Who was an "underage" gamer? and the disconnect between us and the past decades

[sethisjimmy]

The problem isn't parents letting their kids play mature games, i'm sure plenty of us were playing mature rated games far before the ESRB would recommend.
The problem is when parents attack video game companies for releasing mature games. They're still in that mindset that video games are for kids, and think that no adult should be allowed to have non-family-friendly fun, then blame the video games industry or particular companies for selling this stuff, when it is entirely the parents job to keep track of what they are buying their kids.

I mean seriously, i've never heard of a problem with parents letting their kid play a mature game if the parent is aware of what's in the game and is okay with it.
The problem comes from parents being lazy assholes and just buying whatever their kid tells them to buy without question.

What it all comes down to is this. Society isn't responsible for raising your kid. The video game industry is not responsible for raising your kid. You are. Pay attention to your kid and his/her interests, and you will not have a problem.

Being willfully ignorant of your child's interests is not an excuse to blame someone other than yourself for your child getting into trouble.

 

[BOOM headshot65]

My parents were always rather strict about what I could watch, read, and play. For instance, I could play shooters with blood (no gore), light language, and NO sexual content. First M-game I played: Call of Duty 4 at the age of 15. This also brings about my parents exception.
1) If they have seen it, rating doesnt matter, they will let me watch it.
2) If it is a WW2 movie, or Vietnam Movie, or any other US war, they will let me watch it (because of my aspergers obsession on US wars.)

I am 18 now, so I can play anything I want and Watch anything I want, but I still keep rules on what I do and dont watch. And I will use my parents forumla for when I have children of my own.

 

[hoboman29]

While I'm not criticizing anyone who is actually a parent I think it could be better to at least know what your children are going to be playing before buying it so you can know how you would feel about them playing it.

Yes I was an underage gamer I played Duke Nukem 3D looong before I was 18 (I think every gamer has a story like that)

 

[White-Death]

In the UK I can safely buy any game, but mainly because I know most employees at game retailers,I may not be social in real life, but the Steam community is a hell of a thing.
I started seriously playing games at the age of 5, starting off with racing and trucking games with a Microsoft sidewinder,then later to flight simulators and train simulators and the age of 8.
I played my first ''hardcore'' game at 9 years old, it was Half life.Then I later played Half life 2,Operation Flashpoint. and later Counter Strike.I was pretty mature at 10 years old as most kids go, not screaming into the mic if someone kills me.I also tended to use very technical words while working with a team, most people called me a 'Talking Dictionary'.
At 11 years old, I started playing RPGS and simulators like TES III: Morrowind,and ArmA.
After 11 years old, I started getting pocket monies, and started buying and playing a wider range of games.
So yes, I was an ''underage'' gamer.

 

[guidance]

I do admit that I played games above my age range, but I had to earn them. My dad was a gamer so he knew a game was violent so I had to prove I could handle M rated games. At 13 I was able to play worrier within first M rated game. Online interactions are a different thing though, I played starcraft online when I was 10 and refused to trash talk, even with friends around telling me what to say, I just couldn't be mean. When a kid starts throwing around racist, sexist, and homophobic slurs I do sometimes feel like the parents might not have communicated how hurtful those words can be. No I would not consider it as a failure of parenting, that isn't my place to judge, but I feel more could have been done.

Yes I am fully aware people just trash talk for the fun of it, but I can only take hearing a high pitch voice scream the N word into the mic. so many times.

 

[feeback06]

I remember playing Mortal Kombat at around age 6, and Resident Evil around age 8. My parents never really had an issue with what games I played, but I couldn't watch anything R-rated. As for kids today, I can't judge whatever they let their children play, but I know for a fact if I talked to people the way some kids do to me over xbox live then I would have gotten my ass whooped.

 

[HardkorSB]

And personally, I don't think parents should be completely at fault here for their ignorance. Sure they could do more research but when you wanted your first console did YOUR parents look up anything about it? No. Mine didn't at least. My parents had no idea what kind of games the NES played...they had no idea what the N64 did or the PS1 when my brother and I got them.

