Parents Blamed For Own Ineptitude

[Project 2501]

According to this BBC article, the majority of parents actually ignore age ratings on games! Who'd a thunk it? At least now that this problem has been identified the games industry can take further measures to protect itself from clueless parents.

Link

[Cyhwuhx]

.::: Praise the lord! Now let this sing around and maybe, MAYBE we can finally get games to be praised for what they are.

[therearerules]

"The violence in video games is often of a cartoon nature. The outcry over Manhunt was laughable because the game was rubbish and wouldn't have sold at all but for the furore in the press."

ooof!

[Judgement]

To True, Manhunt wasn't that good, but i played and every time my little brother came in the room, i would turn it off, that goes for any other game i am playing.

But i can't say my parents are blamless, that let me play games that weren't intended for my age a few years ago.

I was 13 when i played Resident Evil on the playstation.

[Graham S]

Parents let children play games for adults, even though they knew they were 18-rated.

"Most parents think their child is mature enough so that these games will not influence them," Modulum researcher Jurgen Freund told a games conference.

Parents perceive age ratings as a guide but not as a definite prohibition," said Jurgen Freund, Modulum chief executive.

"Some may have not liked the content but they did not prohibit the game."

Sounds like sensible, mature parenting to me.

[Popo]

Sounds like sensible, mature parenting to me.

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Yea, as long as they don't turn around when their son stabs soemone in real life, or is stabbed in real life, and says "It was teh games wot dunnit".

[therearerules]

But i can't say my parents are blamless, .

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I have to concurr.

[Guest]

Surely being blamed for your OWN ineptitude...kinda makes sense right?

[jiroczech]

I let my 8 yr old play Soul Calibur 2 but I wouldn't let him play, or even watch me play Project Zero and they're both PEGI 16. I think most parents vet their kids' gaming in the same way.

[Professor Rob]

Sounds like sensible, mature parenting to me.

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Well said.

I've two sons, aged 5 and 16 (eldest is my stepson, in case you were wondering about the gap). The youngest regularly watches the eldest playing games, which is fine with me. However, Richard (16) has recently been playing GTA:SA which I have no objection to (despite it being an 18), BUT he's not allowed to play it when Matthew's around.

All it needs is a bit of common sense on the part of parents. What it doesn't need is for some third party from the nanny state to rigidly enforce age ratings and dictate to parents what they're allowed to let their kids play. I know my kids better than some fuckwit from ELSPA or the BBFC, thank you.

[sandman]

Well said.

I've two sons, aged 5 and 16 (eldest is my stepson, in case you were wondering about the gap). The youngest regularly watches the eldest playing games, which is fine with me. However, Richard (16) has recently been playing GTA:SA which I have no objection to (despite it being an 18), BUT he's not allowed to play it when Matthew's around.

All it needs is a bit of common sense on the part of parents. What it doesn't need is for some third party from the nanny state to rigidly enforce age ratings and dictate to parents what they're allowed to let their kids play. I know my kids better than some fuckwit from ELSPA or the BBFC, thank you.

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Well said Professor!

I let my 4 year old watch me play Jade Empire until I could cut peoples heads off and blood spurted out. Now, I wait for her to go to sleep before playing. I let her play Bloody Roar 3, but wouldn't dream of playing Resi 4 while she was around.

Its all about making sensible choices and much of it comes down to the individual child.

[spaceyjase]

I let my 8 yr old play Soul Calibur 2 but I wouldn't let him play, or even watch me play Project Zero and they're both PEGI 16.  I think most parents vet their kids' gaming in the same way.

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Do your parents know what the content of both these games is like?

All it needs is a bit of common sense on the part of parents.

o/\o

Just like anything in life, aye? It's unfortunate that the isolated cases highlighted by the press seem to be perceived as the norm.

[df0notfound]

its the fast food adverts fault my son is fat

its the magazines fault my daughters annorexic

and so on

[emjay2kay]

The difference is though, you guys have a bit of common sense, and combined with the fact you are gamers yourselves, makes you quite different to many parents.

I remember when the Manhunt thing happened, and I was explaining to my mum that many parents just don't understand what these games involve. I went down the extreme route, and described GTA in the Daily Mail style "have sex with prostitute and stab her to death with a screwdriver so you don't have to pay her". She was absolutely shocked that you could do that in games.

