Letting Kids Play M for Mature Games.

[Penguinness]

Manhunt? seriously?

For those of you who is saying Manhunt is totally cool and fine for a five year, let's try this with another example. Would think it's okay for a five year old to watch Silence of the Lambs? What about Saving Private Ryan? What about Saw?

Yeah yeah, can they distinguish between fantasy and realism and all that. Whatever.

What about just the fact the material is highly unsettling even for an adult at times? (That is, a pre-internet /b/ tainted adult)

Find the quote about someone saying Manhunt is perfectly fine for a five year old.

And what's your point? Things like SAW and /b/ exist so therefore age ratings should be followed religiously? There's a vast difference between different things that are 15s and vast differences between things that are 18s.

 

[VanityGirl]

I remember first watching someone play GTA 3 back when I was eight or nine, at an AFTER SCHOOL CARE program. They had a PS2 all hooked up and this kid had brought it round to play.

Mind you, at the time I thought Ratchet and Clank was heaps cooler.

Ratchet and Clank is still heaps cooler!

 

[gamer_parent]

Manhunt? seriously?

For those of you who is saying Manhunt is totally cool and fine for a five year, let's try this with another example. Would think it's okay for a five year old to watch Silence of the Lambs? What about Saving Private Ryan? What about Saw?

Yeah yeah, can they distinguish between fantasy and realism and all that. Whatever.

What about just the fact the material is highly unsettling even for an adult at times? (That is, a pre-internet /b/ tainted adult)

Find the quote about someone saying Manhunt is perfectly fine for a five year old.

And what's your point? Things like SAW and /b/ exist so therefore age ratings should be followed religiously? There's a vast difference between different things that are 15s and vast differences between things that are 18s.

not directing it at anyone, just can't believe people would think saw is okay for kids.

And the point I'm making is, what if the violence might just be unsettling for the kid? The rest of that is just me throwing hyperbolics around.

 

[Jake the Snake]

I find it extremely wrong. I had good parents, every time I asked for a rated M game as a kid, they just gave me a look that said "No way in hell". I can't imagine letting a kid playing GTA. They don't need it. I played Pokemon and Jak and Daxter as a kid, kept me entertained for embarrassingly large amounts of time. I think I played my first M game when I was...12 or 13? But it was Oblivion, which was supposed to be rated T so I guess that barely counts.

 

[Freeall]

Ya know the funniest thing about that situation is that this parent obviously dosen't care about ratings; and it makes me wonder how many other parents ACTUALLY dont care about ratings, which makes me wonder why, if no-one other than politicians care about ratings why do they even exist? I mean damn, we (as a society) must be so ignorant if we are buying our children games like this it just defeats the ratings system so why not either do away with it or actually punish people for breaking the law? Now don't get me wrong I don't give a damn if young kids play M rated games or not I believe that decision should be made by their parents however it seems that parents that buy games for their kids don't give a damn about the ratings system so why not just get rid of it because it already forces dev's to fit within the guidelines of the ESRB which causes them to cut their game (their vision) which should never be taken from the artist, or the actual gamers like us. Imagine with me for a moment my fellow Escapists your favorite videogame pushed to the absolute limit in terms of content (blood,sex,violence) not just for the shock value but also for this little thing called the STORY, that would change the face of gaming as we know it, no longer would dev's be punished for creating a sweet game and no longer would us as gamers not be allowed to purchase the games we want not just the games with whats left, it's like a regular edition of a movie vs the "unrated" one. Sure the "unrated" one may only have one extra scene or two but it usually costs the same (and it may make even more sense or just be all around better) and more often than not a consumer is gunna try to get their money's worth and the most enjoyment out of the "unrated" one.

 

[Penguinness]

I find it extremely wrong. I had good parents, every time I asked for a rated M game as a kid, they just gave me a look that said "No way in hell". I can't imagine letting a kid playing GTA. They don't need it. I played Pokemon and Jak and Daxter as a kid, kept me entertained for embarrassingly large amounts of time. I think I played my first M game when I was...12 or 13? But it was Oblivion, which was supposed to be rated T so I guess that barely counts.

How do you find it extremely wrong if you don't know?

 

[Phlakes]

In my opinion, if the bratty little shit wants to play the game for the mature content, then asolutely not. But if they want it for the gameplay/story (if they can even understand it), and if they're mature enough not to try that last kill he made in Manhunt on daddy, then maybe it's okay.

 

[Talvrae]

Considering i grow up watching movies like Total Recall, Patton and Predator... And that i have absolutelly no violence issue... It depends from the kids... Some are like sponge, other are not... You need to know your children and take the decision appropritalle.. then again buying such a game to a 7 or 9 years old is a bit puzzling.. what does they will understand of the game...
It would bother much less if they where at least teenegers

 

[vivalahelvig]

as long as they dont get to play multiplayer with a fucking mic and think everyone will fucking like them, im ok with them having those games.

