Parental ignorance of game ratings

SiD the Turtle

SiD the Turtle

SiD the Turtle

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I was standing in the queue at [competitor] yesterday and the woman in front of me had picked up two PS2 games that were on the offer shelf as two for £30 or something like that. She was chatting to the sales guy about getting a Wii for her 'littluns' and how they were out of stock everywhere and was having to buy PS2 games instead for Christmas.

It then turned out that the games she had were not on offer and were there by mistake, so she leaned over the barrier, took a cursory look at the shelf and grabbed two games. She looked at the cover pictures and then said 'I'll take these instead'. One was some kind of WWII shooter that I didn't recognise, the other Bully. The WWII shooter was an 18, I wasn't sure if I saw Bully was a 15 or an 18.

Video games aren't bad for kids. Stupid parents are.

(Unless of course she refers to kids over 18 as her littluns I suppose)
 
I've played 18 rated games since around 10 years old and haven't grown up to be a violent person. If parents think their kids won't be affected by violent games then it's up to them.
 
I've been playing 18 games since I was like 11, I turned out fine.

I don't see the big deal really, games don't influence bad behaviour, you have to be either a **** or a nutter in the first place.
 
My mum let me have 18+ games when I was about 7 or 8 and I didnt turn out to be a nutcase. :)

ooooooooooooo, I just remembered, I must hide those heads in the freezer before someone finds them....
 
Jihad said:
I've been playing 18 games since I was like 11, I turned out fine.

I don't see the big deal really, games don't influence bad behaviour, you have to be either a **** or a nutter in the first place.
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I totally agree with you, but when you get the same parents of said nutters blaming games, that does my head in.
 
It's all about the individual children and parents. If the child isn't raised with good manners, respect for society and is a general ruffian, obviously they are going to take inspiration from violence they see in the media or in a video game.

Stupid Parents = Stupid Children.
 
TBH an 18 rated game when we were 10 was just blur etc, morals in those times were much stricter and bad language was enough for an 18 rating.

Since the release of GTA3 onwards I'd say there have been games with themes, graphical content and audio content have been sufficient for "Real" 18 ratings. So where parents may have in the past been able to say "Its only a computer game what harm can it do" I think we are now seeing games which are comparable to adult rated films and parents should be aware of the potential harm they could be doing to their children.

I know we all turned out fine. But tbh we all grew up when leisure Suit Larry 1 was an 18 and Clockwork orange was a banned film.

Also Games/movies/music do not make people go mental. But exposer to these mediums without correct parenting could result in an abnormal adolescent/adult with an unsavoury personality trait.
 
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Kronologic said:
TBH an 18 rated game when we were 10 was just blur etc, morals in those times were much stricter and bad language was enough for an 18 rating.

Since the release of GTA3 onwards I'd say there have been games with themes, grpahical content and audio content have been sufficent for "Real" 18 ratings. So where parents may have in the past been able to say "Its only a computer game what harm can it do" I think we are now seeing games which are comparable to adult rated films and parents should be aware of the potential harm they could be doing to their children.

I know we all turned out fine. But tbh we all grew up when Leasure Suit Larry 1 was an 18 and Clockwork orange was a banned film
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I definately agree with this.

It's a different age. It's not carmegeddon running down robots and zombies instead of humans anymore.

It's all allowed. And to be fair, I personally wouldn't want my kids to see what goes on in some of these games.

It's not because I don't want my child to become an axe murderer. More I just don't want my child seeing mutilation, swearing and sex before they're at the right age. And obviously only the parent, Can judge what the right age may be. It may not be 18.

I know a 8 year old who loves watching shark movies on discovery channel. And he loves it when they feed! Thats kinda sick. :p
 
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I know we all turned out fine. But tbh we all grew up when Leasure Suit Larry 1 was an 18 and Clockwork orange was a banned film
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That's not really a point I have heard very often Kronologic but it is an extremely good one. Times have changed a lot since most of us were young,
 
Kronologic said:
Since the release of GTA3 onwards I'd say there have been games with themes, graphical content and audio content have been sufficient for "Real" 18 ratings. So where parents may have in the past been able to say "Its only a computer game what harm can it do" I think we are now seeing games which are comparable to adult rated films and parents should be aware of the potential harm they could be doing to their children.
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I was about 11 when GTA3 came out and I don't think the 18 rating has changed at all really.
 
