The epic age ratings debate

SiD the Turtle

SiD the Turtle

SiD the Turtle

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I was just reading a thread about a parent buying 18 rated games for a 14 year old. What are your views on age ratings?

Here's the pro's and cons I thought of:

  • As I get older (only 24 mind) I'm of two opinions, that kids should remain kids, but that I would like to be a more liberal parent than my parents were.
  • I have played games that were rated for people much older than me since I first owned a PC/console and it didn't do me any harm.
  • Then again, those games weren't exactly as graphically 'accurate' as they are today. Doom and Syndicate of yesteryear vs the blood letting of Gears of War today?
  • I'm against parents that don't appreciate the ratings on games and what they mean: the parent that walks into a store and picked up GTA4 because their 8 year old kid is whining more than anything.
  • I do think that the end of the day it is up to the parent to use ratings as a guide but then make the decision themselves. I would probably let my kids play Gears at a fairly young age as it's 'just' blood, whereas I'd only let them play GTA4 as they matured, just as I'd let them watch Aliens at a younger age than I'd let them watch Hellraiser.
 
I think it's the responsibility of the parent to know what is contained within the game and make a judgement based on that i.e. whether it contains sex, swearing or graphic violence.

I wouldn't let a young child play, say, GTA 4 due to the amount of swearing and sex but conversley I feel that giving the likes of Bioshock an 18 rating is just ridiculous as it's just cartoony violence with the odd mild swear word.

Also MGS4 has a 15 rating and I can't remember any part of that which I would need to shield my poor inoccent babies from.

Anyway, my point is the parents should try these games first and make an informed judgement based on fact and what they deem is acceptible for their child.
 
I played wheelchair olympics on the Amiga as a teenager, the long jump you had to roll your wheelchair as fast as possible and hit a brick, whoever flew out their chair the farthest got the gold.

Never did me any harm.
 
I'm in two minds about this.

Video games need a legally binding classification system. This system also needs to be enforced as strictly as the sale of alcohol or tobacco. That's obviously not happening at the moment. Such an enforced system would be a strong counter to the idiots in the media blaming video games for the downfall of society.

On the other hand, I watched all kinds of 18-rated movies when I was a teenager. Have I ever shot someone in the face with a shotgun? Have I ever been involved in a car-jacking? Have I ever twisted someone's nuts off with a pair of pliers? Not that I can remember, no.

I guess it's up to the parents. Kids shouldn't be able to buy violent video games. However, if parents deem their kids mature enough to handle the content, then it's their decision. Just like with DVDs and alcohol. Parents need more education on the matter though and I'm sure some will still let their 8 year olds play Manhunt 2.
 
Meh, I always played games rated higher than my age when I was younger.

I'm personally of the opinion that if you are screwed in the head enough to do something stupid, you would do it anyway regardless of video games, TV or films.
 
Kids learn as much bad language from school as they do from games and now with mobile phones, they have sex related content on there phones, you cant stop it but you can curb it and make sure your kid is respectful and knows the difference from right and wrong.

You cant blame a game, like you cant blame that they see a action film with people dieing you just have to hope you have been a good parent.
 
I played a lot of games when I was under the age rating and I dont think its affected me. As others have said, people with something wrong with them won't get anything from games that they don't get from a million other influences. In the end its down to the parents opinion imo.
 
I don't see why not. You as the father should know your son well enough to know if he is responsible enough to play these type of games.

I played all 18 and 15 games back in the day and I'm not deranged or anything. :)
 
Parents come into work all the time with their 7-12 year old kids begging for gta4, and I run the usual speech (which is just because I think it is only fair that the parent knows what they are buying for their child, I am not required to say it) "you know this is 18 rated, It contains sex, drugs, violence, incredibly bad language, murder, car jacking"

And most of them say "well they see most of that in the playground anyway"!

