The Needles: The Easiest Buyer's Guide Ever

[squid5580]

Well, I assume that an M on the box means: "Moms, look! This game is great for children."

Now that I broke the hypnotic spell of your avatar I can respond. That is the big problem right there. Why did they choose this whole new rating system? I don't mean the kids under X shouldn't be playing this. I mean why didn't they stick with what people have grown up with for years. Rated R. Put a big fucking R and underneath that put restricted with the panther. Or PG, 14a or G. People know these letters. They understand that they shouldn't be taking little Jimmy or Jane to an R rated movie. You don't seee very many theatres that feel the need to have a description of what R means do you? Yet you walk into any gamestore (or dept) and plastered all over the place is M= bad for little Jimmy. The problem is if you have to describe the rating it isn't very effective.

Because there's different criteria reviewed in movies and games, and they wanted to keep the medium seperate. After all, PG means "Parental Guidance", and you can't really have "Parental Guidance" for games, since they're not simply 90 minutes in a room with the kid.

Damn you hypnotoad.

Have you not seen what passes for PG? That isn't really the point if the parents are in the room or not. Most parents will let Jimmy watch a PG movie alone since they aren't usually directed for adults to begin with. Mario would probably get smacked with a PG label because of the violence. Yes Mario is violent. Seeing PG on the label is going to make them stop and think for a second where T or M just doesn't seem too very often.

As for them not wanting to mix that is just stupidity on thier behalf. There is 1 reason for these ratings. To protect the children. Forcing one medium to use different lettering and potentially confusing customers is not doing what they set out to do. What is the movie industry afraid that their movies might corrupt the children but if they get corrupted by other means it is OK? I call shenanigans.

Very well put, but we have to consider one medium is merely WATCHING the images, and the other is performing them. For instance, would the sex scenes in Mass Effect have had such an impact if the player hadn't gone through the relationship with the character personally choosing dialogue options? No.

Although one of them has real people doing harmful things to each other. The other has maybe some resemblence to a real person but you know they aren't. Of course there is exceptions. You would think that watching Mary Poppins (a real person onscreen) fly using an umbrella would be more harmful than Mario stompin a Goomba. But just because they are holding a controller this isn't the case.

I also think that movies and TV series are skating while games take the brunt of it. Just because "games are immersive" and the others aren't. I disagree that putting a controller in the users hand changes much of anything when it comes down to the bottom line. Who didn't cry at the end of "Ole Yeller"? (ok I am not expecting anyone to admit they did lol). Or scream at the stupid camper that Jason is right behind them. Or even think to yourself "c'mon Jason get that stupid jock". Just watch how some people get into soap operas. They are in the same zone we are with a controller in our hands. They are just getting different rewards than we do.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

And as a former games retail worker, I'm sure you know how people generally respond to even the slightest hint of "you're a bad parent". I find my self throwing my arms across my face and pleading for mercy just reading the words.

I've got a similar problem with knives, glue and pens. All age-rated. Karma Sutra is fine.

My CMOA from a customer is when they complained about

Spoiler: this annoying thing

because her little darlings could see its willy.

I kid you not.

Then I chat with some woman about her 10(!) year-old wanting MW2 and how she thinks its disgusting, but he just won't put up with not playing it.

These are the same kids that get told not to talk to strangers, and get sex-education at stupid years-old.

Yes, the Policemen look young to me now, but ffs people! Kids NEED some form of authority to allow them to build a reasonable sense of proportion in the world. They need someone they can rely on. And if it's someone like Kotick who's the one person telling them the truth, what the hell do you expect to happen?


Gah.

 

[dochmbi]

Are there any studies that give conclusive evidence that violent video games actually affect the development of children? I have played violent video games since I was seven years old (starting with Doom 1 and 2) and I'm perfectly healthy.

 

[Octorok]

And as a former games retail worker, I'm sure you know how people generally respond to even the slightest hint of "you're a bad parent". I find my self throwing my arms across my face and pleading for mercy just reading the words.

