Something that confused me...(Gamestop related)

[Kopikatsu]

I was in my local Gamestop a few days ago, and a woman with her young (Probably about 8-9) son were getting Dead Space. As was procedure, the guy behind the counter told the woman, "That game is rated M. Is that alright with you?" She asked why it was rated M, and the guy said 'Well, there's violence. You're shooting aliens."

Then the mother went and put the game back, and told her son that he wasn't ready for that. (Or something to that effect.)

The thing that confused me was...there is a severed hand on the cover of the game. The back gives the rating, the reasons for the rating, images from the game (Which included the Necromorphs and I think Issac was shooting one of them). Not to mention the name of the game is 'Dead Space'.

I could understand that the mother may not have seen Dead Space 2's 'Your mom is gonna hate this' trailer, but...she was willing to buy the game before the GS employee told her there was violence in it. The game with a severed hand on the cover.

Admittedly, I don't talk to non-gamers/get out of the house much, but is this common for people? (Knowing absolutely nothing about the game, not even bothering to see/read the information on the box, but still buying the game for a son/daughter/niece/nephew/etc etc anyway?)

By the way Fox News freaks out about every new game ever, I would have thought there was some kind of moral panic in the US...(Interestingly, Fox declared Uncharted 2 to be 'Perhaps the best game ever made', if I remember correctly.)

Edit: Yeah, I checked. It says things like 'Dismember enemies limb from bloody limb' on the back of the box.

 

[jakeblues1295]

I think it is bad that she didn't even check. But I do have to applaud for making the right decision after being told and putting the game back

 

[Qitz]

Sadly it's all too common. That and parents buying the game for their kid anyways then getting all pissy when they find out what their kid is doing and "forget" that the employee warned them about it in the first place.

Makes me wish they'd have the parents sign a waver that says they were warned and went against it anyways.

At least this one put the game back.

That said, the hand doesn't, exactly, look severed. Though yeah the rating's right on the back but you can't expect someone to actually READ something after all.

 

[Tasachan]

I didn't notice the hand on the cover of dead space was severed. But yeah, the back makes it pretty obvious. At least she put it back, and her son didn't throw a fit.

 

[Kopikatsu]

I didn't notice the hand on the cover of dead space was severed. But yeah, the back makes it pretty obvious. At least she put it back, and her son didn't throw a fit.

Aaaaactually, her son did throw a fit.

I don't know who I agree with, really. Sure, it was shitty of the mother to change her mind like that (Since Dead Space doesn't even try to hide what it is), but..he is kind of young.

 

[Gaiseric]

People don't pay attention to the details, don't make the connections, or are just lazy.

Thinks about it, even here some people only read the title of a thread and don't read the OP. Same thing and it isn't confined to non gamers or parents.

 

[Psycho Cat Industries]

Meh,let her find out someway.Honestly,she's probably too concerned with Tennis or her "friends" to care about her kid.You see those types pretty often and its not hard to spot.Often,the kids end up as complete idiots or bullies with the occasional incompetent reality-cutter.
I am not surprised by this and won't be ever.Its just bad parenting.I don't care what the game has in it and if a kid plays it so long as the parent acknowledges it,but this one didn't so who is to blame?

 

[Vern5]

I wonder what made her choose Dead Space in the first place? Was it her son's possible whining or did she legitimately think it would be a cool thing for her boy to have?

 

[teqrevisited]

Ratings are like smallprint. The retailer is required to make it clear and prevent underage customers from buying age restricted titles directly, much like alcohol and tobacco. It's all important information but people don't bother to read it.

Then when their child murders someone and blames it on the game we get another sensationalist story that glazes over the fact that the parent ignored the ratings system all over again.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

My granny bought the first Fallout game for me when I was about 14, it was new out, when games came in those huge carboard boxes, with "An apocalyptic Roleplaying game" written in bold letters on it. and a picture of a man in a robotic suit on the front of it. She was such a quaint old fashioned lady, I have no idea what went through her head when she chose it, "Oh there is one of those new-fangled computer games my nephew likes. hmm what's it about? Surviving a nuclear holocaust? I'm sure he'd love this"

It was also a 16 and I was younger than that, so my parents didn't allow me to play it anyway.

 

[littlepima]

A lot of parents simply do not care.

My wife's cousin has a child that already has more than displayed violent, aggressive tendencies since he was about 6 years old. What does he get for Christmas a few years ago? Grand Theft Auto. "It's ok, it's not going to do anything." Uh huh, sure.