Hillary Clinton jumps on the violent videogames bandwagon

[Calaethis Dragonsbane]

GTA is not meant for children. There's an age rating on it for a REASON.

[johnny]

Originally posted by Calaethis Dragonsbane: GTA is not meant for children. There's an age rating on it for a REASON.

That's exactly the reason why kids WANT to play that game. To them it's the forbidden fruits of heaven because some label says so. Did you never sneak into movietheaters of which the movie said you weren't old enough to watch yet ? Tell kids they can't do this or that, and they will go and do just that.

[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.

[johnny]

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.

I hear you, but it's the ratings that are irrelevant, because kids play the game regardless. How they get their hands on it is a mystery to me, but they don't seem to have any problems with that.

[Timber Loftis]

Originally posted by johnny: I hear you, but it's the ratings that are irrelevant, because kids play the game regardless. How they get their hands on it is a mystery to me, but they don't seem to have any problems with that.

Still, though, at some point it's not the government's job to be a parent to every child. At some point, you just got to leave it to the parents. Otherwise, we're in for a G-rated world.

GTA games are wonderful. They rock. They're ART in my mind, and I think I have a decently-high standard. Yes, they are R-rated. So are many movies, as well as cable TV shows and music CDs. These things are all appropriately labeled to allow parents to police their children. Beyond that, I really don't know I want the government taking a hand in this.

And, you can take the games, the music, the movies, all of it, away from the children. They'll still have violent and dirty thoughts and conversations and experiences and actions. They'll always be there ready to carry the banner of appalling the elder generations. Such is life.

[Kakero]

Originally posted by johnny: quote: 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.

I hear you, but it's the ratings that are irrelevant, because kids play the game regardless. How they get their hands on it is a mystery to me, but they don't seem to have any problems with that. [/QUOTE]Those ratings are useless in other countries ( most parts of Asia for example ). Anyone regardless of age can just buy any games they want.

[Ilander]

Any "incidents" in Asia? I haven't heard of any, but that doesn't mean anything...

[T-D-C]

To me it does come down to the parents that are buying the games and letting their kids play them. When I do have kids I would not be buying a game for them that is MA 15+ when they are 8.

[Illumina Drathiran'ar]

Good for you, Hil. What a unique stance for a politician to take.

[johnny]

Originally posted by T-D-C: To me it does come down to the parents that are buying the games and letting their kids play them. When I do have kids I would not be buying a game for them that is MA 15+ when they are 8.

Parents are hardly to blame for this, or did you think they know what's on the market in gamesland ? Overall these people are from another generation, a generation that didn't grow up playing games all day long like this generation does. So a title like GTA means absolutely nothing to them, unless the media informs them about it.

Another aspect is that kids don't have to ask their parents for money, they buy it from their allowance. I bet most parents don't even know what their kids buy with that money. Personally i don't blame store owners either, their only interrest is making money, wheter that money comes from a 13 year old kid, or from a 40 year old guy, i bet they couldn't care less.

This shouldn't even be a discussion. Some lunatic kills someone, driven by what he, or worse, someone else, claims to be D&D influences....pure BS. He would have exploded sooner or later regardless of what influences he was under, because that's what lunatics do, they go nuts eventyally. Maybe while shopping, because a candybar told him to start stabbing everything that moves, or while buying a pet, because that goldfish in the corner flipped him the finger, who knows...

It's just too bad that games are always the scapegoat whenever something like this happens. I almost feel discriminated.