I have a neighbor (12) who plays halo and gears of war nonstop. The guy is sick, he always arrives playing he has a chainsaw in his hand while he curses nonstop like if he was killing everyone.
If ONE (which there is more than that) 12 year old is effected by a M rated game in a negative way, then that justifies the rating system. It is just like a team is as strong as its weakest player. Of course 17 year olds are allowed to play those games because they are supposed to be able to take it better than the average 12 year old.
I've played M games my entire life, and I've turned out fine. Im a near straight A student with a line of freinds, but I'm awesome at FPS'. Halo (Series), Call of Duty (1 & 2), every VALVe game ever made, along with most top-line XBox360 FPS's. But, I mean, it seems apparent that most people don't turn out as well as I did under the same conditions, but I've had a steady dose of Religion, Patriotism, and Realism my entire life (I got a black eye in the first grade)! One day my dad and I watched saving private Ryan together, just to make sure I wasn't turning into a phsycopath. It really was an eye-opener, you should watch it someday. As for M games being refused to be bought for under 18's, at Walmart they actually require ID to buy an M game. I think there shouldn't be a federal mandate on what can/can't be sold to an agegroup, but stores should seriously consider what it gives to there image.
I'm 11, believe it or not. I think we should be able to have M-rated games. At school,(I'm in 6th) no one is going to be freaked out by blood. AS for language, everyone swears. Hearing the word f*ck one more time is not going to do anything.
I suppose it depends on your parents. Because, I play m-games, i'm not 17. It's just a matter of how the child reacts to gaming. Also if they can tell the difference between fact and fiction. Sometimes M-games are for horror themes, and children may be scared by that, something such as Condemend or Silent Hill. But it all boils down to what children find too violent, inapropriate, or swear like. Such as GTA, I like that game, and so do many of my friends, but some kids think it is tooviolent, or has too much cussing. Thanks for reading,
So, games are becoming mainstream, right? They are well on their way from "nerd culture" to right on the forefront. They are becoming more and more acceptable, despite the fact that games like GTA exist, whose sole purpose is to allow people to take out violent aggressions on bystanders.
So why would you want to ruin that?
Do you think ESRB ratings exist for the people who actually play the games? Do you think people read it and say, "Oh no, this game has suggestive themes, I'm not going to play it!"
No!
Ratings exist for politicians and concerned parents.
You see, every time some politician like Hilary Clinton decides they care about kids, they strike at video games. They talk about how they're warping our minds and destroying the youth of America, turning them into wild animals. It was the same with rock and rap music. You know those stickers that say mature content on CDs? Yeah, those didn't exist until it was deemed necessary by politicians and parents. ESRB ratings are really better than the alternative. Do you want the government to pass laws on video games? Do you want it to suddenly be illegal for you to purchase certain games? Right now, if you're under age and try to buy an 'M' game, they just say 'No.' Imagine if there was a law, though? Suddenly video games are considered contraband. Instead of just being rejected buy vendors, suddenly kids are being ticketed for trying to buy games. Do you want that?
Seriously, people, ratings are a good thing. If you're underage, just deal with it. I mean, you can buy M games if you have a parent with. What's so hard about that? When I was younger, I had no problem asking my mom to come with me to the game shop to pick something up. Think about the bigger picture.
There is no such thing as an age you should be to play them, because we haven;t found a way to measure maturity in years. There's 27 year olds that don't need to see the sh*t in these games, and 6 year olds that understand it and don't get influenced. It's all in how mature you are, not your YY/DD/MM. I'm only 16, but ever since I was 12, I was able to buy all the Mature Games, Restricted Movies, and etc. that I felt like buying, not because daddy came with me, (I usually shop alone,) not because I knew the lady behind the counter, and not because I begged. I just talk, walk, and act in such a way that lets people see that I'm mature enough to play the game or watch the movie. Never in 4 years of buying 18+ content has an employee ever asked me how old I was, whether I was aloud to play the game or watch the movie, or ever deny me service. I don't look like I'm 22, I just act like I'm 22. (By the way, for every 12 year old kid on XBox Live and Newgrounds, acting like you're 22 doesn't mean running around swearing and making a fool of yourself.) Anyways, the M stands for "Mature", not "Maybe when your 17" Employees and the government didn't just toss that word out, they meant it to read "Mature", because if you're mature, you can buy it. And I know, I've tested it. I had my buddy, who's 6 foot 5, has facial hair, and the deepest voice ever, to go into a store and buy an M rated game. He was denied service when he brought Halo 3 to the counter, because he was visibly nervous... then I, being only 6 foot 2, no facial hair, and a pretty mediocre voice, went in, acting mature, and I got my pick of Manhunt 2, Silent Hill: Homecoming, and a pre-order of Splatterhouse. I went for Silent Hill, and then bought The Mist, Dawn of the Dead, and Superbad Unrated. Because I was mature.
i hate people who say that if a child is exposed to violent video games they will become violent. That's BS. If your smart and you realize that it is all fake and its just for fun its fine. But some people are stupid enough to believe that a game is possible in real life.
I think how ESRB has things now are good, no allowed to buy M games unless you have an adult. And I think its just a matter of the parents acknowledging that the children can handle certain things, while others cant. Me? I can blow up Megaton and then act civil around my girlfriends parents, all in the same night. Some people though, see megaton go up in a nuclear blast and like, start screaming like a lunatic. it's all relative, but I think that if the maturity shows, then you can play, "Mature" games.
