Video games age ratings...

[andyoxon]

Just wondering what people think about the age ratings on video games (PS, Xbox etc) generally.  A while ago a friend's young teen said all his friends were playing these PEGI 16 games - and that life was so unfair that he couldn't play them.   Is sci-fi violence less of an issue than the violent war or 'street' games?  Experiences?

[Kathy]

I don't play many games video games, so I can't speak for the genre as a whole. I am however a huuuuge fan of the Grand Theft Auto series (rate 18). They are wonderful, but very violent and with a very black sense of humour and a lot of drugs and sex. I think the age rating is justified there - I don't think anyone under 17 ¹/₂ should play them.

On the other hand, I've recently taken to having 4 Music on the TV in the evenings as background noise, and am mildly perturbed by some of the music videos in which females wear nothing more than a bikini (or strategic body-paint) and writhe around in simulated orgies or masturbation whilst the camera only concentrates on the pubic area, so perhaps I'm just getting prudish in my old age (late twenties).

[pcolbeck]

I let pcolbeck junior (12) play Halo and Call of Duty. When we were kids we played soldiers etc and it wasn't really any different. He understands the difference between a game and real life. I don't however let him play GTA. A game based on pimps hookers theft and killing innocent bystanders isn't really suitable for kids.
Basically don't rely on teh ratings use your own judgement as you know your own kids.

[Wascally Weasel]

Is sci-fi violence less of an issue than the violent war or 'street' games?  Experiences?

Playing Doom 3 in the dark scared me shitless.  I'm a bit older than 18.

[tonycollinet]

I let pcolbeck junior (12) play Halo and Call of Duty. When we were kids we played soldiers etc and it wasn't really any different. He understands the difference between a game and real life. I don't however let him play GTA. A game based on pimps hookers theft and killing innocent bystanders isn't really suitable for kids.
Basically don't rely on teh ratings use your own judgement as you know your own kids.

I've used exactly the same strategy.

[andyoxon]

mini ao has been playing Lego Star Wars.  But she wants to have a look at Halo 2 (when I have a go - it's after they've gone to bed).  I suppose that's fair enough - not keen to for her to play it really.

[tom_e]

Playing Doom 3 in the dark scared me shitless.  I'm a bit older than 18.

+1

Even when I've played some levels in Quake 4 dozens of times, and I know the drooly beast is about to burst through that wall, I still jump like a girly when it does it.

[GruB]

Call of Duty World of War says FUCK loads.  We have discussed this with the boys, used it as an opener for the discussion and made them understand that if we hear them saying it then there will be consequences.  It is language the eldest hears at school anyway, and possibly the little one too.  But because it is a video game they are more accepting that it is not real I reckon.

[agagisgroovy]

I only know about nice happy family friendly Wii games, but when I bought the Sims 1 for PC it had an 11 year old rating. Sims 2 is a bit harder to play with a lot more detailed 'Make a Baby' commands, and yet that's a 7.

[DrMekon]

My 3 1/2 year old watches me play Virtual On, which is a 7. I've indoctrinated him that Transformers suck and that Gundam are best, and we watch Superior Defender Gundam Force religiously. Virtual On is just another part of the program to ensure he doesn't get sucked in by the Transformers bandwagon. Any other games he watches are 3+.

[PrettyBoyTim]

I only know about nice happy family friendly Wii games, but when I bought the Sims 1 for PC it had an 11 year old rating. Sims 2 is a bit harder to play with a lot more detailed 'Make a Baby' commands, and yet that's a 7.

It's worth noting that the age ratings on games are completely unconnected to the difficulty of the game, and cover the content of the game only.

[andygates]

Aye.  Ratchet & Clank and Mario World (or Mario Universe or Mario Resonating Superstring Brane or whatever the latest one is) are great examples of good tough games with no gore or horror.

As for violence, it doesn't matter if it's against machines or zomeies or bugs, right? 

[Snazzaroo1845]

I have played sci-fi games like that in the past at friends houses, and now at 13, I think that they are verrry different from Grand Theft Auto and stuff like that.

It depends on what's meant by sci-fi - zombies can be pretty freaky, nevertheless, always prove to die well... 

But most of the Pegi 16+ ones seem to be ok.

However, I must warn you on the rating side of things - lots of DS games (e.g. Nintendogs, Super Mario etc) tend to be rated as 3+. I think that this is a pretty poor way of rating it, because it means that the game is suitable for a 3+ year old. It doesn't mean that they can necessarily play them. Many of the overrated games are overrated because of the content e.g. drugs, sexual features and violence.

Take 42 All Time Classics on the Nintendo DS - it's rated 12 because of the gambling... and even that doesn't encourage you to gamble - it's your standard game of cards! 

Hope this helps a bit! 

[DrMekon]

So, just completed mini-ninjas with my son - 3 1/2. lovely story about a team of kids adopted by a ninja master who sends them off to investigate some strange things. Turns out an evil warlord has turned forest animals into baddie samurai, and they are capturing villages and capturing more animals. You collect flowers to make spells and free animals along the way. Lots of cute and easy puzzles and plenty of simple battling action - defeating them turns them back into animals. All was fine until we his a boss battle that involved defeating a samurai with flatulence. His wind was poison, and you had to jump the puffs. Unfortunately, this gave him nightmares for a week!

FWIW, I really enjoyed it. Kiddie-ninjafied Mario64