Topic: Kids and violent videogames

I'm 13 years old, and my parents don't allow me to buy 15, 16 and 18 rated games. Most of the kids I know are allowed to have games such as Modern Warfare 2 that are very violent and adult-themed. I have played these adult games with friends, and while I enjoy them and they don't give me an uncontrollable urge to take a knife on the streets and start stabbing random strangers, I agree with my parents that kids shouldn't be allowed to buy these games. Where do you stand in the debate?

If the NL team feel that this thread is too sensitive, I shall delete it right away.

It's up to the parents really.

I personally don't care about kids playing war games, but I certainly am against them playing games like Grand Theft Auto

One thing I never understood with my parents was that I wasn't allowed to by M-Rated games, but if my older brother bought one I was allowed to play it.

It is quite a good subject for a debate.
My stand is this, as long as the parents control their kids about gaming and that they know their kids is able to differentiate what's fake and what's real, they should allow them to play.
The best thing to do would be to play a retro violent video game, at least it won't be realistic, therefore, the rating isn't important.

I'm with lz2010. GTA is way too adult themed for basically anyone under 18. But war games and games like MGS (for the most part) are fine in my opinion.

I had a talk with my parents about knowing what's real and what isn't, and they said they couldn't know whether I'd go crazy or not. WTF?

I'm 15 and I'm allowed to play anything that I'm old enough for and some 16 rated games depending on what they are but I'm not allowed to play any 18 rated games yet. I wish I was allowed to pay 15 and 16 games earlier and that I was allowed to play 18 rated games. I've played many games that I'm wasn't old enough for at my cousin's house and some that I'm still not old enough for.

The only way you could go crazy would be if you have absolutely no friends and that you stay too long in your room.
I remember when I bought GTA San Andreas, I was 11 or 12, I remember my mom not really being okay with it, but she let it slip, as it really was more, to me, like an Itchy and Scratchy cartoon. Now I'm 18 and I like playing games like Klonoa or Tail Concerto, as well as the eventual game of Gears of War and I'm not crazy.

PS: Also, you already have to have some sort of mental disability to be subject to crazyness caused by videogames

I find it kind of odd that the same parents that let me play Mortal Kombat (not the censored one) when I was only 4 restrict me from M-rated material when I'm 14.

That's probably because the games go more and more realistic.
Also, a lot of kids played Double Dragon in the early 90's and it wasn't that kind in the begining. (based on the vids I've seen)

I grew up with violent videogames and I turned out ok. But games today are more realistic than the Doom and Mortal Kombats that I grew up with, so I'd have some kind of restrictions over what my kids play.

The original post of a thread from last month.

The guy doing the commentary echoes pretty much any thought of mine on this subject.

I play M games like NMH and MadWorld, i played M games when I was 14, but didnt really get into them until I was 15, anyway I can play them and I dont see the big problem, as I never use profane language at all and I would NEVER want to bring out a beam katana and go on a rampage. Im 16 and dont mimic anything in games. (except maybe a couple of video game lines... The Fight is on!)

Even so, the age difference is massive.

It depends on the game. For example, I'd be okay with a kid 13+ playing the Metal Gear Solid games(as they handle killing pretty seriously and give you the option of never killing anyone) but not No More Heroes.

This x 1000.

At the end of the day, some games are not appropriate for younger audiences the same way that some movies, TV shows or books are not appropriate for younger audiences. It's up to the parents/guardians to determine what's best for their child (which will vary based on the child, not necessarily by some standard-set age) and to become informed enough to be able to make such decisions as to what they feel is appropriate.

I was a trainee at a kindergarden once. Those kids were REALLY crazy, hitting each other and swearing like madmen... Yeah, they were boys. Some of them had played GTA, but you know what their main inspiration of violence was? Star Wars: The Clone Wars. I'm not kidding. So yeah, violent things aimed at a young audience is what makes kids violent according to my experience! So what is my conclusion? That violence is violence, no matter what audience it's aimed to. Kids don't care too much if the age rating is 3 or 18 when they make up their games, the result is all the same. Well, of course it's a status symbol to have played the goriest game, but it doesn't affect how thay play together! Am I conservative and want to ban all videogame violence? No, I just want to restrict it to those who can tell the difference between game and reality! In other words: Those who's imagination is fading away. It may sound sad, but I'm only referring to having a barrier between reality and fantasy. The fantasy of children runs free all the time, while grown-ups have theirs locked in for when they need to use it! So when is the imagination contained? I'd say when you are about 12-13 years old.
The answer to you problems: Convince your parents your imagionation is dead! xD

Most M-Games have about as much violence as a TV-14-rated show. I mean, how did Halo even get a Mature rating?

Kindergarten? I never swear so thats pretty surprising.

I don't think the Halo fanboys would appreciate a T rating