Letting Kids Play M for Mature Games.

[RamirezDoEverything]

I believe if the child has a definte understanding of the difference between fantasy and real life, then they'll be fine. I played gta at 13, I am fine.

*curses the invisible munchkins that keep eating my shoelaces*

 

[Pyotr Romanov]

I agree that it's terrible they let people who obviously don't know what the hell they're buying get that stuff for their children. Still, I don't think the games can hurt them that much, though this is coming from someone who played GTA at his 8th...

 

[mike1921]

5-10 you are NOT mature enough.

1.Why not?

2.You don't think a 10 year old can distinguish reality from fiction?

Excuse me for editing your quote but i must emphasise how those are two COMPLETELY different questions. I think most 10 year olds do have a good grasp of reality but it would be VERY RARE that a 10 year old is Mature enough to play most of these 18-rated games.

And I HOPE it stays that way.

As if it is accepted that for 18-rating (regardless of what it actually means) is treated by consumers as "yeah, little kids can play it" then that will lead to developers having to kowtow to to that situation. "Hey we could put in this cool feature... but it wouldn't be right for the kids"

I just want these damn kids and their age-appropriate content OUT AND AWAY from my mature games. Every time a little kids is caught playing GTA gives more fodder to the fascists censors like Jack Thompson who want to BAN all violent games. They use the logic that games ratings are not enough and the inflammatory position that children should NEVER be allowed to play these games.

Lesser evil: deprive the kids (rightfully) these mature games to save the mature games from the censors.

(PS: I don't ONLY play ultra violent mature games... but I do play enough, nice even mix of racing games, casual type, platformers, shooters and so on)

I don't think they are different questions. If a kid could distinguish from reality and fiction they would know that the game they are playing is built for their amusement, and that the real world is very different from GTA. If they realize that they're not going to go on a killing spree .


I don't like compromising with fascist nutjobs. I'd rather fight for my real position then settle on a lesser evil. I only compromise with reasonable positions.

Negelctful/apathetic parents who will pay for it later in life when there kid murders people.

"GAMES DONT MAEK U VIOLENT"

Think about it. If a little kid (6-9) plays GTA, that's what they grow up learning is ok. It's like if a kid is forced to be religious. Try getting them to convert later in life. it's what they learn and it's cemented in their brain.

If they don't understand that gta is fiction , maybe they will.

 

[Treblaine]

5-10 you are NOT mature enough.

1.Why not?

2.You don't think a 10 year old can distinguish reality from fiction?

Excuse me for editing your quote but i must emphasise how those are two COMPLETELY different questions. I think most 10 year olds do have a good grasp of reality but it would be VERY RARE that a 10 year old is Mature enough to play most of these 18-rated games.

And I HOPE it stays that way.

As if it is accepted that for 18-rating (regardless of what it actually means) is treated by consumers as "yeah, little kids can play it" then that will lead to developers having to kowtow to to that situation. "Hey we could put in this cool feature... but it wouldn't be right for the kids"

I just want these damn kids and their age-appropriate content OUT AND AWAY from my mature games. Every time a little kids is caught playing GTA gives more fodder to the fascists censors like Jack Thompson who want to BAN all violent games. They use the logic that games ratings are not enough and the inflammatory position that children should NEVER be allowed to play these games.

Lesser evil: deprive the kids (rightfully) these mature games to save the mature games from the censors.

(PS: I don't ONLY play ultra violent mature games... but I do play enough, nice even mix of racing games, casual type, platformers, shooters and so on)

I don't think they are different questions. If a kid could distinguish from reality and fiction they would know that the game they are playing is built for their amusement, and that the real world is very different from GTA. If they realize that they're not going to go on a killing spree .


I don't like compromising with fascist nutjobs. I'd rather fight for my real position then settle on a lesser evil. I only compromise with reasonable positions.

Unfortunately "The Masses" listen to the fascist nutjobs (that's why fascism ever exited, they can sell their bullshit to the general public) and in a democracy that means bans (especially in the UK with nothing so helpful as USA's Bill of Rights and US Supreme Court protecting freedom of speech in creative works).

