Rockstar: Only "Terrible Parents" Buy Our Games for Their Kids
- Thread starter Andy Chalk
- Start date
tbh I agree, if you buy things like that for your kids that's very poor judgement, but to say that in that wasy was pretty unprofessional.
I worked at Gamestop and those parents just don't care.
Distracted mom on her phone is brought in to let her know of the game her child was trying to buy
"Just sell my kid the game, what's the big deal?"
"Ma'am, I need to warn you that this game is rated M for aged 17 and up and that it contains active killing, soliciting hookers and like its name suggests, stealing cars."
"It's fine."
"Well, do you want to buy the game used in case you change your mind? If you buy the game used it cost less and you can return the game within 30 days, but if you buy it new, you cannot return it if it has been opened."
"No I want the new one. I don't want my kid playing someone else's game."
"okay."
The next day.
"Excuse me, I'd like to return this."
"I'm sorry ma'am, but we cannot accept returns if th game has been opened."
"I bought this game for my son but I didn't know that this game had sex and drugs."
"Ma'am, it is store policy to advice parents of these things before they purchase the game for their child."
"I wasn't told of this when I was buying it."
"Ma'am, I was the one who helped you but you didn't get off you phone. I told you of the content of this game and even pointed at the location on the box that says what the game contains and the rating."
"Well, I just want to get my money back for this."
*showing her the return policy on the back of the reciept*
"Ma'am, we cannot do returns on opened new items, but we can give you store-credit. We only accept returns on used games."
this went on for a while, and is very common when it comes to parents. I'm just glad I don't work there anymore. I just wished we could have simply refused to sell M-rated games if the intended player was a child.
Distracted mom on her phone is brought in to let her know of the game her child was trying to buy
"Just sell my kid the game, what's the big deal?"
"Ma'am, I need to warn you that this game is rated M for aged 17 and up and that it contains active killing, soliciting hookers and like its name suggests, stealing cars."
"It's fine."
"Well, do you want to buy the game used in case you change your mind? If you buy the game used it cost less and you can return the game within 30 days, but if you buy it new, you cannot return it if it has been opened."
"No I want the new one. I don't want my kid playing someone else's game."
"okay."
The next day.
"Excuse me, I'd like to return this."
"I'm sorry ma'am, but we cannot accept returns if th game has been opened."
"I bought this game for my son but I didn't know that this game had sex and drugs."
"Ma'am, it is store policy to advice parents of these things before they purchase the game for their child."
"I wasn't told of this when I was buying it."
"Ma'am, I was the one who helped you but you didn't get off you phone. I told you of the content of this game and even pointed at the location on the box that says what the game contains and the rating."
"Well, I just want to get my money back for this."
*showing her the return policy on the back of the reciept*
"Ma'am, we cannot do returns on opened new items, but we can give you store-credit. We only accept returns on used games."
this went on for a while, and is very common when it comes to parents. I'm just glad I don't work there anymore. I just wished we could have simply refused to sell M-rated games if the intended player was a child.
Well said, it's about time someone from within the industry told people that it's the parent's fault, not the companies.
It's not marketed for kids, it's not made for kids, it has age restictions and warnings. Parents who don't adhere to these facts have only themselves to blame, not the industry.
It's not marketed for kids, it's not made for kids, it has age restictions and warnings. Parents who don't adhere to these facts have only themselves to blame, not the industry.
To me the whole 18 and 15 and 12 certificates are completely useless.
Just because you reach a certain age doesn't mean you suddenly become more grown up and mature as a person, parents should decide weather a kid is mature enough to play certain games based on the kid's behaviour and how he's influenced by things like games and films.
If a parent doesn't let the kid play because He/She doesn't know His/Her kid well enough, or if He/She lets the kid play because He/She simply doesn't care (as Mr. Jones so accurately put it) THEN He/She's a bad parent.
Just because you reach a certain age doesn't mean you suddenly become more grown up and mature as a person, parents should decide weather a kid is mature enough to play certain games based on the kid's behaviour and how he's influenced by things like games and films.
If a parent doesn't let the kid play because He/She doesn't know His/Her kid well enough, or if He/She lets the kid play because He/She simply doesn't care (as Mr. Jones so accurately put it) THEN He/She's a bad parent.
I'm glad the companies are as pissed off as we are.
Also, I think this type of thing needs to judged on a "maturity" scale if you will. I know plenty of kids that are mature enough to handle graphic content like this and still not try to mimic it.
The simple fact of the matter is that some kids are smarter than others.
Also, I think this type of thing needs to judged on a "maturity" scale if you will. I know plenty of kids that are mature enough to handle graphic content like this and still not try to mimic it.
The simple fact of the matter is that some kids are smarter than others.
