The "Freeola Customer Forum" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
OK, so I was just in Game in Staines. I was innocently perusing the PC chart when out of the corner of my eye, some 8-10 year old kid slaps Oblivion and some other game down I didn't quite see on the counter. The bloke on the till peers down at him and asks politely "is anyone else with you?", to which the kid responds by silently pointing behind him to who I presume was his mother.
What happened next shocked me completely. Till chap says to hovering lady person "I'll need you to be at the till for the transaction, as both of these games are rated 15". Woman looks down at little 8 year old, back at till bloke and shuffles forward.
Transaction goes through. 8 year old successfully purchases 2 15 rated games and goes off to play them, mother in tow.
In ten year's time, after this kid has hacked twelve people to death with a machete before killing himself by boring parker pens into his eyes, they will blame the video games.
Not the crappy parents. Not the guy in Game who knew he was selling games to someone too young to own them, but didn't care as long as he covered his own a**e. Genius.
What happened next shocked me completely. Till chap says to hovering lady person "I'll need you to be at the till for the transaction, as both of these games are rated 15". Woman looks down at little 8 year old, back at till bloke and shuffles forward.
Transaction goes through. 8 year old successfully purchases 2 15 rated games and goes off to play them, mother in tow.
In ten year's time, after this kid has hacked twelve people to death with a machete before killing himself by boring parker pens into his eyes, they will blame the video games.
Not the crappy parents. Not the guy in Game who knew he was selling games to someone too young to own them, but didn't care as long as he covered his own a**e. Genius.
Page:
And jewel cases can be smashed and sharpened... :)
It's an easily influenced ueber-minority who are committing said crimes because of games; same with those Black Metal fans in Norway some years ago. It's a parent's responsibility I'd guess; would it be a bad idea to let their kids play GTA/Manhunt titles, do they know about the content? But then, there are only very few who can fail to tell the difference between real and pretend violence; as Vaz or Liebermann (Yes, politicos from both sides of the Atlantic!) don't seem to understand.
I know my dad didn't have a problem with me playing GTA2 when I was 12, as I can tell the difference between real and fake violence, and of course GTA's have become more "realistic" since. Shooting a load of polygons is a good release of anger, rage etc anyway.
It's an easily influenced ueber-minority who are committing said crimes because of games; same with those Black Metal fans in Norway some years ago. It's a parent's responsibility I'd guess; would it be a bad idea to let their kids play GTA/Manhunt titles, do they know about the content? But then, there are only very few who can fail to tell the difference between real and pretend violence; as Vaz or Liebermann (Yes, politicos from both sides of the Atlantic!) don't seem to understand.
I know my dad didn't have a problem with me playing GTA2 when I was 12, as I can tell the difference between real and fake violence, and of course GTA's have become more "realistic" since. Shooting a load of polygons is a good release of anger, rage etc anyway.
The problem with this debate is that people keep trying to argue with a conscious rationale about something that (if true) happens on a subconscious level. So we seem to end up with lots of pointless assertions. Being able to tell the difference between a video game and reality or saying that games arent realistic isnt really the issue.
I was playing 18 rated titles at the age of 11 over a mates hose and it hasn't warped me (at least, I dont think it has). I still believe in them ans when the manager wasn't around my ID tactic was harsh and I made sure if a parent bought it for the child I made sure that the parent was 100% sure of the content and would only accept payment if the money came directly from the parent - the kid hadn't taken part of the transaction at all.
I know videogames have changed from the days I was playing 19. GTA with it's little polygon bullets and weird looking cars, Duke Nukem and it's feeble attempt to bring sex into the next gen shooter. Compared to what is out there today they are tame.
Agreed, the internet is a decent place to get games underage. I bought several and everybody is none the wiser, some games my parents still don't know I have and I'm nearly 20.
But I now believe that the BBFC are getting lapse in their classification. Mass effect for example - moderate violence, swearing with lesbian and straight sex scenes and it only gets a 12 rating. Blue Dragon hints at quite a bit of swearing contains fantasy violence and some scary scenes and it is unclassified by the BBFC. All it gets is a PEGI 12+.
I'm for the certificates, but I think parents should be educated on what they mean as I got fed up with the number of people saying "well my son is bright, I'm sure he can figure it out" just as much as when people go "I don't want that game because it will be too easy" on a PEGI 3+ game.
I know videogames have changed from the days I was playing 19. GTA with it's little polygon bullets and weird looking cars, Duke Nukem and it's feeble attempt to bring sex into the next gen shooter. Compared to what is out there today they are tame.
Agreed, the internet is a decent place to get games underage. I bought several and everybody is none the wiser, some games my parents still don't know I have and I'm nearly 20.
But I now believe that the BBFC are getting lapse in their classification. Mass effect for example - moderate violence, swearing with lesbian and straight sex scenes and it only gets a 12 rating. Blue Dragon hints at quite a bit of swearing contains fantasy violence and some scary scenes and it is unclassified by the BBFC. All it gets is a PEGI 12+.
I'm for the certificates, but I think parents should be educated on what they mean as I got fed up with the number of people saying "well my son is bright, I'm sure he can figure it out" just as much as when people go "I don't want that game because it will be too easy" on a PEGI 3+ game.
Page: