M-Rated Video Games:For Kids Too

are u kidding ? I love blood and gore.
and definitely let my kid buy it in the future.

as long as u know it was for entertainment purposes only.

Ratings are just there but never enforced too much here on our country... as for my opinion AS long as the kid knows that the game is just for fun then why not...

heck my 8 year old cousin has already played god of war and they are not supposed to see or even touch that game in 10 years...

Parents should educate their children. But instead they are leaving it to the game retailers...

And killing is fun, as long as you keep it to video-games.
If your kid asks 'why?' then perhaps he is not mature enough to play yet.

Every country, state, religion have their own things they like to criticize about games. Living in Germany, which has a problem with bloody scenes, I have to admit that I often order my games from Great Britain, Denmark or other nations that don't censor them.
Let's be honest. Who in the devils name would want to play a CENSORED Diablo II / III (once it launches)? I for one think that as long as it is part of the genre and the players like / expect it and are aware of it (because let's be honest, it takes one look on google for the parents to know what to expect - or just a look at the symbols on the game cover).
What is a way larger concern are parents that don't monitor the time their children are playing video games... (and I am not going to say World of Warcraft... oh well I just did). I think that is a way more stressing concern than the question what they are playing to be honest.

As long as those who want to can still view the content and play the game as intended I'll still buy the games.

Personally, I don't care if kids play M rated games or not. Violence, profanity, and nudity are all parts of life that everyone is exposed to. Violence can be seen on the local news, profanity heard on several channels, and nudity....well just about everyone has the internet.

I'm not quite sure what the question is.

Do I think games should make certain content filterable so that they can be sold/enjoyed by children (whose parents don't want them exposed to killing hookers)? No; if a game has content that warrants a mature rating, it's doubtful that it's only going to be because of one scene. Games typically aren't nice and calm except for one part with a ton of blood and gore.

Do I think games with mature content should be aimed towards kids? No; if that happens, then the whole rating system goes out the window, and while I do not believe that the current rating system works, it is keeping the wolves at bay, so to speak. If the rating system were abolished, people would be bitching even more. Probably not more people, but the ones who already bitch would be screaming even louder, and we've already seen what one or two pissed off people can do. I'd rather not have all games stripped of content just because they can't slap a label on certain games to appease those who want control.

Would I buy a game that had filterable content? If I really wanted to play the game, sure. The violence or whatever would still be there if I wanted it. Would I buy a game that had been censored to earn a lower rating? If I really wanted to play the game, sure. I haven't been excited at the idea of violence in a game since I was 12. The point is the gameplay, not whether or not I see a gallon of blood spurting from someone's neck. And if all violence is taken out of a game (meaning, you don't even kill people, you just shoot cardboard cutouts or something), I wouldn't want to play the game, because it wouldn't be fun. But in that scenario, it's not the violence or gore that I miss; it's the ability to do certain things. Perfect example - the Ratchet and Clank series. You're not killing humans, and there isn't any blood, but they are very fun games, because the AI reacts well, and the weapons are cool.

Assuming you mean: If the content is filterable, meaning it can be turned off, should it still be sold to kids, I say yes. if you can turn off certain undesired content, then why not? Really we should decide on this. Games should be checked, and stamped to let parents know that it IS mature, but can be filtered to a younger audience.

Really the evil does not come from video games, it comes from other things, more influencing then games.

If you mean: Should M games be toned down for kids, and you can turn on the gore and "bad" things in the options menu, then I guess if it makes the parents happy sure. But even then, we are bending the stick that much more, giving the ESRB leeway to censor games even more, to the point of making rated M games illegal even if it should get that far.

Sometimes all you need is a small crack to make a hole in the wall.

mmm i agreee with little kids shouldnt really talk on live but idc what they sound like i just dont want my little 13 year odl bro to get in trobule and well i mean shit he plays so many M rated games like left for dead 2 modern warfare 2 and so many others i mean when i was little i played the frist gta's and i play M rated games and i dont see that much diffrence in gears of war compared to some tenn rated game besides the obvious more blood and some language issues but as many people have siad u can change those in genral and make it to no bad language and blood i know some parents care about this stuff but the issue is what u teach your kids as long as you tell little billy johnny or bob that shooting people raping them and ETC.. are bad things that you shouldnt do at all then it would be fine and as long as they know its fake i dont see the point

also i played this so called controversial scene and i really dont see what is so bad about it if anything its just a key part of the story line becuase it shows why russia went to war with america in modern warfare 2 i mean makarov disguised himself as a american terorist killing russians and if anything you pay for it in the end cause of what happens im not trying to spoil this but also you can skip the mission i think i mean i played this and could care less its a simple video game killed fake virtaul people nothing really bad about that no crime or anything

Punctuation is cool. As well as grammar. With that said, I've been looking for an excuse to post this.




As for the topic, as I've already said, there are worse things in life than violence in video games. If games are rated Mature, then it's meant to be Mature. You think filtering out a part of the game means that it should no longer be rated M? You can filter out blood, gore,nudity and all that shit, but the fact of the matter is: people will still know. Just because someone doesn't spew blood and guts after getting shot means that they weren't shot? They were still killed, regardless of what is or isn't shown.

Games aren't real. People need to get that into their heads. People who whine and bitch about games corrupting children have obviously never seen some of things people do in real life. Take the thread about the woman hammering the two children to death for example. I've never seen any of that happening in any game. Things that happen in real life are worse, cause guess what? They are real.

People who complain about violence in games should just go ahead and turn on the news. They'll see shit that will make their stomach curl more than anything a game ever could.

Those ratings are actually a sign for parents to say: Is my child wise enough to understand that this game is not the reality? But most parents take is to srly and think it's a sign that says: This makes underaged kids think this is 'cool'.
My friends and I also played games rates M, but we're just normal. If you know what you're playing and know what real life is, I'd say you can play M rated games (as long as it doesn't get TO violant).

