[Cerek]

Originally posted by Calaethis Dragonsbane: Actually, no. I didn't. It was easier to get hold of the VHS and watch it when my parents weren't around. Whether the kids want to play the game or not is irrelevent. The fact is, they have age ratings on, and the last time I checked, 18+ was meant for Adults, not kids.

And that is one way that younger kids get their hands on "mature" games. They have older siblings or parents who buy the game for themselves, but the younger kids end up playing them too when the siblings or parents aren't around or aren't in the room.

The very first PC I bought was an old model my college roommate had. It had a first generation pentium processer in it, but it came with fully registered versions of Doom I&II and Duke Nuke'em already loaded. I enjoyed the games, until my 4yr old (at the time) son saw me playing them one day and wanted to play them for himself. He is 8 now and that PC is no longer in the house. I gave it to my mom when I bought a better computer. Even though I removed the shortcuts leading to the games, though, he still knows how to Search for the game and pull them up to play them. He doesn't have much opportunity to play them anymore, but he discovered the game (which was my fault) and discovered how to access the game even after I tried to "hide" it.

Kids today seem to be very "tech savvy". Maybe it is just that they aren't afraid to keep pushing buttons until they learn what they do. But if older siblings (or in some cases the parents themselves) buy these games to play, then the younger siblings WILL find a way to get the games and play them too.

The ratings on the game ARE meaningless.