I've got a similar problem with knives, glue and pens. All age-rated. Karma Sutra is fine.

My CMOA from a customer is when they complained about

Spoiler: this annoying thing

because her little darlings could see its willy.

I kid you not.

Then I chat with some woman about her 10(!) year-old wanting MW2 and how she thinks its disgusting, but he just won't put up with not playing it.

These are the same kids that get told not to talk to strangers, and get sex-education at stupid years-old.

Yes, the Policemen look young to me now, but ffs people! Kids NEED some form of authority to allow them to build a reasonable sense of proportion in the world. They need someone they can rely on. And if it's someone like Kotick who's the one person telling them the truth, what the hell do you expect to happen?


Gah.

I... can't seem to look away from that picture... I really despise Crazy Frog, but seeing his Johnson is like hypno-crack...

 

[redsoxfantom]

AMEN to that. The only person a parent can blame if dear little Timmy is playing that horrible Call of Duty game is themselves. After all, its not like the game jumped through a window in the middle of the night and held up Timmy at gunpoint demanding to be played. Someone had to buy it. So get it together parents. It's not that hard.

 

[300lb. Samoan]

And as a former games retail worker, I'm sure you know how people generally respond to even the slightest hint of "you're a bad parent". I find my self throwing my arms across my face and pleading for mercy just reading the words.

I've got a similar problem with knives, glue and pens. All age-rated. Karma Sutra is fine.

My CMOA from a customer is when they complained about

Spoiler: this annoying thing

because her little darlings could see its willy.

I kid you not.

Then I chat with some woman about her 10(!) year-old wanting MW2 and how she thinks its disgusting, but he just won't put up with not playing it.

These are the same kids that get told not to talk to strangers, and get sex-education at stupid years-old.

Yes, the Policemen look young to me now, but ffs people! Kids NEED some form of authority to allow them to build a reasonable sense of proportion in the world. They need someone they can rely on. And if it's someone like Kotick who's the one person telling them the truth, what the hell do you expect to happen?


Gah.

To be fair, although I shouldn't be, I spotted it immediately. I think I remember wondering if it was really necessary to put a dong on that thing when it first came out - almost instantly that concern was superseded by how fucking annoying that thing was.

A frog with a cgi talliwhacker and the one-in-a-million chance that a stranger might be a charming pedophile, these are the things parents worry about? Meanwhile, a game that shows players how to use real-life weaponry in tactical situations (and in terrorist attacks) isn't nearly as important as making her little brat shut up about wanting to play the hottest new game. Parents really are pathetic sometimes. Maybe if I didn't spend so much time telling them this to their faces I wouldn't have so many people mad at me!

 

[Eri]

My gods, the people. I was working yesterday, and someone insisted that despite my warnings, nah, Prey was gonna be -great- for their 10 year old.

You are not their parent. You don't know this particular 10 year old.

Did you seriously just say that? Wow..just wow..

 

[Phyroxis]

I find it hard to believe anyone who claims they don't know what the giant number on the front of the box means.

Letter.. But I hear you. I rage at all of the adult-parents I know about this. At least the ones I know will at least have been warned.

 

[sheic99]

My gods, the people. I was working yesterday, and someone insisted that despite my warnings, nah, Prey was gonna be -great- for their 10 year old.

You are not their parent. You don't know this particular 10 year old.

Did you seriously just say that? Wow..just wow..

I played Resident Evil 2 on the N64 when I was 9. Some kids mature faster than others.

 

[Nova5]

My gods, the people. I was working yesterday, and someone insisted that despite my warnings, nah, Prey was gonna be -great- for their 10 year old.

You are not their parent. You don't know this particular 10 year old.

Did you seriously just say that? Wow..just wow..

I played Resident Evil 2 on the N64 when I was 9. Some kids mature faster than others.

Can't say I care about kids playing violent games, either. Started playing violent games as soon as they started coming out. Resident Evil, Twisted Metal, GoldenEye, Silent Hill, DOOM I and II. Was also playing Crash Bandicoot at the time, but it didn't really have any seriously adverse effects far as I can tell. Just as fucked up mentally as the kid who grew up next door watching nothing but "The Magic School Bus" on VHS and playing wholesome F1 racing sims.