 

[The_ModeRazor]

Man, I used to play GTA (the first) with my dad when I was around 8 years old. And Tomb Raider. And fighting games. He was always cool about it.
Although that might have to do with the fact that he himself was a gamer.

 

[Rayansaki]

I had access to pretty much any game after the age of 12 without supervision, and I don't think it affected me at all.

And really, 5 year old's is a massive exaggeration. I tried playing little big planet with my 6yo cousin and he had trouble holding the controller, let alone do anything that involves pressing more than one button at a time.

 

[Paradoxical]

I bought myself an M rated game at 13, M is just like PG - a recommendation (Parental Guidance is recommended, Recommended for Mature audiences) and my parents didn't mind, although they have bought me games like Crysis, CoD6, Prototype, Assassin's Creed 1(rated R13 for some strange reason...) and 2 and Saints Row 2 I asked for them, and they do watch me play and seem fine with it, my Dad even tries to give me tips on how to play CoD6 and has attempted the campaign several times.

People younger than age 10-11 shouldn't have access to games rated above M in my honest opinion, however games that are quite obviously fantasy and have next to no resemblance to the real world (take Ratchet and Clank for example (<3) how the heck could you confuse that with reality) should be rated lower than other games like the Call of Duty series. I find it funny that at age 14 I swear less (people on MW2 generally use the word 'fuck' instead of a comma) and am generally more mature than almost everyone else, people go off swearing and complaining about every little thing then ragequit and I just keep playing because I'm enjoying it even through all of those little niusances (although I can't stand certain gametypes and normally stop playing after an hour at maximum).

New Zealand's ratings are somewhat harsher than other countries apparently, AC2 is rated R16 when the pre-order boxes clearly stated M (and it says M under the R16 sticker) same with CoD6, the cardboard box says M whereas the case says otherwise.

Off-Topic: like your avatar Razor, Left4Speed2 was awesome.

 

[Mr.PlanetEater]

I don't see problem with it being for anyone over the age of 12, because as stated before. By that time most normal people have a mind that can differentiate fiction from reality, as well as having the common sense not to reenact the stuff they see. But for under 12 it's a no go, as even the most mature 9 year old is still likely to reenact the stuff they see on the game. Or think it's real, and try it themselves. Its M for a reason you nit wit parents.

Also yes, it's sort of ironic to hear this comming from me considering I watched silence of the lambs when I was 10. ._.

 

[kiwi_poo]

my opinion is that if your 12+ you should be able to play 18+ games. of course this brought along the xbox live community, so it has two sides to it. games that are absolutely outrageous like manhunt and arguably gta should be 18+ though. the brains of those that are underage aren't that fragile, you know.

 

[wolf thing]

yeh i agree. but but i think if there about 13 14 its ok to let them play slitly more muture game. my parents alowed me to play more violent games because they felt i would be able to handl it.

 

[Tekkawarrior]

Ya know the funniest thing about that situation is that this parent obviously dosen't care about ratings; and it makes me wonder how many other parents ACTUALLY dont care about ratings, which makes me wonder why, if no-one other than politicians care about ratings why do they even exist? I mean damn, we (as a society) must be so ignorant if we are buying our children games like this it just defeats the ratings system so why not either do away with it or actually punish people for breaking the law? Now don't get me wrong I don't give a damn if young kids play M rated games or not I believe that decision should be made by their parents however it seems that parents that buy games for their kids don't give a damn about the ratings system so why not just get rid of it because it already forces dev's to fit within the guidelines of the ESRB which causes them to cut their game (their vision) which should never be taken from the artist, or the actual gamers like us. Imagine with me for a moment my fellow Escapists your favorite videogame pushed to the absolute limit in terms of content (blood,sex,violence) not just for the shock value but also for this little thing called the STORY, that would change the face of gaming as we know it, no longer would dev's be punished for creating a sweet game and no longer would us as gamers not be allowed to purchase the games we want not just the games with whats left, it's like a regular edition of a movie vs the "unrated" one. Sure the "unrated" one may only have one extra scene or two but it usually costs the same (and it may make even more sense or just be all around better) and more often than not a consumer is gunna try to get their money's worth and the most enjoyment out of the "unrated" one.

Consider paragraphs please, the only reason I'm not reading that is because it hurts my eyes seeing all this text in one block.

OT: I don't mind whatever the age, It raises awareness, and clearly teaches them that it's wrong (since you get chased by the police and what not).
as for movie theaters, they should definitely stay the hell out, they are annoying and take all the good seats.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

My opinion is, I'm not fucked up.

Can't be too bad.

Same here. I played my first M-Rated game before I was ten. I'm fine, nothing wrong with playing them, it actually got me into gaming.

I could care less if some parent hands their kid GTA 4. Everyone I've met whose played an M-Rated game at that age is fine.

 

[Cid Silverwing]

Games have age ratings for a reason. And it wouldn't be practical to test the kids for maturity (seeing as you're not going to find an acceptable percentage of them to not be impressionable), therefore irresponsible parents like OP just mentioned shouldn't be allowed to buy games for their kids.