I can't disagree with them. If you buy your kid a very dark and mature game, who's fault is it? The game makers and ESRB say the game if for a mature crowd, and it's the parent's fault younger kids get it before they are ready
Some of you are missing the point. Remember of the whole "Hot coffee" content that could only have been accessed by going through the files and making it work? It was blown completely out of proportion and the news made sure it was an even bigger deal than it should have ever been.
Think of this as a disclaimer. WARNING, if you are a parent and you buy a Mature rated game for your child, and then that child sees something horrible that you DIDN'T PLAN ON, like shooting hookers and taking your money back,the dirty dirty language from the characters in the game, stealing horses, etc. then you are to blame for buying it for your child in the first place.
Is it Mature or Adults only? I'm not sure, but either way.
Think of this as a disclaimer. WARNING, if you are a parent and you buy a Mature rated game for your child, and then that child sees something horrible that you DIDN'T PLAN ON, like shooting hookers and taking your money back,the dirty dirty language from the characters in the game, stealing horses, etc. then you are to blame for buying it for your child in the first place.
Is it Mature or Adults only? I'm not sure, but either way.
Its a difficult thing isn't it, trying to sell a brightly coloured box to an adult.Naheal said:They don't have to. ESRB does it for them.ColdStorage said:
All my friends that have teenage children all say "my kids love GTA", and guess what they don't know what the fuck GTA is.
I don't know a single adult that says, "my word, isn't that RockStar outfit a veritable picasso of the
gaming world" and then we have tea and scone, because not only are we adults but we are posh.
People can ***** all day long about how Parents shouldn't buy a game because it has PEGI or ERSB or whatever, the fact that gaming is marketed towards children makes us Tea and Scone scoffing adults to not see the PEGI rating, its slight and subliminal and we will ignore it.
So yes your right, Rockstar should just carry on appealing to teenagers with no regard to the ethics of what they do and farm out the real problem to a censorship body and when that doesn't work just call the parents fucking idiots.
The man speaks sense. Parents need to decide when kids are mature enough o play these games. Personally, i think waiting until 17 to play M rated games is just ridiculous, but I know far too many kids less than 11 years old that play GTA.
I'm sorry, but the last time I checked being an adult has nothing to do with thumbing your nose at society and everything to do with maturity. Ratings systems are in place so that parents can gauge what is and isn't appropriate for their children; I'm not just talking about games here, either. Does a parent buy a movie that is rated R for their kids? If they do, they're either not parenting very well or they have a very mature child. Either way, the rating system in this case has been ignored.ColdStorage said:
Now, with the general outcry of "games are violent and influence our children" crap directed at Rockstar in the past, is it really the fault of the publisher that mentally unstable children got a hold of games such as GTA? No. It isn't. That's not their target audience and it never has been. If we really want to place fault, it's in the hands of the parents and the retailers for getting such games out to these mentally unstable children at that point. Rockstar and the ESRB made it abundantly clear with that "M" label that those games are not for children, so they've already done their part.
I'll snip your comment just as you did mine because you clearly didn't read anything I wrote, I read half of what you wrote and its what I'm trying to put across with my rubbish jokes.Naheal said:
So in conclusion, you have a good point kid, but you stumbled on "its up to the parent", when my entire shit joke was about how Rockstar games are designed to appeal to kids and not adults.
I'm an adult and I hate RockStar games, I also hate scones (Tea for the win though), when I was a teen I thought DMA design (thats what rockstar used to be called) were avant garde.
You can't sit there and tell the world that "its the parents fault" when RockStar actively markets there games for children.
RockStar games are like a coffee with 17 sugars in it, fun when you 13 years old, but once your palate grows you'll wonder what the fuck you was doing drinking a coffee with 17 sugars in.
How old are you?, I'm assuming your a fan of there games?.Naheal said:
Rockstar are marketing to children because I don't know a single adult past the age of 17 that thinks Rockstar games are "brilliant".
I'm in my mid twenties and, while I wouldn't say "brilliant", I would say that the content in these games would denote "adult".ColdStorage said:
Let's take, for example, the Saw series. Never in my life have I seen a movie series filled with such senseless slasher gore be so successful. Would I let my child see it? God no. Wait until you're older, boy. Is it "deep"? In the same sense that most Rockstar games are, in that the majority aren't.
The content in a RockStar game does not denote adult though, its witty and has charm, when your a kid yes, can you appreciate it as an adult... why yes yes you can.Naheal said:
Saw film's, same thing, they are really stupid, but fun to watch... but they will never be considered mature.
The difference between Saw and GTA, the film has the film board classification while the game has a bunch of censorship boards that fight each other for right and a parent cannot fully know which classification is correct until they unite.