“Grand Theft Auto IV,” like its predecessors, is rated “M” for “Mature.” That means that the game’s content is only “suitable for persons ages 17 and older.”
But we all know that won’t prevent everyone under 17 from getting their hands on the game.
I recently talked to three teenagers who have owned and played “GTA” since well before the age of 17 — with and without their parents’ permission — about their past experiences with “GTA” games.
One 15 year-old told me his parents don’t allow him to play M-rated games without their approval, and “GTA” is strictly off-limits. However, he acquired “San Andreas” though a game-trading website, and they don’t know he’s been playing it:
“They would probably be more upset that I didn’t listen to them first, and about the content second. In my defense, I feel that going to high school has prepared me for the content in M-rated games.”
Read on to learn how these teens got their “GTA”s, what their parents do and don’t know about it, and whether they plan to acquire “GTA IV” later this month…
Eric, 17, Ontario, Canada
Eric, who turned 17 in February, rarely plays games anymore, but as a PS2 owner, he has played every iteration of “Grand Theft Auto” since 2001’s “GTA III,” well before he was 17. He got to play them at a friend’s house, and his parents have even bought him “Vice City” and “San Andreas.” He said that they typically buy him M-rated games without any issues at all. “It was the same process as buying any other game,” he said. “I’d just get it — the rating never worried or bothered my parents ’cause I guess [they thought] I could always distinguish the difference between the whack stuff in the games and reality.”
However, his pals with “super uptight moms” had more trouble with getting M-rated titles like “GTA.” When stores started asking for identification for the purchase of M-rated games, Eric’s then-13-year-old friends would ask older people to buy them “GTA” “It’s like, they’d wait outside of Best Buy or whatever game store,” Eric explained. “They’d be like, ‘Hey!’ to some young 20 year-old gamer or something, figuring he’s a nerd so he’ll do it.” Once the game was bought, they’d tip the guy five or 10 bucks and then hide the game from their parents.
Now that Eric is 17, I asked him if he would help his underage friends in the same way. “Pssh, probably not,” he responded. “I set my controller down a long time ago.” He has no plans on playing “GTA IV”; besides not owning an Xbox 360 or PS3, he said he’s too busy with other activities like skateboarding, drawing, making music and just being outside.
Dylan, 15, Pennsylvania
Dylan is a 15 year-old gamer who owns an Xbox 360 and a PS2. He plays five to six hours a week and owns “GTA III,” “Vice City” and “San Andreas.” His parents bought them for him and he expects they’ll buy him “GTA IV” because they have no problem buying him M-rated games. In fact, he claimed that they don’t care about a game’s rating. “They understand that games are violent, but [they] also understand that I’m not going to bring a gun to school just because I saw it done in a video game.”
“They’d tip the guy five or 10 bucks and then hide the game from their parents.” |
For “GTA” specifically, he said, “They’ve seen me play it, and they think it’s violent. They don’t think I should stop playing it, just because of its violence.”
I asked him what he thought of people who claim that games like “GTA” influence kids to commit violent acts in real life. He scoffed. “I think the whole point is ridiculous,” he said. “We’re kids, not monkeys. That’s why they are video games. Most violent acts probably happen with teens, because we are teens. Most of us realize the consequences of violent acts, but maybe for some [violence] feels like the only right thing to do.”
I asked what he meant, and he replied, “Maybe look back on school, relationships, other things that might be a source of stress. They might have those problems, but might be playing a game like ‘GTA.’ [People] might think it’s the game making them violent. If I were in that situation, or could help someone in that situation, I’d advise [them] to stop playing the game, and see if they still feel violent.”
Dylan doesn’t think banning M-rated games is the right thing to do. “A game getting banned because of those kids is unfair, and isolating a kid can make him or her feel different. Their stress wouldn’t be getting any better… So is there a solution? I don’t think so.”
Sean, 15, Maryland
Fifteen year-old Sean is the biggest gamer of the three teens I interviewed, yet the most restricted when it comes to playing M-rated games. Playing 14-20 hours a week, he considers video games “a large part of my life and a major hobby,” and he owns an Xbox 360, a PS2 and a GameCube.