Yeah sure, except when I was an "underage gamer", it was the 90's (no internet) and you couldn't just look up game consoles anytime you wanted.
The least you had to do is to buy a specific issue of a specific magazine that talked about the specific thing you wanted to know and even for that, you had to already know which magazine talked about what types of things. Getting opinions from multiple sources was even a bigger hassle.
Now you just google what you need and you get 10000 sources in 2 seconds.
Therefore, nowadays parents should know more about what their kids are into because it's so much easier to find out about it.

 

[KingofallCosmos]

I was underage everything. My parents couldn't have done a thing about it

 

[IndomitableSam]

My mom was a bigger gamer than me in the 80's (and 90's)... and, well, the 80's was too pixely for it to matter. It's funny - she didn't like us watching The Simpsons, but when my cousin (same age as me) brought over Mortal Kombat, she didn't care. Probably because she was terrible at it and left the room frustrated. My parents really didn't have any issue with sex or violence with us as kids. Was great to have open-minded parents.

I try not to comment on the way someone else raises their kids, I just give anecdotes. Some people ignore me entirely because I don't have my own - and some people listen because I was a teacher and also ran the after-school program and you learn a shitton about kids when you have 30+ in the room aged 4 to 10 every day for hours on end. I saw these kids more than their parents. So dealing with issues is something I learned to do - and also never to comment on how someone raises their kids. ... To their face. I'll badmouth them terribly when they're not there, though.

Still, I always tell parents to get informed and spend some time with their kids doing everything the kid enjoy. Learn something about every hobby, every game, every website they go to. Doing that means you can have good discussions with your kids about things and they know they can trust you and come to you when needed.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

My dad was a gamer. Oh and I'm 24 and my first console was a genesie which he got for himself XD. All through my early childhood he'd be the one getting games he liked which I ended up playing too till I grew old enough to ask for stuff. This was back in the mid 90s btw so no internet XD.

Anyways, my point is coming up. We played games TOGETHER. Lots of scary or gory stuff too like silent hill. That's what parents are supposed to do and why they catch flak for being surprised. I had more games than I could ask for but the systems were in my parents bedroom and playing stuff meant being under their constant supervision. If current parents did the same things would be fine.

 

[Stormz]

My dad used to play games a lot with my brother so it's never really been a problem. So yes, I was an underaged gamer. Hell, because I don't have my license yet it's like I still am underaged because I can't get games without my parents still due to the fact the game stores around here seem to think having a car is the only way you're legal to buy a videogame.

 

[Denamic]

There's a huge difference between parents letting their kids play games with age ratings and parents that lets games (and TV) do their parenting for them. I grew up watching horror movies. I loved horror movies. Some of my most fond memories are of me and my mom watching Aliens 2.

 

[Lilani]

I don't have a problem with underage kids playing games. If that's what they want to do and their parents allow them or can't be arsed to prevent them, then whatever. Play on. I do have a problem with underage kids who come into online multiplayer games and use their mics every damn second of the game. It's not even what they say, which is usually pointless and too damn loud. It's how horrible and high their voices are, it just hurts my ears so bad :-\

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

I was an 'underage gamer' back in the day. And yes, I'll still criticize parents who think they aren't at fault. Why? Because I was an 'underage gamer' who was under parental supervision.

My parents, to make a huge understatement, were great. When they found out that I was interested in video games as a hobby, they actually took the time to learn a thing or two about them. They started me off with family friendly games, and some of my fondest gaming memories are of playing multiplayer Donkey Kong Country with my mom when she got home from work. When I started asking for more mature titles, rather than just letting me get them, they did a little bit of research first. When they thought I was ready to handle them, they let me play them while under their supervision. When they observed that I could handle violent content and didn't have difficulty distinguishing games from reality, they loosened up on the supervision.

Too many parents just see video games as an electronic babysitter. They don't bother to learn anything at all about their child's hobby, they just plop the kid down in front of the games to keep them quiet for a few hours. Then when they find out that their ten year old kids are playing Grand Theft Auto or Call of Duty, suddenly it's the game's fault? Hah... no. As far as I'm concerned, these people are complete failures as parents. If you don't have the time to learn about your children's interests or even spend some time sharing those interests with them, you probably shouldn't have had kids in the first place.

