I can understand if you don't want your wee tots to be playing GTA or God of War, but these are not necessarily scary experiences. Granted, trying to explain the role of the hooker in GTA might be something you want to postpone as long as possible.

Temple of Doom isn't a very good movie. I loved it as a kid, but after watching it again I've realized how Anglo-centric and xenophobic it is. People in India are either starving or death cultists that eat monkey brains. I know that part of this is the nature of the pulp insparation but it's just not done well. Weakest movie out of the first three.

Meh, just sounds like a decent parent. Not really game bashing or over the top. Not really all that interesting, but he does make a point.

I have no problem telling my 8 years old that he's not allowed to play M rated games and that he has to ask permission for T rated games. It is pretty simple, I play my games: GOW, GTA, HL2, COD4 etc, and he plays his games: sports games, marvel games, lego games, and sometimes I play with him at his games.

But the day I get him playing one of the M games without my consent (which won't happen until a couple of years), he's "gameless" for a couple of months.

It is pretty much the same thing as: I drink beer and you drink cranberry juice, because I'm an adult and you're not.

It is his house after all so it is his right to determine what comes in and what games his child plays. As long as he doesn't dictate what the rest of us do, then I am fine with his opinion.

Temple of Doom is a great movie, but it's not as good as the other two Indy movies, IMHO.

@WhiskeyJak: Hear hear. Parenting isn't a democracy.

parenting works if it's done right...watch your kids on their activity, ask questions, know what they're doing, interact with them...

games are entertainment...it's not like it's going to make your children into mass murderer...

Durrr!

@agies: The Anglo-centricism is part of the style that Lucas crafted when writing the original ideas for Indiana Jones, akin to the serials of the '30s and '40s that Lucas loves so much.

Maybe Matt Daemon was right...movies aren't the same as games. I agree kids shouldn't play mature games. But I don't agree that "dad" can't play it also. I mean the game is for adults and a kid should not question why an adult can't play adult games. Don't let them get their hands on it. That's why there are parental controls on the game systems.

this is the guy that created E.T. with one hand, and changed the guns to walkie-talkies with the other.

I'm sorry, why should we care about this?

Let me clarify: Why does Spielberg think we should care about his opinion?

"Just here what Spielberg has to say"

Sometimes a spellchecker ain't enough.

Actually, Steven Spielberg fears that our violent game budget is growing at the expense of our violent film budget. And he's probably right.

i just didnt get the temple of doom, it was good , but i mean raiders and last crusade were both about nazi's and like that whole war era in some way but the temple of doom was like indys vacation gone wrong or National Lapmoons India Vacation, it just didnt fit. IMO

@Grumps: Exactly, his opinion really has to be questioned after doing something like that. And like "You-Cannot-Untoast" said why should anyone care what Spielberg thinks either way?

It's the over-the-topness that makes them fine, in my eyes. When it's such a ridiculous caricature, I don't see it as a problem.

@WhiskeyJak: I hope you're not expecting him to still drink cranberry juice when he's leaving for college in a decade :p

Tempting cover-art for M-rated games?

Compromise!

All violent games must now have covers similar to this.

The complaint about Temple of Doom was that the path was already scripted and Indy was just along for the ride.

Whereas Raiders and Last Crusade actually had him doing 'archeology stuff' and figuring out clues.

Temple of Doom is actually my favorite of the series so far. The confusing fact is that this movie is a prequel of the other two.

Why is everyone talking about the quality of Temple of Doom, while to me it seems it's just a sarcastic reference to the violence in that movie, with all the beating hearts and blood?

@vanderblade, icepick314: Ah, so when government/industry attempts to restrict sales of games to minors, it's the parents' fault for not being engaged enough.

When an engaged parent makes a decision to not have those sort of games in his home . . . well, that parent's just a pussy.

Having it both ways must be fun.

I think the fundamental flaw in all of these types of arguments is that by the time you're 13 or 14, stuff targeted towards adults (21-40) hits you too.

Think about it. Is there someway to advertise or promote a game to a 25 year old that a 13 year old is going to ignore or not understand?