Only thing that bothers me is how much parents refuse to acknowledge what the Entertainment Software Rating Board has done for them. The ESRB has bended over backwards in an attempt to settle the petty complaints of parents. The rating system is succinct and easy to understand.

As a parent, if you are too lazy or dumb to learn what EC ,E, K-A, E10+, T, M and AO means then that is of no fault to the video game industry. I mean for Christ sake, they even give what each abbreviation stands for and what general age group that should represent right on the box and a detailed description for why the game has received such a rating on the back of the box.

Yet still parents act like the video game industry is feeding the kids all of this violence without any indiscretion or cause for concern. I'm not sure what more the video game industry could do to appease such lazy parents. It's not like you're eleven-year-old Timmy went out and bought GTAIV on his own. Either the parents or some other trusted figure bought it for him. How is that the video game industry's problem?

Anyway, as for the question at hand, short answer: whatever; long answer: whatever, kids will be kids and it is their guardians job to understand what it is that the kids are playing.

Personally I never owned, or I think played, an M rated game until I was actually over seventeen. Just never happened. I always played action platformers growing up and those were usually rated E and K-A when I was growing up. Then I was playing JRPGs which are usually rated T. It wasn't really until after I got out of high school that I started developing an interest in shooters, which are generally rated M. That isn't to say that is the normal occurrence though. If a child is mature enough to play a game whose rating is beyond what their general age group then the parents should allow them, but should be involved enough to know the details related to the game.

Why does it have to be anymore complicated than that?

Many "M" rated games will only be bought and play'd by kids anyway. As long as the parents aprove, who cares what they get to play.

Kids nowadays are kind of rebellious towards to the family first reason is Violent games...

Really? Kids rebel because of violent video games?

I feel a very strong need to point out that during the teenage years, kids are meant to rebel. They don't have to go crazy with it, but teens are supposed to try to become independent of their parents. (Not financially, of course, just with regards to how they act and think, that sort of thing.) If a teenager doesn't rebel at least a little bit, something's wrong. Also, kids rebelling is nothing new. Kids rebelled long before any video games ever came out, much less the violent video games of today.

for some reason that's the main for me they didn't obey their parents they just hang thru TV playing video games for how many hours... and plus Foul MOUTH. this is my opinion..

My parent's used to buy it for me even when I was young, but when they watched like some show were the kids copy what they saw in a GTA game and break into a car(lol)
They took away my game, and was like "That might happen to you too, from now on you need to be 18 to buy/play this game" Even now they'll stare at me when I start playing Rated-M games -.-"

Ive been playing M rated games sine I was young =w= the only game which disturbed me was Resident Evil 2 when I tried to play it when I was like 9 >.> (I was backed into a corner and eaten alive D=)

Dad was a gamer (mostly Football but a little of RPG's) He was the one who gave me the game D=

Oh and kids rebel or act out way before the invention of video games. Its just that they had the mind set of not doing it openly..... I mean as long as a kid is raised right, not selfish or spoiled they should be able to come out ok =w= All kids act out not matter of the circumstances of their childhood.

Personally, I think that parents should actually try to look at what games their kids want to buy. The thing is, this doesn't happen near often enough anymore. The ERSB was conceived with the idea that a rating system would help parents shopping with or for their children. They could look at a letter and see what age group a game is for, or look on the back to see why it was rated and if maybe their kids can play it. The only problem is that this doesn't happen as often as it should anymore. Parents will just blindly buy a game because their kid says "I want this."

Now, stupidity is bad enough, but the parents blame everyone but themselves and their children, which is the stupidest thing of all. Yes, some games are really good but contain elements that might be unsuitable for children. The things that parents need to face is that almost every game has some violence in it. Even in Pokemon and Super Mario Bros. you are attacking random little critters. Yeah, the games that people complain about are things like Halo, Call of Duty, basically shooters and GTA style games. But the thing is, they are upset because their kids are emulating these things or more likely, they don't think their children should be playing such things. So who do they blame?

At any rate, I personally think that kids shouldn't play these casually. Note that I say "casually" not "at all." I really can't stand it when I am playing online and some little kid is babbling in my ear or insulting everyone or getting himself and everyone else killed. If a kid is playing well and is speaking intelligently and courteously I don't mind at all. Do you think that this is hypocrisy? Remember that I say "kids shouldn't play casually." If a kid of any age under 15 can play a game like Halo, Left 4 Dead or Call of Duty and not only play it well, but can play without constantly making inane chatter or being rude, whiny or disruptive then they are at least mature enough to play the game. As for the content of the game, who knows; but they can play well and politely, they are at least mature enough to play a game.

Despite about some parents say about the violence, mild language, suggestive themes, sex, etc. in videogames. I dont think its a good idea, cause sometimes times a kid may confuse the reality with the unreal. I know that a kid will not became agressive cause games, a lot of other things are makin kids agressive, tv, family problems, etc.
Of course a rate for videogames must exist but not to strict as sometimes those rates come. I saw videogames that supossed be for kids but cause the rate became for old people.
But my opinion is, m-rated games for kids its not a good idea.

I say people just want something to blame other then take the responsibility. They want something to shut up their kids so they buy them things to hush them up. Then when they find out that the game is not to their own liking the blame them. Or when an event happens like a school shooting as always some one has to blame video games for being too violent.

I mean you cant buy a video game rated teen or above without an ID (this was really inconvenient a year ago) from Game stop.

Also Some M rated games are a lot more mild. I mean sure you can shoot of their head by shooting an arrow and there is like a sequence of moaning when your sleeping with your so-called wife but still D=