Young Gamers

[ShotgunShaman]

Hi there. Thought this might be an interesting discussion to have with fellow Escapists. What are your opinions on young gamers?
More specifically:

Should M-rated games be better kept from children (meaning 12 down or so)?

Why are children so widely disliked on Xbox Live, especially voice chat? Admittedly, I'm also annoyed by whining 12 year olds, but I actually can't really justify my dislike.

Do you think it's a major physical problem for kids playing hours and hours of videogames? (studies have shown that hand deformations are actually quite possible from too many games).

Those three should hopefully kick off this discussion. But please don't feel limited to them.

And yes, I used the search button

-Shotty

 

[NotAPie]

Because they think its "Cool" to swear and say racist things (about the ones on xboxlive).
Yes they should be better kept from children. (M rated games)
Not really. (blargh)

Unless they can be more mature then DESTROY THEM ALLLLL...

 

[Hazy]

Kids on Xbox Live/PSN/The web in general usually annoy me because of their naieve outlook on life, and just general annoyance. Whether it be from squeaky voices, excessive swearing, or temper tantrums, I think we can all see why they are disliked.

And as for the M Rated question, thats for the parents to decide. If little Johnny 4 Finger has the tendency to burn kittens and roast marshmallows in the hollowed out corpses of his enemies:
1. Good for him. It shows he's taking initiative and,
2. GTA might not be the best game for him.
Ultimately, I see no wrong, if the kids are mature enough to handle it.

 

[BolognaBaloney]

Annoying voices and immaturity abound in the online gaming world, age regardless.
But as far as younger kids, yes they should be kept away from M-rated games.
I don't believe it influences them, but I do believe it can desensitize them.

 

[Birras]

Let me answer you question by question.

Hi there. Thought this might be an interesting discussion to have with fellow Escapists. What are your opinions on young gamers?

I think young gamers are neccesary to keep the industry alive, as otherwise the industry would eventually fade out of existence as gamers inevitably die, or at least lose the ability to play due to early onset arthritis.

More specifically:

Should M-rated games be better kept from children (meaning 12 down or so)?

That is up to parents to decide. I see no harm, although extremely young children might find certain M-rated games disturbing.

Why are children so widely disliked on Xbox Live, especially voice chat? Admittedly, I'm also annoyed by whining 12 year olds, but I actually can't really justify my dislike.

The reason they are hated in voice chat is because most people who hate their voices don't know how/refuse to use the mute button provided in most Xbox LIVE games. The reason they are hated in gameplay is that quite a few child gamers are impatient, and don't want to bother with the whole teamwork thing. This often results in teamkilling.

Do you think it's a major physical problem for kids playing hours and hours of videogames? (studies have shown that hand deformations are actually quite possible from too many games).

For hand deformation, I find that unlikely. I've been gaming for, oh say, 6-7 years now and the only result is that my fingers are very long and slender. I do not see if this could be counted as a physical problem, as my slender fingers are ideal for playing guitar, something I do to get paid at local clubs.

Those three should hopefully kick off this discussion. But please don't feel limited to them.

And yes, I used the search button

-Shotty

Oh, did you now?

 

[DragonsAteMyMarbles]

What, you mean I don't qualify as "young" any more?!

Children are only really disliked on Live if they go on about how awesome they are at whichever game. Especially if this breed of mini-twat kills you and spends half the rest of the session going on about how shit you are and how they kicked your arse.
I've nothing against kids who act sensibly on Live - but sadly they are few and far between. In my experience, anyway.
Maybe it's my fault for telling Microsoft I play games as a form of recreation.

 

[A random person]

I'll just say that most kids I knew since 12 could handle M-rated games just fine. They really aren't that bad.

Annoying voices and immaturity abound in the online gaming world, age regardless.
But as far as younger kids, yes they should be kept away from M-rated games.
I don't believe it influences them, but I do believe it can desensitize them.

And what's wrong with that? I never got why desensitization's such a bad thing, especially if it doesn't influence them.

But I agree with you about online gaming, it doesn't really matter how old they are, people will be idiots, especially on Xbox Live.

 

[Phyroxis]

-shrugs-

Depends on their maturity level. If they can handle an M rated game, then fine.. but most cant.

dun play on XBL.