Of course, since Spielberg makes movies, that's a big exception. Yes, it is very realistic that a 13 year old watches a commercial or preview for an R-rated movie and thinks, "I don't even understand this! This is too adult for me! I don't want to see this!"

"there is something very compelling and different about the artwork on the box of what might be an M game that could tempt my kids"

Oh please. Now it's the cover art that is tempting kids to play M rated games? So this is true of all M-rated games but not true of any R-rated movies? Any of the Saw movies are way more violent and disturbing than any game ever made but you can buy all of them in unrated editions at Wal-Mart that are even more violent than the versions released in theatres. No one worries about kids buying those, so why are games different?

People really need to get over this mentality that games, as an entire medium, are for kids.

Yay, Someone in the world is an actually good parent.

@Fnor: Word.

"How come dad is drinking Vodka and we cant?"

For a guy who puts the power of God melting one dude's face and making another guy's head explode into his movies he sure is a pussy.

He's one lame dad.

All this from the guy that made you cover your heart.

Well, if your a parent who has an understanding of the in's and out's of the Ratings System (it shouldn't be a rare condition) then wouldn't it be obvious to take the responsible action of informing younger kids about how ratings protect kids from events that would affect them on a physical, emotional and mental level, and are meant to be viewed or experienced by the recommended age set.

It shouldn't be the store employee's fault for selling the product (although selling a M rated game to a minor is still retarded to a point) or the game team responsible for creating it. Nor is it a complete "Shame on YOU!" to the parents. No one party can be at fault for an action that takes months and years to groom into the brain as a "sensible" outcome. I can see some parents letting a child into a PG-13 movie as a pre-teen eleven year old, that'd ok if the child knows that the Ratings aren't to be passed over and forgotten. Responsible actions and prevention usually lead to sensible judgement, adn that "usually" is far better than a resounding "Ehh, I don't know" answer.

FACT: temple of doom sucked.

and it's hear not here.

@pasquinelli: Yeah. Got that right. If they cut out Capshaw's annoying screaming, maybe it would be tolerable.

I understand they cut out more of the "robotic" sacrificial cage burning as it looked "too real". And they know this because they've sacrificed someone to a river of magma??? ok...(I doubt anyone could get that close to river of magma without even self-combusting...)

@SigmundTheSeaMonster:
To quote family guy where Stewie is Shorty and Capshaw screams again, and Stewie says "You only here cause you banging director"

Isn't Crysis rated M? The guys working on boom blox mentioned that spielberg really liked that game, along with a few others.

@godot:
Smooches. <3

@ortegar: that's about the stupidest analogy ever. video games != alcohol.

"My kids will never go in and take an R-rated DVD and play it. "

right

So I guess he just keeps his M-rated games in drawer, right under the porno mags.

When did because I said so. And. Because you're not old enough. Stop working on kids?

What happens when he's 10 year old asks why dad can drive but he can... Grow some.

But he loves to see monkeys spanked while wearing ass-less chaps... go figure :\

@cybereality: Right next to the only working lightsaber in the world.

@pasquinelli: You betrayed Shiva!

Common sense that little kids shouldn't be playing OR watching M/R rated games/movies. I know mine won't.

What a hypocrite. How is that different than my parents not letting me watch Jaws or something when I was little? I'm sure he has movies in his house inapporpriate for the kids that they would want to watch if they saw a trailer or whatever.

Your reputation with lionkitten has decreased by 5.

@lionkitten:

He's not being a hypocrite... I figured this would happen. People see the title and rush to go defend video games. He's saying that he doesn't want his kids playing violent M games. He doesn't wnt them in his house and he thinks that his kids would be more likely to secretly play an M game than try an watch an R rated movie. That's probably true with most kids.

I don't see why people are jumping on him when he's doing exactly what you all to parents about. He's deciding what's best for his children and he rightly, imo, decided that his kids don't need to be playing M games yet.

@lionkitten: It's not different. You're parent's made a decision that it's OK for you to watch that content. He has a different opinion. He's doing exactly what the job of a parent is, and he's not enforcing a double standard on movies doing it. You are making accusations off of wild speculation. Doesn't look to me like your 'reputation' is worth much.

