Age-Rated Games. How Young is Too Young?

[FlareTheFox]

Once again I was accosted by a customer today because of an innocent comment I made. "I like the poster." The customer was buying an COD: BO 3D poster for her son. She immediately looked at me and then to her son who was 6. "It's not for him! It's for my 12 year old!"

Now, I don't care at all if she wants to buy this poster for her kids, but the defensive explanation continued and revealed that she buys Mature rated games for her children, gave her eldest his own Xbox for his room which he helped set parental controls for (and knows the password) and so on. It got me thinking. How young is too young to play these types of games?

Sure, if a parent or guardian over the age of 18 buys you the game and gives permission to play it, that's their choice. But what about playing online in a lobby with other gamers with the majority of them being 16+ and expecting the other gamers not to shout, swear, flame, hunt etc their child in this faceless, ageless lobby? The reason I got upset at this was that this woman smiled brightly and said she had actually called Xbox live a few times and got gamertags banned because she heard them tell her son to "get a pair of balls" to play in their lobby. Then she said they were also teaching him to swear. I'm sure a 12 year old hears worse at school, leave alone the online lobby of an FPS.
As someone who frequents online gameplay, I know how harsh yet how fun online gaming can be. There are always pros and cons. But I do dread when an 8 year old joins my lobby and starts screeching down the microphone of "tactics" that have nothing to do with the game at hand.

So how young is too young? It's all relative really, in my opinion. At some point you're going to be exposed to worse than what's in these games. Of course I'm not saying give GTA to a 6 year old (even if this does happen...) but don't expect the content of a game to pander to a 6 year old when the game's rating is 18.

 

[Foxi4]

As far as I'm concerned, the age rating is an official recommendation and it's up to the parent as to whether or not the child is allowed to play a video game. Notwithstanding, if the parent does choose to allow their minor to play a video game not intended for them online, he or she has to expect that other gamers are likely to be older and the child will be exposed to them throughout the game. All players should follow the online rulesboard, but the parent has nobody to blame but themselves in case of online play which is not rated for obvious reasons. I think the lady went way out of her way to get other players banned for most likely minor offenses and that she's a hypocrite - she's the one who allows her 12-year-old to play with adults, she's the one to blame.

 

[Ryukouki]

OOoh. I wrote about this issue a while back. Throwback:

http://gbatemp.net/threads/video-game-ratings-flawed.357122/

But even so. Theres definitely an age limit that parents don't seem to follow anymore. With kids getting into social media and whatnot at far too young of an age, it's definite to say that society is changing.

 

[Foxi4]

OOoh. I wrote about this issue a while back. Throwback:

http://gbatemp.net/threads/video-game-ratings-flawed.357122/

But even so. Theres definitely an age limit that parents don't seem to follow anymore. With kids getting into social media and whatnot at far too young of an age, it's definite to say that society is changing.

I think my lovely lass is tackling the online problem in addition to the ratings problem - online interaction isn't rated.

 

[Ryukouki]

I think my lovely lass is tackling the online problem rather than the ratings problem - online interaction isn't rated.

Well, fine! Similar issue! But hey, I love people who think about things.

 

[DinohScene]

They shouldn't allow 13 and 14 year olds on online games which are 16+/18+/whatever rating.
But who am I.

One thing I do know that it's a funny sight to see a kid cry when the cashier won't give them COD ;'D

 

[FlareTheFox]

OOoh. I wrote about this issue a while back. Throwback:

http://gbatemp.net/threads/video-game-ratings-flawed.357122/

But even so. Theres definitely an age limit that parents don't seem to follow anymore. With kids getting into social media and whatnot at far too young of an age, it's definite to say that society is changing.

Cool, I'll give it a read ^.^

Though my issue is with online gameplay because it is unrated and for the most part not monitored. How many times have I ranted that an 8 year old is deafening my ear?
It's also not uncommon for me to hear parents talk about what actions they've taken to "protect their child" once giving them permission to play the game online (I think they talk to me because I wear a Sonic lanyard ._.) and I thought I'd share their thoughts with you and vice versa. Though I really think that once they give permission to the child to play online they are waiving their rights to "control" what the child sees and hears to a point.

