Common Sense Media is the way to go; they review all the games and give a detailed response as to what the game contains. The co-founder of Common Sense is interviewed here and explains how their rating system works. :-)

My son is 11, almost 12. He doesn't often like games I find for him anymore. His favorite is Minecraft in the creative mode. I do allow him to play this one and I try to get him to play educational games but usually he prefers those only during school time.

Luckily my 15 year old son only plays MLB The Show which is a baseball game where he creates teams and players. I wouldn't allow Grand Theft Auto in my house ever. I think at his friend's house he has seen or played the Call of Duty war games but it doesn't seem to interest him too much! My daughter doesn't care for games at all!

As far as actual video games, my son plays Madden and Skylanders.  All of the kids play Just Dance which is my favorite — it gets them active and is fun to watch!They play way too many games on the Kindle and iPad — once school starts we will definitely be cutting back!

My 17 year old loves the sports games.  He has tried some of the war games, but I end up taking them away because they get him too violent.  My younger kids love Minecraft.  While I don't get the whole jest of it, I love that they can use their imagination to build things.

We don't screen video games. The gaming system is in the living room, where we all gather. We play along with them or just watch them. We have mortal combat game challenges, they love mine craft, and my husband and son play Assasins Creed together. We talk about games vs reality and I feel my children are doing well in school and the real world.

My nearly 6 year old hasn't played a video game yet, I'm trying to keep it that way as long as I can.  I know it won't be long...