If I were in the shop, and saw that, I think I'd have said something.

Something like "excuse me, you do realise those have an 18 certificate?"

If the woman had said "well, they're just games, doesn't matter" I'd have pointed out that all these news stories about kids playing violent video games, are down to spacktards like her. I'd then have pulled a chainsaw out of my back pocket, done a spectacular decap move, and told her that I played Doom when I was younger.

OK, I'd not have done that.
I'd probably not even have said anything, but I'd have been thinking it!
Thinking and not doing, it's the way forward kids!
V1N.
 
Kronologic said:
TBH an 18 rated game when we were 10 was just blur etc, morals in those times were much stricter and bad language was enough for an 18 rating.

Since the release of GTA3 onwards I'd say there have been games with themes, graphical content and audio content have been sufficient for "Real" 18 ratings. So where parents may have in the past been able to say "Its only a computer game what harm can it do" I think we are now seeing games which are comparable to adult rated films and parents should be aware of the potential harm they could be doing to their children.

I know we all turned out fine. But tbh we all grew up when leisure Suit Larry 1 was an 18 and Clockwork orange was a banned film.

Also Games/movies/music do not make people go mental. But exposer to these mediums without correct parenting could result in an abnormal adolescent/adult with an unsavoury personality trait.
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What he said, most of us grew up in a different age.



rp2000
 
For those of you who are in the 'I've been playing 18-rated games since I was 4 1/2 and I'm OK...' well, good for you and have a :p.

However, whilst you are in the >99.5% of 'normal' people who have not turned into raging psychopaths, there is still a <0.5% or people for whom playing games of this type will actually give (or enhance) their violent tendencies. Of course, other things (such as violent films) may also do this, however the degree of immersion which you get with modern games does make them very realistic.

I've got 3 kids. My eldest (daughter) isn't interested in FPS's. The eldest of my two boys (12 and 8 at the moment) plays some FPS's now (things like Jedi Outcast) and I'll probably be letting him play some 15-rated games (e.g. Half Life/HL2) shortly. However, games with Occult aspects (e.g. Doom3, RTCW etc.) or which 'reward' extreme violence (e.g. GTA3 etc) are rightly rated 18 (or 'M' for those on the other side of the pond...).

I have a few friends who let their kids between 8 and 10 years old play games like Doom 3 and GTA3. I shudder at how I see them turning out already (violence to their siblings, general 'ADHD'-type behaviour etc.)

:(
 
SiD the Turtle said:
I was standing in the queue at [competitor] yesterday and the woman in front of me had picked up two PS2 games that were on the offer shelf as two for £30 or something like that. She was chatting to the sales guy about getting a Wii for her 'littluns' and how they were out of stock everywhere and was having to buy PS2 games instead for Christmas.

It then turned out that the games she had were not on offer and were there by mistake, so she leaned over the barrier, took a cursory look at the shelf and grabbed two games. She looked at the cover pictures and then said 'I'll take these instead'. One was some kind of WWII shooter that I didn't recognise, the other Bully. The WWII shooter was an 18, I wasn't sure if I saw Bully was a 15 or an 18.

Video games aren't bad for kids. Stupid parents are.

(Unless of course she refers to kids over 18 as her littluns I suppose)
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How true, it's sad thing that parents are buying kids these games that are age-restricted (and as such, too old for them) - they don't let their kids watch 18s at the cinema or on DVDs at home do they?....do they?

Just another way kids are getting screwed up here.
 
I doubt many parents are THAT stupid. Most people know that if it has a BBFC rating then it's going to contain some pretty bad content. They probably just don't mind their kids playing that stuff, which is fine. Can't see a problem with that.

There's absolutely ZERO evidence to suggest that there's a link between violence in video games and violence in the real world.
 
I remember a 10 year old lad in my street playing GTA 3 and swearing his head off and loving the game and the bit where you get a hooker in your car :O
 
most ppl have been played ova 18 games and watch 18+ films underage but its a bit annoying when goverment or parents start moaning and trying to have games band because they may effect there lilluns i.e manhunt2 when it wouldnt be a problem if they actually used and paid attention to the ratings.
 
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