 

[Foxi4]

Well, fine! Similar issue! But hey, I love people who think about things.

It's a pressing issue. On one hand, the ratings definitely help in informing the parent about the expected content, on the other they can be quite annoying. Two anecdotes I have regarding this issue are the annoying kind.

I went shopping with FlareTheFox and we really wanted to buy Left4Dead and Left4Dead 2 for her XBox 360 to play a bit of co-op. Unfortunately, I forgot to take my ID with me... which posed a problem. Now, I was 22 at the time, but I'm one of those guys who "don't look it" after a clean shave. Naturally the situation at the till quickly got sour and the manager had to be involved because "there was a definite concern that my girlfriend (adult and ID'ied) was trying to buy a Mature game for her "minor" boyfriend". In the end, her dad got involved and the whole debacle happily ended with us leaving with the games... I never forgot my ID since.

The other story actually involves my laziness in reading service agreements. I wanted to create a Sub-Account on my PSN account so that my girlfriend could freely Game Share with me, since we share games all the time it only made sense to me. Turns out that you can't create a Sub-Account for an adult, so I "stretched the truth" a bit and set up a fictional birthdate (naughty me!)... but the problems did not end there. The account worked, sure enough, but when we tried to play online with eachother, my girlfriend could not connect to the server "because she was a minor". Apparently PSN introduced those restrictions specifically to counter the problems mentioned above with minors playing online games. We had to make a whole new account just because of that and ended up wasting a whole lot of time, but hey! In the end, the setup works... I just have a useless Sub-Account that I can do nothing about since they're non-removable unless you message Sony Customer Support - something I can't be bothered to do.

 

[Ryukouki]

It's a pressing issue. On one hand, the ratings definitely help in informing the parent about the expected content, on the other they can be quite annoying. Two anecdotes I have regarding this issue are the annoying kind.

I went shopping with FlareTheFox and we really wanted to buy Left4Dead and Left4Dead 2 for her XBox 360 to play a bit of co-op. Unfortunately, I forgot to take my ID with me... which posed a problem. Now, I was 22 at the time, but I'm one of those guys who "don't look it" after a clean shave. Naturally the situation at the till quickly got sour and the manager had to be involved because "there was a definite concern that my girlfriend (adult and ID'ied) was trying to but a Mature game for her "minor" boyfriend". In the end, her dad got involved and the whole debacle happily ended with us leaving with the games... I never forgot my ID since.

The other story actually involves my laziness in reading service agreements. I wanted to create a Sub-Account on my PSN account so that my girlfriend could freely Game Share with me, since we share games all the time it only made sense to me. Turns out that you can't create a Sub-Account for an adult, so I "stretched the truth" a bit and set up a fictional birthdate (naughty me!)... but the problems did not end there. The account worked, sure enough, but when we tried to play online with eachother, my girlfriend could not connect to the server "because she was a minor". Apparently PSN introduced those restrictions specifically to counter the problems mentioned above with minors playing online games. We had to make a whole new account just because of that and ended up wasting a whole lot of time, but hey! In the end, the setup works... I just have a useless Sub-Account that I can do nothing about since they're non-removable unless you message Sony Customer Support - something I can't be bothered to do.

Oh hush, better than having your neighbors call the cops on you thinking that you're fifteen and too young to be driving behind the wheel alone. So imagine my surprise when the cops come rolling onto my doorstep, and trying to arrest me, LOL.

 

[Foxi4]

Oh hush, better than having your neighbors call the cops on you thinking that you're fifteen and too young to be driving behind the wheel alone. So imagine my surprise when the cops come rolling onto my doorstep, and trying to arrest me, LOL.

