Two weeks ago, I talked to three teenagers about how they’ve been playing “GTA” for years.

They explained how their parents felt and how they got to play the M-rated games even though they weren’t 17.

Now that the game is out this week, we’re taking a look back at a few of the comments from both young people and parents who have different opinions on the subject of underage “GTA”-playing.

Here are two teens who said their dads are police officers:

• Multiplayer Reader Rob P.: “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.”

• Multiplayer Reader Andy: “My father practically grew up at the local arcade which included violent games and he actually became a police officer fighting violence. The first game I was ever introduced to (by watching my dad play them) was DOOM, then Duke Nukem, and more. … Bottom line is they toght me early the differance between fake violence (horror movies, games, ect.) and real life.”

Some readers, who are “GTA” players, find prostitution to be a problem:

• Multiplayer Reader Ryan: “Maybe a 12 yr old kid doesn’t need to see me pick up a hooker, have sex with her to replenish my health, let her out of the car, beat her to death with a baseball bat and mug her of the money I just paid her for sex; but who am I to say who can/cannot play a game? It should be up to parents, not censorship.”

• Multiplayer Reader cody richardson: “after looking at gta iv i would [not] even let my little brother touch it with a ten foot pole, ill let him play gta3 but thats because the things werent so grapical then like with the prostitutes. now you can see them crawl on you and basicly have sex with you as in gta3 only the car shakes.”

Two parents with very different views:

• Multiplayer Reader tempest: “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 violent, but I really have fun driving around and doing missions. … 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. … If your child doesn’t learn how to differentiate between games and reality, it is YOUR fault, NOT the games’!”

• Multiplayer Reader Lucy Ranker: “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… It has nothing to do with Jack Thompson’s 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.”

Meanwhile, one reader questions the rating system and what it means to be “mature”:

• Multiplayer Reader Dave D.: “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?”

Even if game ratings exist, it doesn’t mean the underage can’t get their hands on them:

• Multiplayer Reader Guillermo C.: “I’m 15 now, but I’ve been playing M-rated games since I was 7. My parents really don’t give a flip about games ratings… I plan on Getting GTA IV, and if my parents won’t buy it for me, I can always just get it off the internet. I’m the only one that uses ebay, amazon, newegg, and steam, but since I’m 15 I had to get my parents to give me their info to make the accounts. So I could always do that and use my paypal account to pay for it. You can also always go out and buy a visa giftcard, then use that to pay for it online. There are lots of ways around not being able to get an M rated game.”

Two teens, among many, reiterate that it’s up to the individual player and their parents:

• Multiplayer Reader Matthew Mahoney: “I’m 15 and love video games. … 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.”

• Multiplayer Reader Dylan Biery: “I have been playing M-rated games since my mid teens. My Parents understood the ratings and decided to play the games that I played. My exposure to violent games did not turn me into a bad person. I support the enforcement of ID requirements but parenting is number one concern. Children develop at different rates based on a number of factors; be it location, class, or religion. Parents are best able to judge when a child is ready to understand M-rated games. Inversely, over protecting children (from my experience) can retard their social development.”

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“GTA IV” has been out for a few days. Anyone under 17 playing this game? If so, how’s your family handling it?