“When my parents asked the clerk about ‘GTA,’ he said it was ‘the reason the M-rating was invented.’” |
His parents don’t allow him to play M-rated games unless they approve it first. He recently convinced them to let him buy “Halo 3” and “Assassin’s Creed” after showing them comments on whattheyplay.com, a website where parents review games’ appropriateness for their kids. It said that both games were age-appropriate for those 12 and over.
However, “GTA” is totally off-limits. His parents came to that decision with the help of a game store clerk. “When my parents asked the clerk about ‘GTA,’ he said it was ‘the reason the M-rating was invented.’”
Despite his parents’ objections, Sean has played “Vice City” at a friend’s house, and he even owns “San Andreas.” He got the game through a a game-trading website, where a point-system is used so no credit card is needed and no age requirement is enforced. “They don’t know I have been playing [’San Andreas’] because they would probably not let me play it,” Sean said.
I asked if his parents would be really angry if they found out he had “San Andreas.” “They would probably be more upset that I didn’t listen to them first, and about the content second,” he said. “In my defense, I feel that going to high school has prepared me for the content in M-rated games.”
Sean has every intention of getting his hands on “GTA IV,” either though a friend or through the Internet. He really enjoys the “GTA” series because of the gameplay. “The graphics have always been decent, but being able to just explore, find things, drive around and generally causing mayhem are definitely the best things about this series,” he explained. “And if things are that much more realistic in this new one, then that’s even better.”
He added, “On a side note, if my parents took video games as serious as [they take] movies and paid more attention to what I was playing, all of this could be avoided… Not that I would want them to do that.”
***
Did you or do you play “GTA” before the age of 17? If so, how did you do it, and what did your parents make of it?
April 21st, 2008 at 11:55 am
I was almost 21 when GTA 3 came out. Still, if I was 15 when it came out, I don’t think there’s a problem, because I have learned from my parents and family that it’s all just fake, just entertainment!
I had watched quite a few R rated flicks before turning 17 or 18, and nothing in entertainment could ever hit me the way real life events do. No death or destruction in GTA could ever be as scary as real death and crazy news stories.
I know that kids should be kept away from this content, but at age 15, they’ve most likely seen more mature stuff in real life.
April 21st, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Also, my brothers were under 18 when the first GTA came out, and like me, they are upstanding citizens who aren’t violent and have never gotten into trouble. One bother was 15, and the other was 12. The youngest brother didn’t really play a GTA game until San Andreas.
April 21st, 2008 at 1:19 pm
I was still 16 when GTA3 was released for the PS2. By this point in my life, I was buying games for myself and as far as my parents were concerned, it was my money. I split a brand new Playstation 2 with my brother and the rest is history, as they say. Most parents (dare I say, good parents?) trust their children enough (like mine did) to be a judge of their own entertainment — at least past a certain age limit. I know in my family, around the age of 13 or 14 my parents let down a lot of the restrictions and started allowing me to make my own mistakes more regularly. Don’t get me wrong, I was still hiding porn from them, but chances are even that (you know, unless it was some horribly graphic imagery) would have been given a pass in my house. Chock it up to liberal parents I suppose (each parent being in possession of more than one collegiate degree probably doesn’t hurt either.)
My story aside, I thought this was an excellent piece. This is exactly the reason why you guys and N’Gai (and even 1up.com to a lesser extent) are considered games journalism where a lot of others (myself included) are simply the echo chamber. If only there were more outlets with the access, pedigree and capital that MTV has for the world of games journalism. Oh well.
April 21st, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Im 15 and video games is a large part of my life. violet games like GTA are usually never in my grasp but I always play them at my cousins house. I Have been playing GTA since it first came out and I am not a violent person and have never thought any violent thoughts torward anybody since i have started playing. But I do understand that some people may be more influenced than others. If you were one of these people then I would suggest that you stop playing the game immedietly. Banning a game for violents is never the answer.