Underage and Asian? Driving? Call the coppers! ;O;

 

[slingblade1170]

I'm not saying video games cause people to go out and murder everyone but it does have a serious effect on some children. I was raised through the early 90s and the games I played were non realistic games such as Mario, Starfox, Donkey, etc but I have 8 young cousins from ages 5-13 who were raised on GTA, CoD, Halo, etc. My cousins can NOT function without their brains being constantly stimulated by killing someone on a video game or running over dozens of pedestrians. They will not play a game without that violence and they simply do NOT want to talk about anything but those type of video games. Playing them has also desensitized them to almost everything, something unfortunate can happen within my family and in most cases they find ways to joke and find humor in it or simply do not care. Now, my 5 year old (the youngest one) repeats everything he hears on games especially GTA and has been kicked out of school for the language he uses. Years ago I wouldn't believe any video games to have an effect like they do but I have so many examples within my family to prove that they do.

I don't think children should play certain games especially online until they are old enough to understand exactly what their playing and seeing. These are my observations and opinions on the subject and if a parent wants to let their child play whatever then go for it but it does have some effect on young children.

 

[emigre]

When I was working at GAME, I once convinced a woman not to buy CoD for son. The boy was upset.

I still laugh about it now.

 

[Ryukouki]

When I was working at GAME, I once convinced a woman not to buy CoD for son. The boy was upset.

I still laugh about it now.

emigre4troll2014? Game is rubbish please don't buy. ;O;

 

[DinohScene]

When I was working at GAME, I once convinced a woman not to buy CoD for son. The boy was upset.

I still laugh about it now.

It's things like that which makes me want to stay at gameshops that much longer.

 

[FlareTheFox]

When I was working at GAME, I once convinced a woman not to buy CoD for son. The boy was upset.

I still laugh about it now.

Since parents tend to confide in me and ask advice for what their children are playing... I have more than once introduced parental controls to Xboxes that had previously had NONE

 

[chavosaur]

I was playing Resident Evil and Mortal Kombat wen I was really young, and at the time those were the "THESE GAMES ARE GOIG TO CORRUPT OUR YOUTH" type of games. But hell, I don't think I turned out to be a nuttyguy.
I don't really think Age Plays a factor in what kids take from games, I think it's moreso if you allow your child to Act the way people in the game act.

This is when Kicks in the ass come into play when your little 5 year old starts quoting Duke Nukem or something. I remember doing that and my dad had a little sit down with me.
Needless to say, I never did it again.

 

[emigre]

This is when Kicks in the ass come into play when your little 5 year old starts quoting Duke Nukem or something. I remember doing that and my dad had a little sit down with me.
Needless to say, I never did it again.

Did you throw money at strippers?

 

[Social_Outlaw]

Age-Rated Games. How Young is Too Young? Ya say?

Here's what I think: If your mom or dad sense their kid maturity at young age (but don't let your young kids see you playing rated M for Mature or it's over Because a kid will always find a way to play) or older (12 or 13), then that's the time you can play Rated M for Mature ,but that determines how well you know you child, if your child watch a couple of scary movies, and he/she doesn't really jump like they used that's a sign to me, because that's telling me either he's/she's growing up.

My dad got me GTA VC/ GTA 3 when I was 7 I believe, but yet again my dad wasn't a gamer, and I doubt he knew what Rated M for Mature meant at the time until I told him.

I bought borderlands at gamestop when I WAS 13 CRAZY right? I spent 30 dollars just for it, and I also bought Fallout3.

 

[calmwaters]

How young is too young? Anyone who hasn't gotten to first grade yet. Don't be in such a rush to make your six year old grow up; let them enjoy their childhood. They will grow up at their own pace; as a parent, your job is to guide them in the right way. Besides, it is very easy to ingrain ideas into a 6 year old's head as to make him live with it for the rest of his life. Do you seriously want to ingrain violence into their head, even if it is fictional? And even though no one cares about it anymore, I'm going to mention the ESRB, which helps parents decide what games to get for their kids.

 

[Fishaman P]

I personally think the following are good guidelines:

EC - E: Anyone
E10: 9 or 10
T: 12
M: Depends on maturity, usually 15 or 16
AO: 21 (seriously?)

Of course, these don't apply if the rating is debatable, like Zelda: Majora's Mask (rating too low) or Smash Bros Melee or Brawl (rating too high).