NIDZUMI+

Violence, drugs and the rest of it, there is no doubting that gaming has matured and rightfully so. Still why is gaming still labelled as a hobby for children only and why are they getting their hands on these particular games? Should they be allowed to play games with adult themes, after all I played Solider of Fortune and similar titles when I was younger and I’m fine…right?

The publishers and retail outlets all hark the same boilerplate cop-out of ‘the ultimate decision should be made by the parents’. Now I’m not going to blame parents for everything wrong with minors getting their hands on explicit and violent content.

They hark the same boilerplate statement of the ultimate decision should be made by the parents

I, despite not having children myself, can understand that buying their kids ‘those stupid video games’ is an easy option, neigh it’s really the only option given the popularity of gaming with minors.

Now whether a ten year old should be allowed to chainsaw Locust or mindlessly run down civilians on the streets of Stilwater isn’t really my decision to make. The problem is that parents don’t really have much of a say in what their children play. After all when a craze or a fad is popular as a kid you’ll eventually get your hands on it, even if its after months of nagging and pestering. So who should take the blame?

Well while on the hunt for a copy of DJ Hero I ventured into Argos, needless to say it was overpriced. What I was more shocked by is that the video games are in the back with the kid’s section, specifically one that caught my eye, Episodes from Liberty City.

Now I know I won’t be breaking any news or anything with the following statement but Grand Theft Auto probably has the most ESRB content warnings of any game, ranging from drug references to explicit sex. So why is this being listed as a toy for kids?

It would be like Scarface or Goodfellas next to Disney DVDs in HMV or something. The shops should have to take a share of the blame as well. I understand that they are business and need to make money but surely they should have some sort of responsibility. If cigarettes can’t be blatantly marketed at children then maybe mature gaming shouldn’t be, or at the very least adult and mature games shouldn’t be.

Explicit sex, drug references and more are being listed as toys for kids

Maybe that’s going to far, maybe blinder racks would leave the perception of gaming in the media, even shadier and evil than it already is. Then who should take the blame?

I guess we should be following the chain from children to parents to retail stores to developers to publishers, after all most developers and publishers could be criticised for releasing sub-par child friendly titles.

That’s not to say that great games aren’t available for everyone, a majority of indie games are child friendly while Guitar and DJ Hero, although expensive, are rated suitable minors.

Maybe the whole thing is a case of people being people and wanting what they shouldn’t or can’t have, but that doesn’t excuse the bad labelling as video games are for kids. Attempts to make it the law for kids not to get their hands on games they shouldn’t be playing have failed, so what else can be done?

I’d be interested to hear from those who do have children and worry about this kind of thing.