Gaming arguments #1
Kids playing video games? Normal. Should it be, though? Depends.
Violent video games that are for fifteen years and up should NOT be bought for kids. This isn't a moral thing. This is more a thing for parents. Because when their child is accused of killing someone because they saw it on Grand Theft Auto, they don't take any blame for letting them play it.
Okay, to explain...we always see stories about a guy that kills someone (accidnetally or not) and they played a game a few hours before. So everyone blames the game. Fuck sake. The game didn't TELL THEM to go shoot someone in the face. It didn't tell them to steal a car. And, even if they got the idea from the game, it isn't the games fault, really. It's THEIR fault for thinking that it was acceptable because the guy in the game didn't get caught for it. 'I CAN DO IT AND THERE WILL BE NO CONSEQUENCES, CLEARLY'. Bollocks.
I hate telling people that I play video games. Because then people start bothering me about what I play. I even mention the name of an FPS people start staring like 'SHE'S GOING TO SHOOT ME'. Either that or 'SHE'S A LESBIAN'. Well fuck me sideways.
If video games made you do things that you saw in the game, I'd be doing some weird shit right now.
I play Catherine. WHAT WOULD THAT TEACH ME TO DO? OMFG. Pushing sheep off buildings.
LEGEND OF ZELDA TEACHES YOU TO RUN INTO PEOPLES HOUSES AND STEAL THEIR MONEY. WHEN THEY'RE WATCHING. OMFG.
TEAM FORTRESS TEACHES ME TO SHOOT PEOPLE WHILE SHOUTING STRANGE LINES OF ABUSE. OMFG.
I'm not even going to carry on listing crazy shit.
In all honesty, wouldn't it be the parents fault for letting them play it? if they're a grown man buying their own game, the game shouldn't be affecting their thoughts unless they have mental problems, really. I mean...maybe they could but...not that drastically? I don't know, I failed science. But the reason kids get affected by it is because their minds are still learning until they're around eighteen.
If a game has an adult label on it, don't buy it for your kids, no matter how much they beg. I see it whenever I'm in a game shop. Spoilt kids running around throwing adult games at their parents and the parents INSTANTLY giving in and buying it.
I saw a GROWN MAN buying a kid that looked EIGHT an EIGHTEEN game. SPLATTERHOUSE. As much as the gore in that game bores the fuck out of me, for an eight year old it's a GORE FEST. RIGHT IN THE BEGINNING, A MAN'S INTESTINES PRETTY MUCH FALL OUT AND THEN GET SUCKED BACK INTO HIS BODY.
Parents don't realize what's in a game. They just think that there is no real harm in it. Buying it without looking. My dad makes sure to look, even now. I'm eighteen. He still makes sure my games are safe for me. He sometimes comes in and bothers me about who I'm talking to on TF2 to make sure I'm not being bullied. He's a caring sod and I love him for it.
Heck, my dad once told a guy in a game shop to read what the game was about when he noticed the kid had given it to them and the man just nodded since the kid said 'please'. Apparently the dad had a fit when he realised what his kid had picked up and thanked my dad for pointing it out. When he spoke to the dad after the kid had a tantrum he said he was going to check what he was playing from now on. Aparently the kid was about ten and had already played games like mortal combat, call of duty and resident evil. Well fuck.
Well...what are your opinions on kids playing games and people being affected by video games?
I'm sorry, this was pretty much a ramble because college brings this stuff up every so often to put us in an argument and to think about labels on our games.