This is EXACTLY what anti-censorship advocates WANT TO HAVE HAPPEN! So why are you people that are bitching, bitching? He's using the ESRB, he's putting the same rules on movies as he is on games, what more do you friggen want? He should be the poster boy for the ESRB for crying out loud!

Oh man I made a bunch of typos there. I'm a bit tired. I wish we could edit comments. Oh well.

Let's see, he's making an informed decision to keep M rated games out of his kids' mitts. Lets trash talk him! He's not being a sensationalist at all, hell, he's not even naming names! Cut the guy a break already!

Seems fair enough. You sacrifice for your kids, against threats real and perceived.

No sense taking risks with the only thing that matters.

I think he has a point! The thing is game makers need to find ways to make M-rated games in a way that bores most children while still able to attract and entertain most adults. For example, No Country for Old men is a very violent adult movie released last year, but most kids under the age of 14 or so probably won't find it entertaining, because there are lots of long sequences filled with tension that most kids just won't pick up on... but adults still think it's thrilling.

I don't generally play violent games. So the creepiest thing I remember from any game is a scene from Spielberg's "The Dig," where you have to saw off someone's hand because he got it stuck in a rock.

I spent hours going around and around that rock, looking for the pixel-sized button I could press, because I knew they couldn't really be asking me to do that. Still bugs me to this day.

I find this a little ironic considering that the Temple of Doom, at the time of its release was considered violent enough to create a new rating: PG-13.

"In 1984, explicit violence in the PG-rated films Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Gremlins were "the straws that broke the parents' backs". Their complaints led Hollywood figure Steven Spielberg, director of Temple of Doom, to suggest a new rating, PG-14, to MPAA president Jack Valenti. Instead, on conferring with cinema owners, Mr Valenti and the MPAA on July 1, 1984, introduced the PG-13 rating, allowing in children older than 13 years of age without a parent or an adult guardian." - Wikipedia

(The following statement is based on ideas and theories of the author and should not be read as facts.)
I think that part of the problem is that a lot of people still consider games to be primarily for children. (As stated many times before.)
In my opinion the root of the problem is that we use the word "play" when referring to video games. Ie: We play video games. That statement is true but, it subconsciously implies, for a lot of people, that playing video games is childish.

We probably wouldn't tell an adult to "go play outside" or "stop playing with your food." Two things that are, for the most part, considered childish.

Now, I realize that there are other ways of using the word "play" and that there are always exceptions to everything. My point is I think we need to use a new word when discussing video games. Perhaps like the word "experience". IE: "Have you experienced GTAIV?", "I experienced Half-Life 2 the other day."

*shrug
Just a thought….

A perfectly reasonable parenting technique.

I don't hear him saying that the games that frighten him shouldn't exist or that no one should play them. In fact, he's taking a thoughtful approach to the fact that those games do exist, and even drawing a distinction between different gaming audiences.

His comments are the type of thing that those of us fighting game censorship should embrace, not revile.

@vanderblade: Young children do NOT always have the ability to distinguish between reality and the virtual world, despite their parents' best attempts to elaborate on that distinction. Which is why as a kid I was terrified for weeks after seeing one commercial for Friday the 13th pt. 3 on television. Sometimes children need to be shielded from media that they're not ready for, and it's a parent's job to determine when and how to do that.

I don't know. It seems more even handed than most parents, and more responsible. He doesn't play them, his kids don't play them. Fair enough!

However, wasn't he as responsible for at least the first two MOH games as he was Boom Blox?

They were kind of my introduction to 3D gaming and the reason I still cling to FPS.

@ sxp151, the happy-headed nose: i play the slots and cards at the casino. and sometimes i play with my food. adults play games and its okay. some games aren't for kids.

KALI MAH!!!!

@karateka: So you're encouraging children NOT to question the world around them? If anything, kids should always be questioning why parents so what they do; it helps put parents actions into perspective, and practice a bit of reflective practitioning in their parenting.

I think the point t