This really was more than they had to do. Pretty good of them though and not just a token gesture, this will actually make a difference without damaging the story.

wow is this news worthy ? age rating does this job doesnt it, this doesnt mean you can sell it to younger customers, waste of time

Looks like there is a lack of gaming news this week if we are talking about parental controls.. However, if you look at the demo of people playing games these days, more and more of them are fathers of children. That being said, it might be easier getting the wife off your back if you tell her that this shooter can be "Disney'd" for the kids..

I think it is good, showing that developers are willing to help parents control the game violence levels for their kids.

This can mean that a father could play this game with his 15 year old kids without the newspapers screaming "parent subject children to gory game" all the time.

Maybe #2 & #3 would like to explain why this isn't news worthy... if they've not gone back to IGN or Gamespot that is.

Personally, any developer that takes an active step to do what the incompetent parents of this world should be doing instead, is making news worth reading. I just hope they tie this in with the user accounts so it can determine the setting off that. It should be able to detect an age restricted account and turn this setting on automatically.

As #4 illustrated, just because the kids aren't playing it, doesn't mean they aren't watching or listening to it. Not everyone wants a game blasting f*** this, motherf****r that all through the house for everyone to hear.

Some devs go over the top with the language because they think it's "cool and just like real life"... cliche'd more like.

Kudos to them for making the effort.

Brilliant idea. This could possibly turn the whole rampant newspaper BS on its head for the simply reason that they can't complain about the game anymore.

It puts the ball in the parents court so that if the kid is playing Gears the parent can't complain there is too much blood as if they do a torrent of ppl can now say "well, why didn't you just switch it off like a responsible parent should?"

And parents who say their kids will find a way to get hold of the game regardless of laws now have another option, a sort of middle ground. I want a newspaper headline saying "EPICs doing their bit ... are YOU!!!"

ok its a nice touch, but it doesnt alter the age rating, parents buy 18s for 10year olds in our shop, and just say its no worse than tv,films or what they hear on the playground, which i find odd, but in all honesty 60% parents dont care,just want kids to be quiet and sick of being pestered by kids for a certain game,

we abid by the law and ask for id,its down to parents and from my experience alot dont care, it wont increase epics sales, and i think it seems point less, also i hate IGN and gamespot, very bias sites, they must be owned by microsoft.

what is the point it still will have to be a bbfc 18 so still cant sell it to 4 yr olds so y bother :S

What aload of crap, you cant sell it to young kids so why put a "family filter|" on it!?

And if you dont liek the blood and gore and violence then dont play a game like GOW!!!!
what is the world coming to!

It's exceptional for parents who want to play these games without having to have their kids out of the room for the violence or out of the house for the cussing.

quote from "Ryan":
"what is the world coming to!"

it's senses.

You don't have to love profanity to enjoy a game like GOW. I've been playing shooters since Wolfenstein 3D back when you had to get it from a BBS or on some floppy disks. Fact is FPS gamers are getting older and having kids and I want to be able to play the game whenever I feel like it bt its hard to do that when my 11 year old son is in the house. As a responsible parent how can i have someone screaming F**K!!! all over my surround sound system when I have a kid in the house? and no i'm not about to get some headphones, it's a 62" TV and i'd need a 25 foot long extension cable.

Truth be told, having an option to tone it down is a good thing, it's not like people that don't want it will be affected so the real question is: why are people complaining about it when they aren't going to use it and it's not going to affect them? I hope future games follow suit, its a real pain in the ass to try playing and then you hear a whole string of explatives you weren't expecting and you kid gets an earful, then the wife gives you that look, ohhhh ya, that look.....

speaking as a 19 year old who has younger siblings, I can appreciate having this feature maybe a little more than some. there are so many times while playing the first Gears, as well as other games like it, where I've had to stop because my 10 year old sister got home. It's frustrating and it gets old, so having the ability to tone it down for when my sisters are home is very, very appealing to me.

Anyone thats whining about this online is probity one of the 12 year olds whose mom is gonna turn the filter on.
But ya good on Epic for doing there part

Anyone thats whining about this online is probity one of the 12 year olds whose mom is gonna turn the filter on.

But ya good on Epic for doing there part

most parents who would even think of using the safety mode would just look at the title and say "no" or just watch some one get chainsawed in half (regardless of blood 'n guts) and go "dear god, what have i bought".
in regards to game play, how will this effect online mode? separate servers? i would imagine that youngsters would hear plenty of swearing in mikes, regardless of server.

Hay kids, remember: Violence doesn't have consequences! Take this gun and show the neat sparks to your friends!

its useful for when someone walks in on you playing and they wish to stay. in gears one i chainsawed player 2 just as a family member walked in.
they were not amused.

"Take this gun and show the neat sparks to your friends!"

Really? So they haven't learned from any of the other FPS games that shooting guns at people leads to death?

This is great news for all of the reasons posted above. But I think people are forgetting something. YOU CAN TURN THE FILTER OFF. You want to see blood and hear the guys swear, as I will when I'm not playing in front of the kids? Change an option. Not all of us will be playing in the dorm or cloistered in our room.

I can't thank Epic enough for this.

