Poll: Berating Parents

[tiredinnuendo]

I would say this falls into the category of "not your problem". It's one thing for the salesman to point out, "By the way, this game/movie/book/etc might not be appropriate for your child," but as some random passerby in the mall, that's not your place.

Well intentioned idiots trying to be the unwanted babysitter is never a good thing. See: Vietnam or Iraq.

- J

 

[Valiance]

It depends on how ignorant they look about it. If it's a "alright you worthless hellspawn, I'll buy you this so you stop bitching at me." I might try to inform them of the rating.

If it's a "Oh, man, I played something like this 5 years ago, it's AWESOME, you get to blow off their heads!" - I LUV BRAKKIN HADS DADY" I'd just leave that there.

Like, my parents knew what I was playing when I was young, and my dad at least understood and appreciated them with me to a point.

 

[Nivag the Owl]

Ratings can be totally unfair nowadays but they're still there for a good reason. I mean if I had kids I'd probably be happy to get them things a rating higher than they are. E.g. at 12 = they'd be allowed 15s, at 15 = they'd allowed 18s.

 

[Legion]

How about to make the poll fair adding an option "It's none of my business", very different from the only 'no' answer you have up.

As far as I am concerned it's not anybodies business, if it were something like alcohol or cigarettes then fine because those things can literally kill you. whether someone is mentally mature enough to handle a violent game is only loosely age related.

 

[SLy AsymMetrY]

Alot of Parents seem to be 'aware' that videogames turn chidren into mindless zombie killers, yet aren't aware that games are age-rated. Then they go and buy their adorable little cherubs GTA or Condemned. Wheres the logic? I rarely go into game shops nowadays as the things I see parents buying make my brain leak out of my ears. Tried to help some of the lost souls but they won't listen because I don't work there. And then the staff give me funny looks.

 

[JohnSmith]

How about to make the poll fair adding an option "It's none of my business", very different from the only 'no' answer you have up.

As far as I am concerned it's not anybodies business, if it were something like alcohol or cigarettes then fine because those things can literally kill you. whether someone is mentally mature enough to handle a violent game is only loosely age related.

Without getting into the rather spacious debate about the fairly chronic level of psychological harm that some pundits would have you believe games cause, I would just like to remind you that this is very much the business of gamers. Smokers aren't going to wake up and find that the government has changed restrictions on tobacco because a kid smoked it, same goes for alcohol, pornography. In Australia however we are still struggling to get an R+18 rating and recognition of games as a serious medium, not only is the parent potentially harming their but also the industry, and the gaming community....

Also I am really sick of finding 12 year olds in online matches of games they are nowhere near old enough to play, particularly the incompetent ones, if only because the lack the language skills to communicate effectively. I one heard a kid of 7-8 say the following "mommy tell them to stop killing me", he was playing COD4.

 

[Legion]

Without getting into the rather spacious debate about the fairly chronic level of psychological harm that some pundits would have you believe games cause, I would just like to remind you that this is very much the business of gamers. Smokers aren't going to wake up and find that the government has changed restrictions on tobacco because a kid smoked it, same goes for alcohol, pornography. In Australia however we are still struggling to get an R+18 rating and recognition of games as a serious medium, not only is the parent potentially harming their but also the industry, and the gaming community....

Also I am really sick of finding 12 year olds in online matches of games they are nowhere near old enough to play, particularly the incompetent ones, if only because the lack the language skills to communicate effectively. I one heard a kid of 7-8 say the following "mommy tell them to stop killing me", he was playing COD4.

I agree on both points, but telling a parent that they shouldn't be getting something for their kid is never going to get a positive response, they'll most likely get pissed off with you for telling them how to be a parent.

The problem is not with age though, I have played a few younger people on live who have been perfectly fine to game with, the law of averages means there will always be some moronic kids who get through the net.

There are lot's of childish people of ages 18+ on the internet too. For example: Last night I was playing online poker, a strict 18+ activity due to it being gambling. I was looking in on a conversation that revolved around 2 people calling someone else a "fag" and asking for his address so they could fight. I told them to leave out the homophobic insults and then they turned their attention towards me.

My point being that maturity is not based on age, and to deny some kids games who are perfectly mature enough in order to stop the self-righteous censors getting up on their pedestals is unfair. With the way the gaming industry is at the moment, by the time the kid is old enough to buy it for themselves it won't exist any more due to new technology and obsolete consoles.

As for the whole Australian censorship thing, these people will find any excuse anywhere, if no people bought games of a rating above their child's age they'd just find something else to complain about.

 

[Erana]

My mother had an idea of what she was getting into when she got me Halo at ten. And it really wasn't that violent, of couse I refused to play flood levels for a year...

Its not a matter of parents buying their kids games with higher ESRB ratings, its that they do it without being informed.
Once, I was in a supermarket, saw a kid clutching a GTA title, and I just said quietly to the parent, "Even I wouldn't play that game because of all the violence and crime." The parent had a very embarassed look on her face, but I just pretended nothing had happened, and though her child made a fuss about it, they wound up some Narnia game. Sad to see the kid suffer from mediocre game design, but that kid was definitely not mature enough to handle a Rockstar game.
(He was mature enough to handle Jesus in berzerk lion form, of course.)

 

[Midnghtjade83]

Considering I used to be a manager for a big specialty retail chain...that sold only video games...I'm going to go out on a limb and say it doesn't hurt to politely ask. You'd be AMAZED at the number of parents that simply don't know/understand. They assume that if Billy asked for it, it must be okay since video games are "kid stuff".

Our company had a policy that for all M-rated games, we had to at least prattle off the list of ESRB reasons from the back. Surprising how many parents didn't know that God of War starts with a sex mini-game, or that in GTA a main past time could be picking up hookers and then running them over for your money back.

Yes, some parents will always buy this stuff for their little ones (some because they're idiots and some because they know their kid can handle it) but children are deceptive little buggers that will lie through their teeth for a game they know they shouldn't have.