There is no shortage of Massively Multiplayer Online games for adults, with titles like Age of Conan, World of Warcraft, Star Trek Online, and City of Heroes. While its great that adults have a nice selection of options for their gaming dollar, what about children? Most adults would rather not have their kids playing Age of Conan, which depicts half-naked women and copious amounts of beheadings and severed limbs.

Graphic depictions of violence are only one aspect of MMOs that may concern parents, while others may be far more worried about language and predatory adults with too much time on their hands. What you will find below is a list of current MMOs that are kid-friendly. In all cases, these games were built for kids and will offer as safe a gaming environment as you can hope to have on the Internet. Nothing is perfect and no system is fool-proof, so active parental monitoring is always a good thing. Games appear in order of popularity.

Poptropica

The most popular MMO with kids is Poptropica. Best of all, its free, though you can buy your child credits for the purchasing of special items. Kids can create their own character, known as a Poptropican, and travel across islands. Players will use problem-solving skills as they uncover various mysteries, explore new areas, acquire digital comic books, watch movies and even compete in head-to-head competitions with other kids.

Visit Poptropica Website

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If you’re a hardcore PC gamer then you are used to hearing excuses as to why certain games only appear on consoles. Usually, these reasons take the form of “limited funding”, “not enough time”, or the ever-popular “PC games don’t sell like the console counterparts.” All valid excuses. So when Remedy, the creators behind the flashlight simulator Alan Wake, made it clear their game wouldn’t be coming to PC rigs, their excuse struck me as downright bizarre:

“Some games are more suited for the intimacy of the PC, and others are best played from the couch in front of a larger TV screen,” states Microsoft. “We ultimately realised that the most compelling way to experience Alan Wake was on the Xbox 360 platform, so we focused on making it an Xbox 360 exclusive. Both Microsoft and Remedy have long histories in PC game development. This decision was about matching this specific game to the right platform.”

Errr, what? All this time, I’ve been playing my Xbox 360 wrong. I have it hooked up to HDMI inputs on my widescreen PC monitor, flipping back and forth as the need arises. I had no idea I was draining the “intimacy” out of games by not playing in my living room.

Remedy’s reasoning lacks any semblance of logic. It just comes across as an utterly strange thing to say. Honesty would have worked just fine here, something like “Piracy is an issue on the PC.”

Probably doesn’t matter anyway. My gut instinct tells me Alan Wake will debut to a chorus of yawns. Has that certain stink that precedes a lackluster debut.

With an average score of 96 on Metacritic, one would be justified in believing Mass Effect 2 has little room for improvement. An overwhelming majority of so-called game critics have weighed-in, predictably showering Bioware’s latest RPG with roses and garlands.

Bioware is one of a select number of game companies that receives a +3 modifier in review scores. So take an average game that would normally receive a 7, add Bioware’s name to the box, and oila! Instant 10. While this may be great for Bioware’s bottom-line, it’s actually a grave disservice to the company and gamers, not to mention a glowing example of everything that is wrong in game journalism; criticism specifically.

Having played and finished Mass Effect 2, I can safely say, without reservation or hesitation, that Bioware’s latest RPG is a complete mess, from top-to-bottom and not a product worthy of Bioware’s heritage.

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If Borderlands is your thing then you’ll be pleased to know that new DLC is on the way, bigger and better than the previous two installments. Gearbox is promising the level cap will rise but have yet to indicate how high. Titled The Secret Armory of General Knox, Gearbox explains “brutal, never-before-seen enemies in a huge new environment complete with tons of brand new missions, entirely new weapons and items.”

Yum.

No price, no date, no more details…except for two exclusive pics!