OT: I think "distinction of fiction from reality" is not a discrete ability but continuous one. SO much of what we know about the world (as adults) we know from works of fiction which try to present things truthfully. The trick that most little children fail to grasp is distinguishing the truth from WITHIN the fiction.

I mean you can learn a lot about how physically cars work in a game like GTA 4 but NOTHING about appropriate road safety and laws.

GTA4's criminal mayhem is supposed to be a subversion of adult's norms of living out in the real world... not a child's introduction to A world.

 

[Nouw]

I play some M rated games (secretly) and I'm fine and quite bright actually.

Also, I'm dangerously close to the age you mentioned OP and I play violent games. Just not M rated ones for numerous reasons.

 

[Lem0nade Inlay]

I don't like the idea of letting little kids play games like GTA, either.
It isn't for them. You wouldn't sit your kid down and let him watch porn or a faces of death video, so why let them play GTA?

Well a game is quite clearly not the real world, while porn is. Cant really compare the two.

What if you showed them hentai?

 

[Nouw]

I don't like the idea of letting little kids play games like GTA, either.
It isn't for them. You wouldn't sit your kid down and let him watch porn or a faces of death video, so why let them play GTA?

Well a game is quite clearly not the real world, while porn is. Cant really compare the two.

What if you showed them hentai?

GTA is about the real world.

 

[Kelethor]

I believe that underage kids should be given the opportunity to play the game, so long as they understand that the game they are playing is a piece of fiction, and isn't real and should not be repeated in the real world, and only exists to entertain. (in the case of games like GTA IV, manhunt, Etc)

That being said, if any of those prepubescent fuck's picks up a mic and a copy of left four dead 2, I will sick the Micheal atkinson dogs on them.

 

[Chainsaws_of_War_2]

Only M-rated games I played was Halo and for a brief time Vice City, and I was scared out of my mind of having my mother catch me shooting police and doing hookers.

 

[OmegaXzors]

I don't know where people are pulling the whole "it's illegal to give kids M rated games" thing at, since it's not, but bad parenting is bad.

Video games are not alcohol or drugs. Not a single person is mature until they're about the age of thirty. People in their twenties like to pretend you're mature. The casual weekends getting drunk at your friend's place while sleeping with that person you met at the bar hardly constitutes for anything.

Kids should be censored from things but that whole "video games cause violence" escapade is no more than an excuse for neglectful parents. I believe children become vile based off the attention they got as a kid. When parents aren't watching their boy drown kittens in bags or burning dogs alive. These freaks come from shitty parents. They influence kids a lot more than any video game will and anyone with an open mind can see that.

So, TL;DR - parents shouldn't let their kids play these games at early ages but it's certainly not going to harm anything if they do. I really don't see a huge problem with this.

 

[johnman]

Played Orginal GTA when I was about 6 and GTA 3 when I was 9 or 10, and they dont seem to have had any adverse effect on me. (KILL ALL THE WHORES) In fact I was bought up on a staple of Duke Nukem, Quake and Half Life
*twitchs

 

[Jamieson 90]

I used to get this a few times when I worked at HMV. You would get a parent usually a mother walk up with a kid probably aged between 11-15.

Me: is the game for the kid.
Parent: Yes.
Me: do you know what its about and shows the 18/M certificate on the box.
Parent
Yes - ok carries out transaction.
No- informs and lets them decide.

I always think its funny how the kids look nervous as well, blatantly obvious they have not told their parents what the game is about lol, crafty little buggers.

On a pesonal level I don't mind as long as parents supervise their kids when playing online. I don't want to have to listen to your little brat screaming every curse word they have ever heard because they think it makes them look cool, thankfully I play on the PC and thats never happend.

 

[QuickDEMOL1SHER]

I think we need to stop protecting children and let Darwinism take over. We should give every kid lots of small and dangerous objects so only the smart ones will survive. Not only will it solve overpopulation, but will also create a much more perfect society.
/end Carlin sarcasm.