 

[JediMB]

I was 9 when I first played DOOM. Good times.

Not sure if I should consider my parents irresponsible for letting me, or good judges of character for realizing that I could tell fantasy from reality and all that junk. (But then DOOM also scared me so much that I couldn't play it without "IDDQD".)

What I do know, though, is that having video games as my primary hobby has "impaired" me in certain ways, and I'm quite frankly terrible at improving myself. When/if I have kids of my own, I've sworn try to take these things into account with them.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

My mother unknowingly got me God of War when I was 15, because I'd got something big for Christmas, and just to have something to unwrap with the family, she got me a couple of bargain games. I still stand by her decision.

Before that, around age 8, I was playing with the kids in my neighborhood on Mortal Kombat I and III, and saw all the brutal finishes, and found them beyond realistic, so it stopped mattering that they were violent.

You have to remember, though, that when we chastise parents, we're chastising their parenting. Good parenting, we have no problems with. Bad parenting, however, always deserves a couple of slaps.

 

[ultrabiome]

i will try to keep my young children (<10-11) away from the violent games (anything over M, some T), and then probably let them play almost anything they want after that. that's pretty much how it was for me, although i might change my mind if my children can't handle it.

i totally expect my children to see R rated movies with me by about 5, i probably will rarely ever censor their music, and since i'm a gamer, they can't get away with what they could with an ignorant parent - but at the same time, i'll actually know what games are appropriate and good and which are inappropriate and/or crap.

Mortal Kombat, GTA, Fallout is fine for a teenager, but I don't think much younger should play them, more for the adult situations than the gore, but that too. Doom (at least the first 2) and T rated shooters maybe a little younger as the first is obviously fake and the other is rarely more than a little blood and a crumpled body. Dismemberment, realistic gore, sex, and adult situations are a little too much for a young child in my mind.

 

[nohorsetown]

My daughter wanted Rage (she's 14) I said no. She asked why, I said it's not a very good game and got her Fallout New Vegas instead ... she enjoyed it.

Haha, that's great. I've had similar situations with my daughter (tho she's only 9): I'm a massive snob, and I care more about the quality of the game than the rating. I'm the same way with music, TV, books, and movies. She's been exposed to some stuff which her friends' parents would find scary or inappropriate, but the thing is: I know my daughter, and I know my shit. I watch/play/read it myself first, and if it's "edgy", but still high-quality (in my subjective snob opinion, of course), then I'm there with her, explaining things. Meanwhile, her school friends are plonked in front of the Disney channel, obsessing over clothes and money and dancedancedancedancedance! Their parents are not involved - they trust the rating systems - but at least they're not elitists!

On topic: Yeah, I played DOOM as a young teenager, and I hid it from my mom. If she had given a damn about my interests, and been there to guide me, and been a logical person.. (sigh) ..well, I shouldn't have had to hide it. By that point she was resigned to the fact that I was gonna play those disgusting, mind-numbing video games (to her, that meant *all* video games except Odell Lake), and she had pretty much given up on me. I didn't really like DOOM all that much, though. Wasteland was better, both as a game and as a way to get excited about "nasty" grown-up forbidden stuff. "..exploding his head like a blood sausage.." / "..turning him into a thin, red mist.." -ahh, those were the days. But all the gore was in the text, and the game came with a BOOK, and of course my mom knew that books were smart and stuff, so it flew right under the radar.

So.. what's to be done with these underage gamers?: Frickin' DUH. Know your kid. Know your/their media. Actually spend time with your kid. Seems pretty obvious to me, but then again I'm an elitist prick who would rather expose my kid to "Freaks and Geeks" than "Shake It Up".

P.S. - So far, my daughter doesn't resent me for not allowing/encouraging her to be a little idiot. There's a prevailing opinion that she will, though, someday. That she'll rebel HARD, like those home-schooled kids in that South Park episode. I aim to prove that theory wrong, but I guess only time will tell.