April 21st, 2008 at 1:56 pm
well I was abot 11 when I got my hands on gta 3 the way I got it was my parents new I wanted it so the asked somebody what is it like and the guy was like all you do is steal cars and cause mayhem then my parents are like ok he can get it and from there on I have always loved gta and I have all 3 just waiting for IV that I can finally buy myself
April 21st, 2008 at 2:10 pm
I played GTA II for the first time when I was ten years old, at my middle school no less. The computer teacher had installed it on all the school’s computers for use during lunch break and he even showed me how to play. We had Tribes 2 as well, and that was great fun.
I missed GTA III and Vice City because I don’t own a PS2, but I did play a little San Andreas at friend’s houses. In any case, I can’t wait for IV; now that I own something other than a Nintendo console, I’m buying it day one. Or should I say, my parents will be buying it for my day one, thanks to a stupid bylaw here that prohibits the sale of M rated video games to minors (being sixteen, that includes me).
In any case, my parents have no trouble with M rated video games. I own Gears of War, I own Halo 3, I own Call of Duty 4, I own Saints Row and so on and my fifteen year old brother plays these titles regularly as well.
April 21st, 2008 at 2:19 pm
Game Ratings are there for a reason, Parents should pay attention to those ratings and act appropiatly. Allowing little kids to play such games leads to voilence in schools, drug abuse, profanity, and a lack of respect for society. Kids have not developed enough to understand what is going on. Games like pokemon and barbies first beachball are made for the little kiddiewinks, leave the Mature games for the Mature adults.
April 21st, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Parents beware, Grand Theft Auto 4 carries the following descriptors for its content;
Intense Violence, Blood, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Partial Nudity, Use of Drugs and Alcohol.
*Allowing you Children to view this content would be EXTREMELY irresponsible !!!
April 21st, 2008 at 2:29 pm
Not meant for Children of any age; hence the M for Mature Rating
April 21st, 2008 at 2:43 pm
I WAS 7 YEARS WHEN MY MOM BOUGHT ME GTA III AND SHE TOLD ME THAT WHAT I EVER I LEARNEDI N THOSE M RATED GAMES IN HOME PLAYING THEM WOULD BE BETTER THAN GOING TO THE STREETS AND SEEING THAT ON THE HOOD . I NEVER BRAINWASHED MY MOM AND DAD AND EVEN NOW THAT IM 14 MY DAD TOLD ME THAT HE WAS GONNA BUY ME GTA IV AND SAINT ROW 2 FOR XBOX 360
April 21st, 2008 at 2:50 pm
Pedro El Enix, your parents obviously need to go back to school, as they sound like complete and utter Morons !!!!
April 21st, 2008 at 3:04 pm
well… im 15 years old. i work and i bought myself a PS3 with MY money and i also bought 20 games as well. I have played all the GTA’s (since GTA 1… until GTA S.A) and i know the difference between video games and reality.
I also think that from the age of 14 there’s no problem in playing M-rated games because you know the difference of a videogame and real life (like i said before)
April 21st, 2008 at 3:09 pm
i love GTA
April 21st, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Jesus dude, you need all those caps? its called lower case
April 21st, 2008 at 3:39 pm
I’m 15 and love video games. I’m even learning how to make them (C++ and DarkGDK). My uncle had GTA3 when it came out and let me play it. I was about 8 to 10. I loved it and so did my brother who is three years younger than I. When we got our own PS2 a few years later, we bought GTA3 as soon as we could. Our parents never minded us playing. I’m sure they asked my uncle about it and they watched us play it some. They know the difference between playing GTA and going on a killing spree. They know that we aren’t going to mimic the characters in games just because the game is fun.
April 21st, 2008 at 3:41 pm
Hey! I know that Sean kid from Maryland! He’s our crazy good trick runner for team Le Mediocrity Grifball!