OT: Really don't know. Little kids obviously should not be exposed to horrible violence and tits, but what pisses ME off the most is sheltering kids from things unnecessarily.

 

[mike1921]

5-10 you are NOT mature enough.

1.Why not?

2.You don't think a 10 year old can distinguish reality from fiction?

Excuse me for editing your quote but i must emphasise how those are two COMPLETELY different questions. I think most 10 year olds do have a good grasp of reality but it would be VERY RARE that a 10 year old is Mature enough to play most of these 18-rated games.

And I HOPE it stays that way.

As if it is accepted that for 18-rating (regardless of what it actually means) is treated by consumers as "yeah, little kids can play it" then that will lead to developers having to kowtow to to that situation. "Hey we could put in this cool feature... but it wouldn't be right for the kids"

I just want these damn kids and their age-appropriate content OUT AND AWAY from my mature games. Every time a little kids is caught playing GTA gives more fodder to the fascists censors like Jack Thompson who want to BAN all violent games. They use the logic that games ratings are not enough and the inflammatory position that children should NEVER be allowed to play these games.

Lesser evil: deprive the kids (rightfully) these mature games to save the mature games from the censors.

(PS: I don't ONLY play ultra violent mature games... but I do play enough, nice even mix of racing games, casual type, platformers, shooters and so on)

I don't think they are different questions. If a kid could distinguish from reality and fiction they would know that the game they are playing is built for their amusement, and that the real world is very different from GTA. If they realize that they're not going to go on a killing spree .


I don't like compromising with fascist nutjobs. I'd rather fight for my real position then settle on a lesser evil. I only compromise with reasonable positions.

I mean you can learn a lot about how physically cars work in a game like GTA 4

And this is why I hate GTA4

 

[StONEdeF]

I really hate it if they afterwards complain that the game has elements that the parents don't like their young kids playing. I'll take Mass Effect as an example. It was even being talked about on TV concerning the sex scene that it shouldn't have been in the game. That it isn't suitable to show young kids. The game is 18+ for a reason.

I find it Ironic that you support it's Adult rating beacuse of the sex scene, and not the violence.

Why are people so damn afraid of sex? At least the scene is semi-romantic in Mass Effect, unlike the unpersonal and miss-informing pornography most teenagers watch. It's not even very graphic. If a movie had a sex-scene like that it might as well have an E (everyone) rating.

Sex and love are by the way more natural things than murder, if you think about it. Yes, I blame the motherfucking Bible for the commonly accepted (american) view that sex is evul, sue me. Make love, not war.

I was just using it as an example because it was discussed about on tv.

 

[putowtin]

I worked at EB (back when it was EB and not Game!) about the time the second playstation was coming out. If kids came in with their mum or dad, and started picking up GTA or any mature rated game we were told not to sell it.

Let kids be kids, let them run around after eating to much sugar, and play kids games. The problem is we make kids grow up too quickly, and that's why little Timmy wants to play GTA, he wants to be his 17 year old brother, instead of the 7 year old he is. Because we're pressurizing him to choose what he wants to be when he grows up, instead of letting him be what he is, 7!

 

[kurupt87]

Depends on the kid. I consider myself more moral than most people I meet and have played violent games since early teens, also having watched violent films for an even longer period of time. I have also never killed anyone, thought I'd throw that in, seemed relevant.

Edit:

Negelctful/apathetic parents who will pay for it later in life when there kid murders people.

"GAMES DONT MAEK U VIOLENT"

Think about it. If a little kid (6-9) plays GTA, that's what they grow up learning is ok. It's like if a kid is forced to be religious. Try getting them to convert later in life. it's what they learn and it's cemented in their brain.

Yeah that's a good point. Oh wait, no it isn't.

People fit their religion to themselves, they don't fit themselves to their religion (fundamentalists aside). The Bible says stoning is cool, marrying your rapist is the correct choice and genocide is fine. I'd suggest that most Christians probably don't believe these things. It's one of the reasons why, as an atheist, I find organised religion rather far fetched.

Even as a child you know what is right and what is wrong.