I think this is a great feature. I'm not going to say parents won't go out and buy this for their kids regardless, because some just don't care, but at least it's now completely on the parents instead of the game designers. There are multiple reasons I can see why this was added:

1. Parents who are of the original gamer generation. Some of them are having kids by now. Some of them need to have their games cencored a little to enjoy the rip-roaring action of something like GoW when their children are roaming around. I'm quite sure some kids would want to spend some quality time with their parents by hanging around while they play video games, which can become a little troublesome if the F bomb and gore are everywhere.

2. Lots of older gamers have younger siblings. Yes, sometimes your litter brother or sister just comes in when you're chainsawwing some grub in two. Yes, it can be annoying, so if there's a filter now you can chainsaw in peace.

3. Children that aren't quite 17 yet. There are a select few that are mature enough at around 15 or 16 years-old to handle the more mature themes of a game like GoW but parents are apprehensive about purchasing these games because of the bad reputation some parents give a game because of its ESRB rating. Now with this filter, kids have a middle ground to try and play a great shooter while appeasing their parents. If you really like the game for the acctual game aspect, and not the fact it has a thousand swears and more gore than the human body should host, you should have no problem having the filter on while you play.

The arguments for why this is bad are pretty moot as well. Swearing online isn't on all the servers. The family server bans all people who use profanity and the recreational server isn't that bad as well. For people who want the more mature experience the entire option is just that, an option. You can turn it on and off as you please. Lastly, if you NEED the blood, guts and swearing for this to be a great game, you've got more problems than the inability to get your hands on an M rated game!

Here's the deal....all you idiots posting about how this feature is useless...KEEP THE FILTER OFF AND SHUT UP ABOUT IT. Seriously, It's not even worth my time to read your useless comments when it's obvious that you can't get your tiny brains around why this feature was put in in the first place. I know that my little brother loves GOW...we still play online, and it's a great way to keep in touch now that I've moved across the US. He plays with headphones on all the time becuase my mom hates the language in the game and doesn't want to hear it in the house. He's already said that it will be nice to turn the language off so he can play it without my mom complaining.

And what about the parents who want to play this game with their kids? If I had a younger teenage son (or daughter), I wouldn't want them to play GOW2 with all the language on. I'd love to be able to turn it off at will.

As for the comment, "Take this gun and show the neat sparks to your friends!" Well, I'm sure that they'll still get the point when the enemy DIES. Seriously, just because you're an immature 14 year old who thinks it's cool to have blood flying everywhere doesn't mean everyone is that much of a loser.

Comon, people. Its an OPTION. You don't ever have to use it. But berating a company for actually taking the time to make a game playable for a younger audience shows a lack of understanding of the world and a lack of intelligence in general.

I fear for you.

If the Gears team treats the swear filter like USA network does, (poorly dubbed over the real soundtrack) this could be truly awesome, and I hope they go that way.
Otherwise, meh.

Looks like the nanny state is at it again. Don't get me wrong, I know this is optional, and I have no problem with it whatsoever. It just brings up the fact that many parents out there are morons who never teach their kids the basics (ie. Play nice with others) and just blame things like videogames and TV when their kids **** up and kill someone.

I dont think heavily censoring a game is the answer. In my country, kids stab their classmates in the head with scissors and, considering how poor they are, I doubt they've ever seen a violent video game. I'm busy playing gears of war and the one thing that irritates the living daylights out of me is the blood. It looks so fake it's not even funny! Just imagine how much worse it would look with sparks! Why dont they just replace all the big, scary locust with teddy bears and instead of shooting them, the players must love them into submission.

Oh and "Matt Anderson", there is NO way to make the blood in gears of war look better short of remaking it. The main point is that parents should sit down with their children and xplain things properly. How video games are just that. Games. Not real. And what would happen if they were stupid enough to go and try it out with their friends. It's high time people realize that we are not living in the 50's anymore. Or they could NOT BUY IT IN ThE FIRST PLACE! Now go hug your boyfriend, Matt. I'm sure he misses you.

The few valid points you may have made were overshadowed by calling Matt *** for having an opinion different than yours. Also, your point that parents should openly discuss video games with their kids (which I agree with) is irrelevant considering that the main reason people would use this feature would not be to prevent their kids from becoming deranged, psychopaths, but simply to prevent them from being exposed to ridiculous amounts of cursing and violence at their age.
I have to admit, I've never chainsawed a person in half, so I'm really not sure how "realistic" the blood looks in GoW. I'll have to take your word for it. In any case, as I'm sure you won't be using the edited version, I can't imagine why you would care about the sparks option. Some people will complain about anything I guess...

I'm glad to see this, one of my co-workers at work used to let his kids watch him play gears of war (adults playing.. kids watching... ), but he had to stop because of all the foul language...

Now he'll be able to turn on the language filter when he has the kids watching.

Its definitley a nice little option to have, i cant understand why people are complaining about it. And as for the hilarious comment, "take this gun and show your friends sparks" Thats just brilliant, truly you must certainly be a mature adult who is legaly able to purchase this game given your reason concerning the world. You have no say in this topic if you are unaffected by it, that is unless your parents are turning off the filter as they should.

Considering the amount of violence that is going on especially within America's youth of today, this little option that epic have so considerately given us is most certainly a shining example that its the little things that count.

Maybe this filter will help reduce even one aggravated assault or cruel insulting within youths and if it does, then doesnt that make it all worth it?

I think it is a great proposal. This will help to expand the audience. Besides, players who like the gore are not losing anything. This is only adding to the game, not hurting it at all. Good choice EPIC. I liked Gears of War one, hope number two satisfies.