April 21st, 2008 at 3:46 pm
I Have to say, my first PS2 game was Vice City and my parents even bought it for me when I was 12, with my money of course…
They said the graphics were cheesy and satirical (The way the blood flows when you head shot a guy comes to mind) so they figured I wanted the game for others reasons, like just driving around, which I did.
But it was a Little game called Unreal Tournament 3 that made them even think about stopping a game for content. I of course downloaded mods that added extra gore and blood effects when you Killed people. Just cus I can’t resist free stuff.
Chunks of legs, arms, brains, intestines, you name it explode with gusto all over the screen drenching the screen with blood drips. Jolly good fun.
My Mom hates UT3, but as soon as I explained that the blood chunks was just an add-on for giggles and poop because its so over done that its kinda funny, it never came up again.
Now what I think will cause problems are games that have highly realistic graphics, but has no attempt to try to lighten the mood with sillyness or fakeness that brings you out of the game world to let you know, “hey! you playing, You know this isn’t real right?”
Luckily practically every game has those moments, and I believe thats a huge draw to games. Try to play Halo with out re-spawning or shields, or Metal Gear Solid and not look for hidden frogs or bikini laddies and laugh at Raiden.
GTA has always been known for their self-aware joke radio stations, and almost constant parody. I think the reason that lawmen and parents alike pursue games as hate lessons, is because they don’t understand the jokes them selfs.
I for one might actually not buy GTA VI because im not into the shooting part of the game so much as im into just driving, and I’ve been doing that sense I was 12. And frankly the novelty of running over a hooker as run dry long ago.
April 21st, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Yeah I was thirteen when I got my hands on GTA through my brother in law. I thought it was the coolest thing in the world. A game where I could do whatever I wanted to. There were no lines or limits. I look back and think had I been in his shoes, would I have bought that kind of game for such a young impressionable teen? Probably not. I think the ESRB is powerless to do anything about under age gamers, It is not the game developers fault it is how someone differentiates reality from fantasy.
April 21st, 2008 at 4:08 pm
I can play and watch what I want, my parents took the time to educate me on what I was seeing and taught me what was right and wrong, by doing this I grasped the concept of these things in a mature and responsible way.
I’m 15 now, and without meaning to sound big headed, I have turnt out a lot more mature and responsible because I have not been shied away from the slightest bit of sex, violence, language or drugs on the tele but not just that, my parents educated me.
You tend to get those unprotective parents at one end of the scale who don’t give crap and let their kids and let them do what they want but don’t educate their kids about what they are seeing in media content and on what is right and wrong (these kids tend to turn in to tearaways) then you get the overprotective parents at the other end of the scale who shy their kids away from anything controversial (these kids tend to become social recluses who are twitchy, over reliant wusses).
What I’m trying to say is that game / movie certificates are based on biological age, whereas it is the psychological side of things that matters, not everyone has the same psychological age as their biological age and it should be up to the parents to know whether or not their kids have a good level of psychological maturity and responsibility, and should not base whether or not their kids can play the game or watch a movie on their biological age.
Games and movies should still have a rating on them but the parent / guardian should use the way in the above paragraph to decide whether or not their kids can play it.
Everyone is an individual and some are more mature than others, it is simply stupid saying that everyone under a certain age (biologically) can’t play a piece of media content, because some or in fact most would be fine.
Sadly SOME adults like hilary clinton, jack thompson, keith vaz and michael atkinson can’t get this in to their head, they have an old fashoned black and white, stubborn view of the world and are encouraging ill-informed parents to not allow their kids any exposure to controversial media content, this won’t do no good cause like I said, the majority of overprotected kids turn in to over reliant, shy social outcasts and when a parent says no to a kid, the natural response to what a youngster feels is negative to him is to rebel (he/she will probably get hold of the game somehow), therefore breaking down the trust between parent and child.
Videogames are the new entertainment median also and is an easy target, just like erotic books were in the 50s and 60s, like porno was in the 70s, nowadays you get more erotic stuff in girl’s magazines, lol.
Kids should be kids and teens should be teens and should not try and be more grown up in some ways but still that doesn’t mean we can’t have a mature and responsible outlook on things and it doesn’t mean we can’t not be affected by simply watching / playing controversial media content.