What kind of schools are these kids going too, the worst thing that ever happened at my primary school was that a dog would sometimes run onto the field,

Parents just don't care to be honest
 
It's down to the parent(s) at the end of the day. I fall into the:
I do think that the end of the day it is up to the parent to use ratings as a guide but then make the decision themselves. I would probably let my kids play Gears at a fairly young age as it's 'just' blood, whereas I'd only let them play GTA4 as they matured, just as I'd let them watch Aliens at a younger age than I'd let them watch Hellraiser.
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That's where I am. I remember my mate when I was about 8 years old, and his parents let him watch porno's all day long. I'm liberal.. but no. That's is not childhood, that crap DOES effect you later on in life where you see things as purely sexual etc.

The main concern for me is that as games get more realistic (the content as well as the graphics), the younger audience will find it hard to seperate what is acceptable in 'real' life from 'game' life.

I love games, always have, and loves shooters... but some games that involve butchering people for fun, and robbing people for fun are not exactly on the list for my kids to play (when we have them).

I think the only real issue I have is that games like GTA (the recent ones.. not the top down ones), is that they don't actually make out that it's wrong to do certain things. It is actually gratified and your scored on it. Regardless of what people think, the values of society need building up, not breaking down.

Young people are impressionable no matter how old and mature they appear nowadays. (And yes... there are exceptions)
 
SuBsTaNcE said:
And most of them say "well they see most of that in the playground anyway"!

What kind of schools are these kids going too, the worst thing that ever happened at my primary school was that a dog would sometimes run onto the field,

Parents just don't care to be honest
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haha a dog ran into my school once, got in through a back door, was funny having the school "locked down"

Must admit the primary schools have changed since we where nippers
 
I have an 11 year old daughter, and I won't play 18+ rated games while she is around. She can only watch 15+ films if we have watched it first and deemed it suitable.

Unfortunately most games that are 18+ just seem to add violence & swearing for no apparent reason and most of it is totally unnecessary. Take GTA4 for example fair enough there's some swearing during the cutscenes, but in addition virtually all pedestrians swear for no reason when you pass them :(

It doesn't even add any realism to the game, just seems to get added so that all the 17/18 year olds think it's cool...
 
I'm of the opinion that's it's at the parents descretion too but unfortunately there are a lot of parents out there who have none.

I let my lad play games like GTA etc when I felt he was old enough (think it was about 15). It's the same as most other things too, I let him have a beer if her wanted at about the same age but made sure he was limited. He didn't start the smack though until he was 18 as that would have been taking the **** :p

I do know what you mean about the differences in games though - he played Half-Life, or rather watched me play most of it for him, at about 8 years old and a little bit of unrealistic blood and guns never did him any harm.

Scougar said:
That's where I am. I remember my mate when I was about 8 years old, and his parents let him watch porno's all day long. I'm liberal.. but no. That's is not childhood, that crap DOES effect you later on in life where you see things as purely sexual etc.
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Jeesh, where is your mate now - Did this effect him adversley?
 
Metalface Mark said:
I played wheelchair olympics on the Amiga as a teenager, the long jump you had to roll your wheelchair as fast as possible and hit a brick, whoever flew out their chair the farthest got the gold.

Never did me any harm.
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That sounds like the best game in the world!!

I think it is down to common sense, teach your child the difference between right and wrong. My litle cousin who is 9 plays COD4 all the time and never once have I heard of him shooting anyone in real life!
 
Nismo said:
Meh, I always played games rated higher than my age when I was younger.

I'm personally of the opinion that if you are screwed in the head enough to do something stupid, you would do it anyway regardless of video games, TV or films.
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I agree. People have always done violent acts, much more violent than those seen today long before video games were invented. In a society where games are ever present it's a convenient excuse and those who have committed crimes have likely played games.

However, games are more hyper-violent than ever, more immersive than ever and sadly, more accessible than ever. Every coin has two sides.
 
McManicMan said:
i let my 14yr old son play any game on the 360 or Ps3 or wii. My 10yr old daughter is another matter though, lol
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Would you even let him play games with strong sexual content? Violence I can understand as I don't think there is a game out there which would cause a 14yr old to become violent - I wouldn't have felt right letting my son play something like GTA VC at 14 though, especially with the porno missions!
 
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