Fitness? I dont think it does /that/ much. I've been gaming since I was in 3rd grade, and thats been the majority of my free-time.. I'm a fit 6'2'' 190 lbs.

I think it really depends on what you do during the rest of your time.. Are you driving everywhere? Walking? Biking? What are you eating? I try to cook as much at home as I can, and I tend to move around a lot (lots of dancing..) so that certainly makes a difference.

 

[BolognaBaloney]

I'll just say that most kids I knew since 12 could handle M-rated games just fine. They really aren't that bad.

Annoying voices and immaturity abound in the online gaming world, age regardless.
But as far as younger kids, yes they should be kept away from M-rated games.
I don't believe it influences them, but I do believe it can desensitize them.

And what's wrong with that? I never got why desensitization's such a bad thing, especially if it doesn't influence them.

But I agree with you about online gaming, it doesn't really matter how old they are, people will be idiots, especially on Xbox Live.

Because there are some things, namely child-like innocence, that doesn't need to be stripped away by gaming. For once, I agree with the government, I'm glad we have rating systems, because most 12 year olds shouldn't be playing gta 4. With age comes better understanding, and more time to realize your own choices and preferences, when it comes to life or games.

 

[Markgraf]

I believe the root of the matter should be decided by the parents of the child who are, ideally, the people most knowledgeable about the child. Consequently, they can and should make the decision on an individual basis, pertaining to the needs of each child.

 

[TheRandomHobo]

The line between gamers is has become even more blurred over the years, because some would argue what exactly young gamers classify as whether they're simply causel gamers or if they reall are proper honest to god gamers. I can't answer this question because it's a matter of opinon about what classifys as a gamer and because they are no real requirements to become one how does one know if they are one or if other people are.

I think that M rated games should be kept from the younger kids because they lack the capcity to understand the different, behaviour displayed by the character and how they should act. It also acts to desensitize them to things such as sex and violence. This also applys to movie/tv which explains why we have so many kids trying to be "hardcore Gangsters" and why they lack respect because all their values and moral were drilled into by games and media thats it's ok to show people no respect, that the only person that matters is yourself.

Children on xbox live are dislike because the're often racist,sexist and just plain whiny bitchs who don't stop complaining and swear at the other players who beat them. We also use online gaming as a source of entertainment and nothing suggest that this will be fun due to the qualitys just listed.

I think it's only a major physical problem if they spend more than 100 hours gaming a week and don't bother do do anything but game sleep and watch tv.

Sorry for any spelling or grammer errors made in my rant.

 

[Worgen]

I'll just say that most kids I knew since 12 could handle M-rated games just fine. They really aren't that bad.

Annoying voices and immaturity abound in the online gaming world, age regardless.
But as far as younger kids, yes they should be kept away from M-rated games.
I don't believe it influences them, but I do believe it can desensitize them.

And what's wrong with that? I never got why desensitization's such a bad thing, especially if it doesn't influence them.

But I agree with you about online gaming, it doesn't really matter how old they are, people will be idiots, especially on Xbox Live.

Because there are some things, namely child-like innocence, that doesn't need to be stripped away by gaming. For once, I agree with the government, I'm glad we have rating systems, because most 12 year olds shouldn't be playing gta 4. With age comes better understanding, and more time to realize your own choices and preferences, when it comes to life or games.

there is no government regulation, its the industry self regulating, its against the law for the govt to regulate video games. And child like innocents is a myth, children are the cruelest things around

 

[guardian001]

Conditional,Because they're idiots, and No.


What, you want me to actually discuss it? Fine.

Conditional, because different kids mature at different rates. Ideally, we would be able to screen people and base whether or not they can buy something on their maturity rather than an arbitrary number assigned based on the number of times they've gone around a ball of flaming hydrogen and helium. Of course, this would be lengthy and costly, so it's probably easier just to let their parents decide and buy it for them.

The reason people hate kids on XBox live is, as I said, because a vast majority of them are complete morons. I realize not all of them are, but the number of reasonable twelve year olds on XBL is easily surpassed by the number of twelve year olds who still giggle whenever they hear the word "shit." The only reason this only applies to 12 year olds is that as we get older the number of idiots vs the number of normal people balances out a bit. Sure, you'll still get the occasional idiot in their 20s, but no more often than you run into a sane person in their 20s.