Eight Ball / boffin92 !?
April 21st, 2008 at 4:32 pm
I’m 15 and personally, I hate the GTA games for one reason and one reason alone: you have to kill cops especially in San Andreas. My dad is a cop and I know the real-life bull crap he has to take in NYC and killing cops or any sort of person who risks their life to save others like firemen or doctors in any form of entertainment is disrespectful and disturbing.
April 21st, 2008 at 4:43 pm
GTA the best game in the world let everyone play.
April 21st, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Ratings are there for a reason. Mature rated games are for Adults, not for mature 2 year olds or even mature 12 years olds. Mature means Mature. Don’t like it, wait till your old enough to vote, then maybe you can change the system. For now Kids arn’t aloud Mature media in any form, unless their parents are retarded enough to buy it for them.
April 21st, 2008 at 4:58 pm
ive been playing these games since i was 11 and i has a social life and dont plan on bringing a gun to school and i cannot wait til GTA IV
April 21st, 2008 at 5:08 pm
I’m almost 16 and I had III and Vice City. I thought they were great games. I just think that it is a shame that if for instance, some kid shot another kid, they would come up with a reasonable explanation. but if the kid played videogames, OH IT HAS TO BE THE VIDEOGAMES! WHY? because they are a easy scapegoat. i agree that mature games are sometimes violent. my parents bought me mature stuff for a while. and for everyone against this, you wana know why? because I KNOW that i am mature enough. my parents KNOW i am mature. do you seriously think that videogames are corrupting my mind? thats idotic. I mean i could understand a younger person that confuses reality with videogames, but seriously. there is NO way i would ever be overly violent because of videogames, because thats just stupid! It kinda pisses me off because other sensless people blame stuff on videogames. if your 8 year old kid goes and shoots up his school, it wasnt because of videogames, it was because of bad parenting. so good job. you obviously didnt know your kids enough.
April 21st, 2008 at 5:25 pm
“You can’t reason yourself out of a belief that you didn’t reason yourself into”. People have been deceived into thinking that violent video cause violence, but since they did not come to this conclusion with any “reason” they are now finding it difficult to accept the science that is contradicting those conclusions. Belief not based upon evidence cannot be challenged with evidence, thus becoming as untouchable as religious or political belief.
April 21st, 2008 at 5:27 pm
Hey everyone.i am 15 years old and i am a girl gamer. i have played all the gta games since san andreas. My mom is cool with me having m rated games i mean most of collection is m rated. She is so cool she is even going with me at the midnight release and is going to wait for 2 hours with me. Parents Listen if you banned games from your kids because they are m rated that just would probably make your kids go behind your back and buy it anyway well thanks Gamertag: sarasagada14
April 21st, 2008 at 6:33 pm
look every minor in this country will play gta4. I was playing gta3 when i was 12. It all depends on the life you live and how you live. my parents know that i’m smart enough to distinguish fantasy from real life. I already reserved gta4 and if one my cousins that underage want to play it or borrow it i don’t car because its all entertainment. parents may try to stop kids from playing m rated games but thier gonna get them some how. PS3 #1 ALL DAY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
April 21st, 2008 at 7:00 pm
lol I was 5 when i first played grand theft auto, and then my mom read about GTA III and said its evil, and for a long period of time i couldn’t play it, so i would borrow it from my friends without her knowing. Recently I convinced her to get me GTA IV.
April 21st, 2008 at 7:13 pm
i am 13 and i have played all the grand theft auto games, and i only killed one person. and it was a totally accident i was playing with my dads gun he keeps in his closet and i shoot my friends by total accident.
i plan on getting GTA4 when it comes out and it’s not gonna make me take a gun to school again.
April 21st, 2008 at 9:08 pm
I’m 22 and I’ve been playing GTA games since I was 14-years-old. My parents were never really sticklers for ratings, because they always just assumed I knew better than to be violent or kill people, or that the things I saw in movies or games were anything but escapism.