She was slightly more shocked when I said it was what I was playing just two hours earlier.

[Guest]

She was slightly more shocked when I said it was what I was playing just two hours earlier.

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Did you bag her as she turned to run?

[emjay2kay]

Did you bag her as she turned to run?

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I started my chainsaw up, if that's what you mean.

My Dad wasn't pleased. He'd just decorated the dining room.

[Guest]

I started my chainsaw up, if that's what you mean.

My Dad wasn't pleased. He'd just decorated the dining room.

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[Smoothy]

I read that BBC thing too. And it was spot on, most parents are complete idiots who actually go out and BUY 18 games, even though they wouldn't buy an 18 film. And it's all to do with the perception that games are for kids. Idiots. Maybe if they actually paid attention to what their children are playing, little Johnny wouldn't be turning into a sadist by the time he is 13.

[Smitty]

Manhunt's violence is hardly ''cartoony''.

[Harmunt]

Manhunt's violence is hardly ''cartoony''.

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Agreed.

[Batman]

To True, Manhunt wasn't that good, but i played and every time my little brother came in the room, i would turn it off, that goes for any other game i am playing.

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You turn off every game you have when you bro comes in the room?

Doesn't that get a bit annoying?

[Ravern]

My dad bought Manhunt for me when I was 14, and I made him fully aware of the nature of its content and its banning in New Zealand and the like.

I'm still a peaceful, free thinking, kind person in my opinion. It has made me in no way more violent or malicious. Obviously I would not approve of someone 13 or under playing it, or let alone some other people of my age that I know, but in my case I enjoyed the game and its atmosphere and it hasn't turned me into a sadistic psychopathic madman.

[robdood]

Manhunt's violence is hardly ''cartoony''.

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It is really - comedy birght red blood, and even the typical red-circle with a white circle in it for a decapitated neck. No worse than I've seen in cartooms.

Now if it looked like that bit in Casino, when they batter Joe Pesci and the other guy with baseball bats, now THAT would be realistic violence.

[Ravern]

It is really - comedy birght red blood, and even the typical red-circle with a white circle in it for a decapitated neck. No worse than I've seen in cartooms.

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But it's not to the extent that it's completely unrealistic, even if it does seem near comical at times. But I'd still say the graphics are very violent, much more so than any cartoon

Also the sheer principle of many of the parts in the game are very violent and have a disturbing edge to them.

[therearerules]

My dad bought Manhunt for me when I was 14, and I made him fully aware of the nature of its content and its banning in New Zealand and the like.

I'm still a peaceful, free thinking, kind person in my opinion. It has made me in no way more violent or malicious. Obviously I would not approve of someone 13 or under playing it, or let alone some other people of my age that I know, but in my case I enjoyed the game and its atmosphere and it hasn't turned me into a sadistic psychopathic madman.

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Yes because you're SPECIAL, and 14 year olds are SOOOOO much mature than 13 year olds. For goodness sake.

[Gwynster]

This thread is like Delorean Squared.

We've discussed this shit hundreds of times, guys!

[MaffewE]

There's nothing like a fair, balanced debate.

And this is nothing like a fair, balanced debate.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0506/21/ng.01.html

You remember that video game called Grand Theft Auto? Some stores actually refused to carry it because it was so violent? Well, hold on to your hats. Now there`s 25 to Life, and the object is to kill cops. That`s right. You get rewarded on this video game if you kill cops. We called the company who`s putting this thing out. It`s called Idos (ph). We called Idos headquarters in California. They did not return our calls. We tried to call them in Great Britain. No response. In earlier reports, when they were asked to comment on this video game, they always say no comment.

Tonight, in Asheville, North Carolina, trial attorney Jack Thompson. We`re bringing in the rest of our panel tonight. Jack, bring me up to date. What is 25 to Life? Hey, Elizabeth, can you show me 25 to Life while Jack is talking?

And I also want to show everybody one after the next, after the next police officers that lost their life in the line of duty! Now, this is a video game, and you`re seeing at the bottom of this screen, real-life cops that lost their lives trying to protect you and me.

Jack, hit it.