I suppose I probably should have given a more neutral answer than no, because again this is conditional. As long as they don't spend every waking second in front of a monitor or screen eating junk food, they'll probably be fine. As long as they have the sense to get some exercise every once in a while, they won't turn out too badly.

 

[BoxCutter]

Annoying voices and immaturity abound in the online gaming world, age regardless.

/thread

How many loud douchebag fratboy gamers have you met in a Halo match on xbl? Kids are annoying as hell but they definitely aren't the only ones. In regards to the keep the M rated games away from kids, I think its all based on what the parents say. I played "M" rated games as a kid and I didn't lose my mind or empathy for others. If the parents are ok with it and they trust their kid, then I couldn't care less.

And as for the health issue, I have never seen it be a problem. Never have seen it at work, and I haven't seen it around the stores. I don't think human laziness is a video games fault.

 

[Worgen]

I think that M rated games should be kept from the younger kids because they lack the capcity to understand the different, behaviour displayed by the character and how they should act. It also acts to desensitize them to things such as sex and violence. This also applys to movie/tv which explains why we have so many kids trying to be "hardcore Gangsters" and why they lack respect because all their values and moral were drilled into by games and media thats it's ok to show people no respect, that the only person that matters is yourself.

every generation tends to think of itself as the one with respect for parents and no behavior problems and that the younger generation is just a bunch of thugs which lack morals and values blah blah blah
the fact that now we tend to hear about every instance of bad behavior only exaserbares (not looking up the spelling) this but the fact is that juviel (another thing Im not looking up) crime has been down ever since video games became big, explain that one

 

[BolognaBaloney]

I'll just say that most kids I knew since 12 could handle M-rated games just fine. They really aren't that bad.

Annoying voices and immaturity abound in the online gaming world, age regardless.
But as far as younger kids, yes they should be kept away from M-rated games.
I don't believe it influences them, but I do believe it can desensitize them.

And what's wrong with that? I never got why desensitization's such a bad thing, especially if it doesn't influence them.

But I agree with you about online gaming, it doesn't really matter how old they are, people will be idiots, especially on Xbox Live.

Because there are some things, namely child-like innocence, that doesn't need to be stripped away by gaming. For once, I agree with the government, I'm glad we have rating systems, because most 12 year olds shouldn't be playing gta 4. With age comes better understanding, and more time to realize your own choices and preferences, when it comes to life or games.

there is no government regulation, its the industry self regulating, its against the law for the govt to regulate video games. And child like innocents is a myth, children are the cruelest things around

Wrong on both accounts my friend, stores are required by the government to check i.d. for m rated games. You can indeed get in trouble with the local law enforcement for attempting to buy m-rated games under-aged. Also child-like innocence exists. A child is a clean slate, and anything it learns is through learning by imitation, repetition, or another outside source.

 

[Worgen]

I'll just say that most kids I knew since 12 could handle M-rated games just fine. They really aren't that bad.

Annoying voices and immaturity abound in the online gaming world, age regardless.
But as far as younger kids, yes they should be kept away from M-rated games.
I don't believe it influences them, but I do believe it can desensitize them.

And what's wrong with that? I never got why desensitization's such a bad thing, especially if it doesn't influence them.

But I agree with you about online gaming, it doesn't really matter how old they are, people will be idiots, especially on Xbox Live.

Because there are some things, namely child-like innocence, that doesn't need to be stripped away by gaming. For once, I agree with the government, I'm glad we have rating systems, because most 12 year olds shouldn't be playing gta 4. With age comes better understanding, and more time to realize your own choices and preferences, when it comes to life or games.

there is no government regulation, its the industry self regulating, its against the law for the govt to regulate video games. And child like innocents is a myth, children are the cruelest things around

Wrong on both accounts my friend, stores are required by the government to check i.d. for m rated games. You can indeed get in trouble with the local law enforcement for attempting to buy m-rated games under-aged. Also child-like innocence exists. A child is a clean slate, and anything it learns is through learning by imitation, repetition, or another outside source.

ok obviously you dont live in the US otherwise you would know about the efforts by legilators in some states to actualy make laws that do regulate that and that all thoes efforts were ruled unconstitutional and as for the child thing your talking about children that are exceptionaly young, IE under 5 and they are still cruel as hell, watch a kid with ants

 

[BolognaBaloney]

I'll just say that most kids I knew since 12 could handle M-rated games just fine. They really aren't that bad.