April 21st, 2008 at 9:12 pm
personally, i think that all those people saying that mature games should be left to the older gamers is just idiotic. people will always find a way around ratings. ratings only serve as guidelines for underage children wishing to buy a game. by blaming graphic video games for a kids bad behavior, you only help to support the ill-informed, narrow-minded morons that use video game violence as a scapegoat for all the crimes and shootings that happen in our nation. there is no valid evidence that proves video games cause violence. take the kid who was responsible for the Virginia Tech shooting. even when his friends hung out in his dorm and played games, he himself chose not to play games then and he killed 30-something people. it is not the video game’s fault for what a child takes away from a video game. it is the child to blame, the way they interpret the gameplay, and lack of better judgement of the parents because they should have known of any natural violent tendencies lurking within their child in the first place if anything. video games were created as a relief from reality because you could do whatever you wanted to that you couldn’t in real life because IT WAS JUST A STUPID GAME. those who take it serious enough clearly haven’t played enough games to justify their view on the situation. i am 17 years old but i have been playing games of all ratings since i was 6 because my parents know i am smart enough to distinguish reality and virtual reality. i am an honor student, active in several different clubs at school, remain fit and healthy by going outside and hanging with my friends, and have never committed a crime in my life, but do you see shooting up the students and teachers in my school, hells no. i am just another example of the people who can actually determine the difference between reality and games. if u want to complain to me about why i am totally f***ing wrong and your ignorant viewpoint is right, do so over Xbox Live. My gamertag is “Boss Kowbel” without the quotations.
April 21st, 2008 at 10:13 pm
I feel that the ratings should not solely determine whether or not parents let their children play a certain game. It’s meant as a legal fall-back and a guideline. The game companies could care less whether you are 45 or 8.
Parents should gage their children’s ability to differentiate between reality and a fantasy, and make their choice with that.
My parent’s are quite liberal in pretty much every side of life. Sure, their views may differ from mine on certain topics that can be considered mature, but they have educated me in their and other points of view . This has helped me form more cultured and well-rounded opinions. I personally don’t like GTA, but I do love to play the odd game of CoD or Halo at a friend’s house(Age 8-9).
Even though they are liberal, parents should still enforce some rules to help shape a good person and child.
For example,
I have a “friend”who’s parents are childish morons that have never grown up…Guess What?….He is just like them a childish moron and jerk who’s ignorant and really stubborn. His parents don’t regulate or enforce anything and he has kind of been absorbed into his own ignorant world, and with no one telling him what isn’t right he just go on the same path further on in life.
In short, parents should help forge the path for what’s right and what’s wrong and educate their children. However they should also expose their children to what is portrayed and real in life.
April 21st, 2008 at 10:18 pm
Hi everyone. Just thought I’d weigh in and say that first, I’m a 27 year mommy and I actually never played any of the GTAs until I met my husband. However, I do enjoy playing them, yes, me, MOM to a 20mo old baby no less. It can get a bit viololent, but I really have fun driving around and doing missions. Of course I am terrible at the driving on the game, but oh well. My husband and I are both gamers, and we will be allowing our son once he’s older to play the GTA games, along with any other game he wants to play, as long as we feel the HE personally can handle it. If we know he’s mature enough, then we will let him play. But we also plan on teaching him right from wrong and reality from unreality. And for all you fools who are about to spout that nosense AGAIN about the ratings: BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH! The ratings are a guideline and if you can’t teach you child what’s right and what’s wrong, that is YOUR responsibility, NOT the games’. If your child doesn’t learn how to differentiate between games and reality, it is YOUR fault, NOT the games’! And if because of either or both of these situation your child goes oout and bombs a school or shhots someone or creates some other act of violence, then it is as much YOUR fault as it is your child’s, NOT the games’. So for all of you who want to blame teen violence on games why don’t you take a look in the mirror and point that finger right back at yourself.