JACK THOMPSON, TRIAL ATTORNEY: Nancy, there are three cops that are dead in Alabama because of Grand Theft Auto by City, two cops and a dispatcher. So we know that these cop-killing games are leading to these killings because that`s what they are, they`re murder simulators. Xbox, of course, which this game will be available on, along with Sony`s Playstation 2 -- you have to ask Bill Gates, What are you thinking? Here`s a philanthropist and a powerful man, the richest man in the world, and yet he`s making available to children around the world on Xbox a cop-killing game.

The military, Nancy, uses these murder simulators, killing simulators...

GRACE: Oh!

THOMPSON: ... to break down the inhibition of new recruits to kill. And therefore, of course it`ll have that same effect on teenage civilians. So the reality is that these games are leading to deaths, and in fact, there`s a University of Indiana study that came out three days ago that showed that kids process these games in the part of the brain that leads to copycatting.

GRACE: Incredible! Incredible! I can hardly even focus on what you`re saying, Jack. Elizabeth, please continue showing it because what I`m looking at is the picture of one cop after the next, Dino Lombardi, that we are showing gunned down in the line of duty, Dino!

DINO LOMBARDI, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nancy, people kill cops. Video games don`t kill cops.

GRACE: OK. You know what? I knew you`d say that. Debra Opri?

DEBRA OPRI, ATTORNEY FOR JACKSON`S PARENTS: You know, you are really upsetting me, Nancy, because you used the 1st Amendment to destroy Michael Jackson, and you won`t use the 1st Amendment to protect an entertainment company. Does anybody remember Charlie Chaplin in the early days of movies, silent movies? He picked on cops. He attacked cops. He was such a problem to Herbert Hoover and the FBI...

GRACE: OK, you know what?

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: Thank you for bringing up Herbert Hoover and Charlie Chaplin.

OPRI: Can I tell you something?

GRACE: When we come back, we`ll be talking about 25 to Life. You`re seeing a line-up of one cop after the next killed in the line of duty. And this video machine is being marketed and sold. It comes out in August on the shelves of stores in your neighborhood. Look at this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: Well, Senator Chuck Schumer is asking the video game 25 to Life be boycotted. It depicts street gang violence, killing cops. This is what your kids will be digesting if you buy this for $49.95. You`re seeing at the bottom of the screen one law officer after the next gunned down in the line of duty.

To Bethany Marshall. You know, the U.S. Supreme Court just ruled in 2003 -- I`ve got it right in front of me -- that video games have nothing to do with violence. Thoughts?

BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: Well, I`ll tell you what does have do with violence, strong emotional experiences. And when those kids are gaming and they press the button or the mouse and they actually kill somebody and there`s an emotional charge that does rewire the brain. And another thing that affects violence is lack of parental rules. So a question I have with these games are, Where are the parents.

GRACE: You know, Dino Lombardi, I`ve only got one minute left. But in the last Tennessee shooting, where a kid shot two cops and a third person, they had been watching this Grand Theft Auto for days on end. It said life is like a video game. And you`re still telling me this is OK?

LOMBARDI: Well, I`m not saying it`s OK, but I don`t support censoring it.

GRACE: Yes, you are!

LOMBARDI: I`m not saying it`s OK, Nancy.

GRACE: We censor porn...

LOMBARDI: ... and you know I`m not saying it`s OK.

GRACE: ... don`t we? We censor porn. Why would we let there be cop- shooting videos?

LOMBARDI: We have movies where cops are killed, and we have many instances of people who have killed...

GRACE: But kids can get this!

LOMBARDI: ... who we can show they can have watched such movies.

GRACE: Jack...

LOMBARDI: It`s not...

GRACE: ... children can get this, Jack Thompson!

LOMBARDI: Yes. The 1st Amendment, people who understand the 1st Amendment know does not protect the right of a company to sell an M-rated game to a child.

GRACE: Jack, Jack, I`ve...

THOMPSON: Children don`t have a 1st Amendment...

GRACE: ... only got 20 seconds. Jack...

THOMPSON: Yes?

GRACE: ... we logged on to buy Grand Theft Auto. We didn`t buy it, but it says, If you`re under 17, click here. That`s all it takes, Jack. Anybody can get this.

THOMPSON: Exactly. And there`s no penalty, except in Illinois...

GRACE: Boy!

THOMPSON: ... if you sell...

GRACE: OK.

THOMPSON: ... a game like this to a child.

GRACE: Guys, we`ve run out of time. I want to thank all of my guests tonight, but my biggest thank you, as always, to you for being with us, inviting all of us into your home.