 

[Samurai Goomba]

Well, not much else to say but that I absolutely agree.

 

[Slayer_2]

The last game on the stack was Gears 2. Yeah, kinda sad how I know that.

Anyhow, I think ratings are a nice idea, but flawed and oversimplified. For example, I think Crysis is much less graphic then Manhunt, but it gets the same rating anyhow? I think a PEGI system would be better, except with 18+, 17+, 16+, etc. And the rating board should have to fucking PLAY THE GAME, not just watch a movie like they do now.

Also, mods should have NOTHING to do with the game's rating. No matter what. The hot coffee "disaster" was ridiculous.

 

[AngryFrenchCanadian]

When I was young, my parents read the age ratings and denied me to play lots of games I thought were cool, like grand theft auto 3. Now that I look back, I'm glad to know they did it because they were only to be responsible and to respect the family's value, which was no game in the house where you kill people. On the other hand, my father still allowed me to play the first Halo when I was 11, because it was just about killing aliens and not humans.

Then, my parents allowed me to play more and more mature games because I proved to them that I knew the difference between reality and the fiction in games. I literally had to give my father a big speech to play GTA:SA by explaining to him that I knew that everything in the game wasn't real, why I understood the reasons he was uncomfortable with me playing that game and why the game actually allowed me to focus my frustration in the game when I was in a bad mood.

 

[Eri]

My gods, the people. I was working yesterday, and someone insisted that despite my warnings, nah, Prey was gonna be -great- for their 10 year old.

You are not their parent. You don't know this particular 10 year old.

Did you seriously just say that? Wow..just wow..

I played Resident Evil 2 on the N64 when I was 9. Some kids mature faster than others.

Just because you played them at that age doesn't mean you should have. I'm not going to say it ruins all the kids that young, because people are different, but no 9 year old REGARDLESS should play this type of game whether they can handle it or not.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

and the one-in-a-million chance that a stranger might be a charming pedophile, these are the things parents worry about?

The real problem is that the chance of someone the kids know and trust being a pedophile is much lower. "Stranger Danger" is one of the least likely chances of it happening.

That makes no logical sense--why shouldn't a person who can 'handle' a game play it?

Because who are you going to ask then?
The child? He can handle anything!
The parents? Either anything or "nothing for my little poppet"

Just because you can handle something doesn't mean you need to. Or even want to.

Children less than school age could probably handle any 18 rating film because they simply cannot comprehend what's happening. However, once they gain the insight, they're gonna be fecked for the rest of their life. Why do you think so many young kids get Coulrophobia?

Because they know that smile is false but it

Spoiler: KEEPS SMILING

.

Seeing a frog wang doesn't scar kids. Seeing Mummy and Daddy fighting, Being forced to kiss Granny and being dragged to see the white-faced man will do a LOT worse. Especially if you've just been given the understanding of what's "really" happening.

 

[Eri]

My gods, the people. I was working yesterday, and someone insisted that despite my warnings, nah, Prey was gonna be -great- for their 10 year old.

You are not their parent. You don't know this particular 10 year old.

Did you seriously just say that? Wow..just wow..

I played Resident Evil 2 on the N64 when I was 9. Some kids mature faster than others.

Just because you played them at that age doesn't mean you should have. I'm not going to say it ruins all the kids that young, because people are different, but no 9 year old REGARDLESS should play this type of game whether they can handle it or not.

That makes no logical sense--why shouldn't a person who can 'handle' a game play it?

Because they are NINE years old. In ye olden days when very young boys fought in wars, even if they got through it it does not mean they should have done it. Nine year olds are nine.

 

[Tonimata]

Isn't it ironic that the very people who are against the videogame company, that being parents that buy kids games that could be considered the cause of mental issues, are also the ones that are causing the problem in the first place?

I've just proven why parenting should be licensed with more restrictions than infertility.