April 21st, 2008 at 10:32 pm
No wonder their thinking of banning M15+ games. Half the people on this list and thier parents are partly to blame. M15+ means for people over the age of 15. Not if you think your old enough you should play these games. If people under the age of 15 werent playing these games then there would be no reason to ban them. There have infact been studys done to show that playing violent video games increases activity in the same place of the brain as violence its self does. How many 10 year old think there mature enough to play an M15+ game, most of them. The fact is there not. I hope they do ban M15+ games, it might make people take the rating system more seriously. Most of you have no one to blame but your self!
April 21st, 2008 at 10:54 pm
GTA 4 u no everybody is going to hyped to get that game. i mean seriously who doesnt want to play this game? paretns shouldnt really care about what game they play its just a video game its not going to do any harm to them. anyway GTA 4 BEST GAME COMING OUT THIS YEAR AND ALSO GEARS 2 so get ready to see lots of blood
April 21st, 2008 at 11:00 pm
I think that GTA 4 will be the best game of the year because you get to hotwire cars when they are parked and you can also kill people which is cruel but cool at same time.
April 22nd, 2008 at 1:12 am
I’ve controlled my life since I was 9 so I play whatever I want!
April 22nd, 2008 at 1:12 am
But let’s think about the rating system for a second. 17 years old? 15 years old? What does that even mean? Was there research done to indicate that once someone reaches the age of 17, they gain full ability to discern right from wrong? Wouldn’t it make more sense to raise it to 18, when you become a legal adult? Using a rating system based on age is arbitrary and nonsensical. Really, what makes a 16 year old significantly less aware than a 17 year old? And let’s not forget that the M rating itself is such a vast territory such that it’s almost meaningless. The Halo games have all been M rated. And so has Manhunt, Ninja Gaiden, Call of Duty 4, and many other games that depict violence in a FAR more extreme and (not necessarily in Ninja Gaiden’s case) realistic manner. What, then, does M even mean? How is a game like Halo less violent than a game like, say, Timesplitters 2?
Wouldn’t it make far more sense for the ESRB to just tell parents, in a detailed manner, what’s in the game? And none of this “Intense Gore And Violence” or “Comic Mischief” nonsense. These are stock descriptors that really don’t explain a whole lot.
Rob Miller, blaming kids for not “TAKING THE RATING SYSTEM SRSLY” is asinine. Kids have been getting @#@@ they’re not supposed to since the first day that some adult decided that some piece of media should be kept from children. Additionally, while I hate to invoke this argument, shouldn’t it be the vendors who are to blame? If THAT many kids were getting these games, I’d blame the vendors for not carding. Honestly, if someone can succinctly explain to me why a 16 year old should not be able to play GTA IV, but a 17 year old should, please do. I really want to know.
April 22nd, 2008 at 5:17 am
Im 18, college student, avid reader, gun owner, and gamer since grade school. I ve watched R movies since I was 5 and could tell the difference between whats real and what isnt. My parents are smart people and watched over what I did to make sure i knew the difference. Video games have been a fantastic stress reducer, second only to actually shooting real guns(not at people, cars, schools, what have you). Parental responsibility is the name of the game folks. The ratings are only a guideline. Its the parents duty to watch what the kids are doing. Stop picking on Mature games like GTA, I am tired of hearing people like Jack Thompson blame every violent act on video games. Game on my mostly younger friends.
April 22nd, 2008 at 5:44 am
GTA IV is gana b a sik game. Who cares about rating systems if u knw the different between gaming and reliaty thens dats good. Anyway all u pplr a stupd n neeed 2 get a life!!
April 22nd, 2008 at 5:50 am
Lets put it this way:
If you go to the opera and see only rich people there you wouldn’t think that opera makes people rich. But this is what is happening with video games, people think that because they see lots of school shooters playing M rated video games they must make them violent and go on shootings.
This isn’t the case, it’s just that violent people are often drawn to M rated games, just like rich people are drawn to the opera (I wish it wasn’t true, then I could go to the opera and get rich XD)
April 22nd, 2008 at 6:03 am
I,m am 19 and have been playing game with violent content for years and i am respectable young man who is in university, so these games have not mad me in a killer.
