Would you let YOUR kids play?

[jasoncyrus]

snip

It all depends on the child, my 5 year old and 9 year old step daughters quite happily wath their 14 year old brother and 12 year old sister play resident evil on the wii and dont bat an eye lash and have yet to have a sleepless night because of it.

 

[Delock]

First of all, if I ever have kids, they'll be playing old NES games to understand how good they have it (probably Megamans, where I'd make it a contest between us to see how much further we could get in killing the boss since I know from experience that not many people actually can beat a level and then the boss in those games). Then I'd probably let them have more T rated games around ages 9 or 10, and they'd probably be the barely teen stuff. However, I would allow M for late 15-16 years old.
There would be the exceptions, like Halo (offline) during T range, but I would definitely not allow them to play a game I don't know about.

I've been noticing the trend of games being more M rated as time goes on, which is somewhat depressing given that you still can tell a story with an E rated game (look at Kingdom Hearts). Instead kids get liscened games that they soon learn are crap or sports games.

 

[squid5580]

Depends on the game and how my daughter is when she gets older. Is she mature enough? Prone to nightmares? Will she respect the content? And have I played it first?

 

[little bear]

12-14...yeah I like that. I think my kids can be mature and handle their sanity with system shock 2 at about the age.

 

[liveslowdiefast]

M, sooner or later your gonna have to explain to them about that the world is a place of violence and sex and why don't you just be honest about them and stop beating around the bush and calling sex "woppie" my parents were honest with me and i'm one of the best students at my school, and to be fair i've read far worse books and no parent is gonna stop their kid reading. also Kids know what their scared of so a 11 probley won't play something like f.e.a.r.

 

[ChiryX]

Idd let my kids play whatever videogame they like, not letting kids play videogames because they are violent is absolutely ridiculous for me.. since only kids are interrested in games where the main focus is on violence. Ive always been against age limits in movies and videogames because I dont rly see the reason behind them, surely U shouldnt make your 6 year old watch porn or violent movies if he wouldnt want to but I dont think there is damage done by such things unless you dont explain em to your kid (or unless ur kid is fucked up in the head, wich makes him a ticking time bomb and thats no better rly.)

 

[Ekonk]

Probably. As long as they realize that it's obviously not real and as long as it isn't Manhunt - The Epitome Of Bad Taste.

 

[CD-R]

Regardless of the games content I wouldn't let any of my kids play on line before 15 or 16. Mainly to spare people from the annoying voices of 13 year olds. And only after they have learned proper Internet behavior. Guess thats something new parents need to teach kids these days.

Depends on the M-rated game and depends on the kid...

For example I would let a 12 year old play Dead Space or Resident Evil, if they thought they could handle it however I wouldn't let anyone under 16 get near a Grand Theft Auto or Saints Row title, and even then that's debatable. I'd be pretty good with letting a kid aged 10 and up play any of the Halo games, though I'd be concerned about online interactions. Similarly age 12 and up would be good for titles like Fallout, Mass Effect, Oblivion or either of the Assassins Creed games. Gears of War is definitely a 16+ title as well.

I don't know where the Call of Duty titles or Killzone 2 would sit in my rating. Any of the World War 2 based shooters would be fine for 12+ (that shit be... educational?) but I'd be a little wary of exposing anyone under 15 or 16 to some of the stuff in COD 4. And the language/writing in Killzone 2 is just atrocious.

I don't know about Fallout 3 for a 12 year old. You can do some pretty disturbing things to people in that game. What with all the drug use etc. Oblivion would be fine I think. As for the swearing in military shooters, well thats what happens when men are at war. They swear a lot, it's just the way it is. It would be weird to have a military shooter game where that wasn't the case. Anyone who was ever in the military can tell you that.

 

[ChiryX]

Actually, If my kid was a boy, the moment he went to elementary school idd buy him games other parents probobly wouldnt let theyr children have, that way he could invite others over to play them with him and he would make more friends. Har har! I outsmart the pointless game rating system )

 

[xxnightlawxx]

Hmm... depends. Emotional scarring isn't the only problem since kids imitate EVERYTHING. So I guess I wouldn't let them play anything without telling them it's all fake.

I have vivid memories of jumping on and off the kitchen table/couches in a blue jacket yelling "IM MEGAMAN!" and trying to run like sonic.

"LOL" Sarcasm.

EDIT: I played Conker's Bad Fur Day When It cam Out and I am a perfectly good kid, well teen. Haha. I just play all those horrible trauma inducing electronic entertainment discs.

 

[ma55ter_fett]

I respect the rateings

ie 13 and up teen (some exceptions but not many)

17 and up mature (some exceptions but not many)

and no online multiplayer till they are 17 definately, no way am I going to be responsible for putting 13 year olds on live.

 

[Mr_spamamam]

I'd let my kids play any game, but they would have to play it with me so that they have some kind of context given to them for the actions that occure on-screen. and so I could rinse them up and laugh

 

[Deofuta]

I would let my children play any game I had played first and have given approval on. It gives a unique perspective coming from the idea that most of our parents were not gamers themselves. Also, I would closely moniter their online play, if they start talking to me/ others like they are on XBL, its off the net for them.

 

[Iwata]

My parents were incredibly permissive as I grew. In fact, my dad would watch "Alien", "Predator", "Friday the 13th", "Dawn of the Dead", etc. regularly with me on his lap as I was young, and I turned out just fine.

So yeah. I'd let them play whatever the hell they want.

 

[Vkmies]

I would do like my dad did. I would not care that much for blood and guts, but sex and stuff would be out of the question 'till the age of something like 13. He could play anything where you can kill Aliens or monsters or animals. But innocent people would be safe from my boy before i could see that he knew what he was doing.

 

[Jenova65]

I have always judged every game on it's individual merits rather than it's ratings, I see them definitely as a guideline, for example some games are rated way older than they need to be (imo) I wouldn't have let my kids play Manhunt when they were young, I just don't think it is a healthy game for them to play, but as they got older I know my kids and what they are able to process iyswim, so have let them play games above their age. For example my daughter was 13/14 when she first played ME and it was rated 15/16 over here, was I going to stop her playing because of sideboob and a kiss? Hell no! How would that affect her negatively? Sex seen as something normal and not furtive is healthy.

 

[Phoenixlight]

Well no being a morally good person I wouldn't.