An 8-year old wants Gears of War 2

[Revolutionary]

It's little brats like that, which caused Michael Atkinson to turn into such a twat.

 

[Cralkk]

I wouldn't call him a brat, at ages like that, you got no idea whats going on. And just a wild guess here, i doubt his mums the strict kind and he's probably never had here say no to getting a video game.

My opinion hold wait till they're 12/13 before you start giving them the MA 15+ games.

 

[RicoADF]

You know what solves pester power? Hit to the head. I was spanked as a child. Not very often- if you do it properly (as a last resort) you don't need to do it more then once or twice. Now i'm not saying necessarily "violence is the solution", but it seems to me parents aren't the masters of their households anymore. I'm 21, and this is my FATHER'S house. I'm not 'renting', i'm 'being allowed to live here with a fee'.

Same here, as a kid I was smacked with a plastic stick (was just a light smack to give a sting and put me in line). I played GTA 1 & 2, Abe's Odysee and other violent games of the time and I'm probably the least violent person you can find. Because I was taught at a young age that theres a punishment for misbehaving (having said that I would defend myself or others, I'm not a pacifist)

Kids don't respect their parents anymore, because parents don't seem to make their kids respect them. This (and lack of being informed) is the fundamental root of the problem.

Amen to that, kids rule the house nowadays and the parents are the slave, society is destroying itself very efficiently I must say.

As for informing parents, I remember when theaters had posters with the ratings and their explainations up. Put up colorful posters with each of the ESRB rating and their explainations and contents, make anyone who vends videogames have this poster up. This covers the venders ass, and the states ass, and the videogame companies ass. When it's right in your face, no one can be blamed but you.

In Australia our rating system is colour coded and its the same as the movies so people can tell its the same thing, only issue is we don't have an R rating, which is silly but I can understand considering the above issues.

PS: I played GTA2 when I was younger, I shot a cop, I said "Woo! I shot a pig!" and my father, who overheard me, said "Hey, I don't want you talking like that." I responded with a sullen 'okay' and i've yet to go on a cop killing spree. Parenting. So subtle, so effective.

I'd hate to guess how many massacres I've done in GTA 1-4, yet not a single fight with someone in the real world. Their 2 different things

 

[reg42]

Who's the wise guy who necro'd a thread from 2008? C'mon guys, it's common sense.

 

[StarofAzura]

Oh, poor kid. Looks like he MIGHT have idiots for parents.

Least it's not our fault if it warps his childhood.

 

[SomethingUnrelated]

My parents understand the age rating system, and hold true to it. Sure, I get the occasional 18 game from them now [I'm 15], but they won't buy me a library of them.

That's my own job...

 

[TheEarlOfGrey]

I remember back in November a 9 -10 year old talking to a salesman about pre-ordering Modern Warfare 2. His mum was stood behind him and smiling away whilst you could tell the salesmen was feeling a little bad she wasn't doing anything.

 

[keybird]

now while I didn't but it, I played had one hell of a time playing GTA3 when i was little

 

[Cheesebob]

Game stores should do what Newsagents do with magazines:

The worse they are, the higher they go in the shelf, with stuff like Barbie Goes Horseriding at the bottom and God of War at the top

 

[omega 616]

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The funny thing is your both actually starting to sound like Jack Thompson and Michael Atkinson. Just 'cos kids are playing these games doesn't automatically make them aggressive social deviants, who do badly in school and are rude foul mouthed and ignorant.

My brother completed the first few resident evil games before he was 10, I have played 18 games before I was 10 aswell, neither of us begged and pestered for the games, we asked once and got them.

My brother has just started an ICT foundation degree and I am looking for a job in mechanics after doing 3 years in college, were both polite and punctual, neither of us have been in trouble with the law and were both smart in different ways.

When we were kids we actually fought less then most kids do today, I have never been in a fight and my brother has been in one due to a misunderstanding.

So before you tar every parent with the some brush give a little thought to your own situation, I assume you play 18+ video games and I assume your not violent.

Yes, some kids may become more aggressive but not all of them will.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

really its all just stupid guidelines...in ultimatum its up to the parent to decide if the child is mature enough or not and if the child proves worthy then sure, let them play and make sure they know the difference as to why its wrong and she be just a game

i played mortal kombat, Resident evil 1, and conkers bad fur day when i was about 4 years old, im pretty sure im one of the nicest people around in my area and turned out okay, so saying violent games will make violent children or w/e is a crock of shit

 

[Sarah Kerrigan]

Ok. I'm 14 and I own gears of war 1 and 2, only because my mu mgot it for me because she knew I wouldn't go crazy and kill people.

But a 8 year old!? No.

 

[Wil213]

Games have ratings for a reason. An 8 year old should not be playing 18's.

 

[I Resurection I]

Well for me the games may have an 18 rating but if it doesn't contain any sex than my parents don't care. Well where i live there isn't really any 18 ratings it's mostly 17 is the highest, and in July I will be able to buy rated M game without parental consent.

 

[Bob_F_It]

Who's the wise guy who necro'd a thread from 2008? C'mon guys, it's common sense.

This is the second time it's been defibbed: [a href:"http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.76413-An-8-year-old-wants-Gears-of-War-2?page=6#1119106"]1[/a] [a href="http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.76413-An-8-year-old-wants-Gears-of-War-2?page=9#5562069"]2[/a]
While it's nice to be one third of the way to a nice badge, I concur with you that parents aren't such idiots these days, or maybe they're locked into the casuality of Nintendo's systems. I think the CoD:MW2 drama has likely had it's hand in it too, bringing the level of possible violence into the mainstream's awareness.

 

[Hellion25]

Yeah my half brother's mom is a complete fucking idiot for this kind of thing. He's 9 and she buys him games like GTA, Assassin's Creed 2, Modern Warfare 2 and Heavy Rain. What the hell my brother is ever going to get from Heavy Rain I don't know, he's nowhere near enough to understand the narrative. As for the other's, its just wrong. Apparently his mom excuses herself by saying she makes him turn the sound down on the games...

Problem being he doesn't live with me so she's in control of his gaming and the like. Its idiotic. I'm not a censorship guy or anything, but I sure as hell wasn't playing games like that at his age. I don't necessarily feel he has to wait until he's 18 to play them, but at least let him get to his teens first when he will hopefully be mature enough to understand this stuff a little better. His reason for enjoying Heavy Rain was that he got to hit someone with a baseball bat. Its just wrong on so many levels.

 

[Lepre-Khan]

I was taking a look through Gamestation today and yes, and 8-year old kid is telling his mum to buy Gears of War 2 for him. It's got a fricking 18 rating on it! I didn't hang about for the conclusion of whether the mother would give a yes or no (there certainly wasn't an immediate no), but given the influence of pester power there must exist a fair number of parents who would buy it for their children.
What came to my mind is just how does that kid know he wants that game? It's not exactly pretty box art for someone that young, so I'm guessing he probably played the first one. Wait, what?

Perhaps I'm assuming too much at this point, but considering how much the press bitches about this, they might have a bit of weight behind them here.
No, games do not need toning down. What needs to happen is that the parents have to be told what potential content there is within games, and what the ratings mean. I've heard some parents actually believe that the numbers refer to the difficulty of the games. Someone smack some sense into them!

Hey, if a parent wants to purchase a mature rated game for their children (and especially if they know what's in it), I say let them. Theres no law stating that a child can't play a mature rated game or watch a mature rated film if their parents give consent (even if it's a rather uninformed consent).