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:27 am
I simply hope Games retailers enforce the ID requirement for the purchase of this game, as young kiddies should not be buying or playing media intended for Adults, just as they should not be having sex, drinking alcohol or watching R-rated movies. We are campaigning in our local area to make sure retailers know they can face criminal charges for selling a Mature rated game to a minor. It has nothing to do with Jack Thompsons views on games, it has everything to do with the ESRB rating a particular game, and the gaming community abiding by their rating. Parents who then go out and purchase a Mature rated game for their son or daughter are irresponsible and uneducated. they simply buy the game to keep the kid from crying and having a tantrum. This behaviour needs to stop, parents need to get a grip, ban their kids from playing any game that is not in their AGE RANGE. For if we are to allow kids to play mature games, then hell, may as well let them do everything else reserved for 18 year olds and 21 year olds. What a Joke !!!
Wake up Parents, police your children, stop them from manipulating you into buying Mature rated Video games. They are rated MATURE for a reason !!!
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:34 am
I was 2 when my mom first bought me crack !!!! I’m fine, she thinks i’m mature enough to handle it.
HA HA HA HA, all these kids on this board saying they are mature enough, YEAH RIGHT !!
Kids are Kids, go watch Barney and play with your Barbie’s !!!
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:53 am
Iv played every GTA game, im 16, my mum used to enter cheats for me on the old PS1 ones and she is going ot buy me GTA IV next week..
And no im not mature im 16, but of course i know not to steal a car and go on a killing spree in my local town.
Its just a game, and thats how the majority see it, an escape from real life?
April 22nd, 2008 at 1:48 pm
I’m 14 and I live in the UK which means the game ratings are more strict here.
My mum does seem to care about the rating system because I think she knows that I can distungish between Reality and Make-believe
I’m going to go to a midnight as well
Hope you all get your copy
April 22nd, 2008 at 3:55 pm
I first played a GTA game, GTA 2, when I was 11. I have loved the series since then, having played all the games, save the GTA: Vice city stories, the series has become my favorite and Gta San Andreas still gets game time on my old ps2. My parents don’t really care what games I play, the respect me enough to recognize that I am not a brain dead idiot who would mimic something in a video game. If I want a game that is rated ‘M’ I just get them to buy it for me or depending on the store i buy it myself. I will soon be 17 so finding a way to get a game won’t be difficult anymore, come to think of it, it wasn ‘t difficult in the first place.
April 22nd, 2008 at 4:51 pm
“For if we are to allow kids to play mature games, then hell, may as well let them do everything else reserved for 18 year olds and 21 year olds.”
Oh lord. Are you SERIOUS? This is the kind of lame slippery slope argument crap that makes me wonder if people like you care about keeping kids from playing games because of the content or just because of what the ESRB letter on the box says. I mean, seriously? You’ve got to be smoking something, dude.
April 22nd, 2008 at 8:27 pm
lol, my mom doesnt care about the ratings, i was like 6 when the game conkers bad fur day came out for the n64 and i was allowed to play it. sucks for the people with the uptight mom’s
April 22nd, 2008 at 8:34 pm
The first GTA game I played was GTA III when it came out 7 years ago. Currently, I’m 16, but at the time, I was 9. When my parents saw the kind of things that goes on in the game, they freaked out. They literally took back the game to the game store and got a refund. I was pissed, but I understood their decision. 3 years later, I was allowed to buy GTA: San Andreas. Even though I was only 12, my parents still allowed me to play it because they know I know the difference between reality and fiction. To this day, I still play M-rated games (duh). My parents have seen me play games from Doom 3 to the finishers in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, to BioShock. Almost every game in my library is M-rated. Given, now that I’m 16, I’m wiser and smarter about my decisions, but nonetheless my parents are cool with it. Every parent should open their eyes to the fact that their children do have the ability to distinguish what is real and what is not real. The problem doesn’t lie in the violent videogames…the problem lies in the decisions the person playing that videogame makes.