Annoying voices and immaturity abound in the online gaming world, age regardless.
But as far as younger kids, yes they should be kept away from M-rated games.
I don't believe it influences them, but I do believe it can desensitize them.

And what's wrong with that? I never got why desensitization's such a bad thing, especially if it doesn't influence them.

But I agree with you about online gaming, it doesn't really matter how old they are, people will be idiots, especially on Xbox Live.

Because there are some things, namely child-like innocence, that doesn't need to be stripped away by gaming. For once, I agree with the government, I'm glad we have rating systems, because most 12 year olds shouldn't be playing gta 4. With age comes better understanding, and more time to realize your own choices and preferences, when it comes to life or games.

there is no government regulation, its the industry self regulating, its against the law for the govt to regulate video games. And child like innocents is a myth, children are the cruelest things around

Wrong on both accounts my friend, stores are required by the government to check i.d. for m rated games. You can indeed get in trouble with the local law enforcement for attempting to buy m-rated games under-aged. Also child-like innocence exists. A child is a clean slate, and anything it learns is through learning by imitation, repetition, or another outside source.

ok obviously you dont live in the US otherwise you would know about the efforts by legilators in some states to actualy make laws that do regulate that and that all thoes efforts were ruled unconstitutional and as for the child thing your talking about children that are exceptionaly young, IE under 5 and they are still cruel as hell, watch a kid with ants

Again, wrong and wrong.
I live in the U.S., I guess you just don't understand the way it works, but yeah, the government has mandated ID checks for M games. It is mandantory, as per the government, and for your child argument, again the child is mimicking what he has seen before. Children are not cruel by nature, no-one is. Trust me, I've worked with kids the past 4 years of my life and have 3 little sisters, cruelty is not something inherently known to a child. It is learned. Which is why children should not have access to m rated games. It does leave impressions, no it doesn't make them killers, but it does alter thinking in some ways.

 

[Worgen]

I'll just say that most kids I knew since 12 could handle M-rated games just fine. They really aren't that bad.

Annoying voices and immaturity abound in the online gaming world, age regardless.
But as far as younger kids, yes they should be kept away from M-rated games.
I don't believe it influences them, but I do believe it can desensitize them.

And what's wrong with that? I never got why desensitization's such a bad thing, especially if it doesn't influence them.

But I agree with you about online gaming, it doesn't really matter how old they are, people will be idiots, especially on Xbox Live.

Because there are some things, namely child-like innocence, that doesn't need to be stripped away by gaming. For once, I agree with the government, I'm glad we have rating systems, because most 12 year olds shouldn't be playing gta 4. With age comes better understanding, and more time to realize your own choices and preferences, when it comes to life or games.

there is no government regulation, its the industry self regulating, its against the law for the govt to regulate video games. And child like innocents is a myth, children are the cruelest things around

Wrong on both accounts my friend, stores are required by the government to check i.d. for m rated games. You can indeed get in trouble with the local law enforcement for attempting to buy m-rated games under-aged. Also child-like innocence exists. A child is a clean slate, and anything it learns is through learning by imitation, repetition, or another outside source.

ok obviously you dont live in the US otherwise you would know about the efforts by legilators in some states to actualy make laws that do regulate that and that all thoes efforts were ruled unconstitutional and as for the child thing your talking about children that are exceptionaly young, IE under 5 and they are still cruel as hell, watch a kid with ants

Again, wrong and wrong.
I live in the U.S., I guess you just don't understand the way it works, but yeah, the government has mandated ID checks for M games. It is mandantory, as per the government, and for your child argument, again the child is mimicking what he has seen before. Children are not cruel by nature, no-one is. Trust me, I've worked with kids the past 4 years of my life and have 3 little sisters, cruelty is not something inherently known to a child. It is learned. Which is why children should not have access to m rated games. It does leave impressions, no it doesn't make them killers, but it does alter thinking in some ways.

Ill leave the children thing since I think we are using diffrent definitions of cruel but your totaly wrong about the id check, the govt cant mandate anything reguarding that, thats all store policy there is no law that says you cant sell an M rated game to a minor just like there is no law that says a minor cant get into an R rated movie, its just popular notion, every legilative effort to make laws doing what your talking about have been overturned, look it up