4 Dec, 2010
As the Gaming Wikipedia for my particular social circle, I spend half my waking lifetime responding to emails from friends looking for just the right gaming gift for their little and not-so-little kids. As a mother myself, I actually take this job pretty seriously; as a keen advocate of the PEGI system, you won’t find me recommending Resident Evil 5 or Modern Warfare 2 for my friend’s five year old son. EVER.
Enter Cedemo, and my hope that this handy little iPhone/Android app might make those emails (and shitty parental purchase decisions) obsolete. Wary non-gaming parents – and thrifty, uncertain gamers too, of course – can pick up a game in a store and scan the barcode, unlocking a heap of information about the game, including images, videos and that all-important description from a game library that apparently spans the last ten years.
Whilst I don’t have a clue who wrote the library info, nor can vouch for its accuracy, from the limited time I’ve spent with the app I can say that it certainly appears to be accurate. Yes, it struggled a bit with some of my PSOne games and didn’t always catch some of the older (and, admittedly, crappier) titles, it pretty much nailed everything else. All good stuff from an app that’s completely free.
Cedemo is available now.
Results page for the Cedemo App
Scanning functionality of Cedemo
[Source: Destructoid]
That’s a pretty neat little app, and will no doubt be useful, especially at this time of year.
Just out of curiosity, are you fairly strict on what your son plays? I ask only because myself and I know a few others here maybe grew up with ‘videogame violence’ and got a kick out of things like the ‘video nasties’ and I can’t say it ever did me harm. I am putting together a feature for the site with these kinds of issues involved, it would just be cool to hear your thoughts as a gamer and a parent.
Oh, really?! Ha – I’ve drafted a similar article myself, exploring what it’s like to be a gamer and the parent of a budding gamer, exploring similar themes. :)
I actually take it on a case by case basis. I know what S’s like, and what he can manage and what it can’t, but even if the PEGI says it okay, I do vet games beforehand – just in case.
By the same token, there are some games that cite that he should be older, but if I’ve played it and think he can handle it, it’s ok. For instance; I don’t have a problem with him watching Reach in short bursts. He wouldn’t be allowed to play it, but as I feel that it’s viscerally not too graphic, it’s ok in small doses. Something like L4D2 or RE5, however, I don’t let him watch at all. He’s wandered downstairs in search of a drink at bedtime a few times when it’s been on and think it’s awesome, but he’s banned from watching and/or playing and damned well knows it. :P
I also take great pains to explain WHY he shouldn’t watch this stuff.
I obviously don’t do everything by the book, but I am very selective and hope that he won’t be overly damaged when he’s older. :P
Seriously, how did we used to pick our games before the internet and spiffy little apps like this one? I remember relying on a couple of half decent gaming mags but still wasted a fair bit of money on games that turned out to be complete shit.
Looking forward to reading your feature on the kids/video games issue Jen – I’m a parent of a one year old so have no real experience on the matter yet, but I’m keen to learn! ;D