How young is too young to play 18+ games?

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Depends on the game and child. I know I would have been too sensitive under the age of 13-ish but then others would have been fine at 11. Anything before secondary school age is a no-no though for me. I have a few memories of playing san Andreas when I was around 12/13 but I didn't really do anything on it, just drive around the map. :lol:

Say that, when I was 2 my mum let me watch Jerry Springer- because I just loved the part where they all started chanting Jerry, Jerry Jerry!! :lol:

Didn't have a clue about what was going on, I just like the noise. :tongue:

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 21

Cll_ws

Original post by fire2burn

I was 10 when the first GTA came out for the PS1 back in 1997, so I'd be a hypocrite if I said anything different :tongue:

I spent hours on that game, it was so good. I was only young when I got it as well, 9 or 10. I don't see how any game could have been classified as 18+ back then though, they were obviously very far from realistic :tongue:

I was shooting little white dots at walking pixels, not murdering people.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 22

Solid.Snake

I remember playing 18+ games when I was around 10 back on the Playstation 2, apart from some of them being a little scary fortunately it never did me much harm.

Reply 23

Exon

I've played Mortal Kombat and GTA from a young age and I've never had the urge to murder police officers or rip someone's spine out.

It depends on the game and person really.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 24

MissMyDawgs

Guys I am 17 year old male and just got my gta, do you think it would be appropriate to allow my 14 year old sister to play?

Reply 25

Exon

Original post by MissMyDawgs

Guys I am 17 year old male and just got my gta, do you think it would be appropriate to allow my 14 year old sister to play?

Only if you can beat it before her. Spoilers :wink:

Reply 26

Sarang Surowo

It depends a lot on the game and the individual. For instance, Mortal Kombat for Dreamcast is hardly absolutely explicit material that no child should ever see. The same applies to a lot of older games rated 18 and even some newer ones like some of the newer Call of Duties (which I don't believe deserve an 18+ certificate). On the other hand, a game like Condemned: Criminal Origins or a game with a lot of detailed sexual content in it is clearly not acceptable for children to play. It really comes down to you as a parent deciding on a case by case basis on what you think is acceptable and what isn't.

Reply 27

Hopple

If he cries, he's too young. Else it's fine. We let little kids run around pretending to shoot each other with imaginary guns then get into real physical fights when one of them doesn't die like they're supposed to. If they're violent they'll at least only ragequit rather than beat someone up for real.

Reply 28

MissMyDawgs

Original post by Exon

Only if you can beat it before her. Spoilers :wink:

I'm planning on completing the game first then allow her to play missions I see as appropriate so no sex scenes etc...

Reply 29

Jack93o

Probably 10 years old

I played GTA vice city when I was around that age, it didn't do me much harm :dontknow:

I had the right balance at that age in terms of knowing right/wrong and fiction/reality, it was harmless entertainment to me.

Reply 30

Bhumbauze

Original post by fire2burn

I was 10 when the first GTA came out for the PS1 back in 1997, so I'd be a hypocrite if I said anything different :tongue:

Those were the days :moon:

It must be at least 12+ years since I played the original GTA - and I knew every word of that off by heart :biggrin:

.

I've been wishing for years that they'd have it as a radio track in a modern GTA... still waiting...

Reply 31

Ayesha1234

It's so bad but my little sister is an awesome player two on black ops. She's seven.

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Reply 32

Robbie242

My mum had a policy with me and my brother than we could always buy games with an age rating 3 higher than our age, so at 15 I was finally allowed some 18s and at 12 I was allowed 15s, I knew many of my friends who had gta since they were 9 or something, I was very jelly back then

Reply 33

xMr_BrightSide

I wasn't allowed games until I was the actual age requirement.... seriously annoyed me. I'd say 15/16 or so for games like GTA, maybe 13/14 for CoD and other milder 18's.

Reply 34

Admiral Bubbles

I played 18+ games at 11. Never did me any harm :smile:

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Reply 35

arabinthemist

It really depends on the game. Games like COD and Halo I think are really just violent games, and honestly most players are around 12-13... That's probably when I started playing them. GTA on the other hand is the only commercial game out there which I think deserves an 18. But its still one hell of a game...

Reply 36

sa00109102

There has to be evidence of the 18 Cert' being worthy. So surely we should accept an 18 Cert' as being just that! I mean, we've ALL grown up on playing and viewing + 18 content... No we're not messed up (hmmm), but I wouldn't want my future young son/daughter to see some of the things the 'free and easy' ratings have allowed me to see. We should at least TRY and preserve their innocence. We always moan about losing ours!

I say 11-12.

You can't really put an age on it, when the game and child are more important than an arbitrary age.

I watched 18+ films from the age of 6 so I am of the opinion that it's not fair to not let a child watch a film or play a game just because it has swear words, violence or other stuff.

Reply 39

ozzyoscy

I'm just not sure. The age restriction is there to protect, but I've never been harmed by playing or watching or listening to adult content. In fact, kids seek it out. Maybe we've got it all wrong.

When a kid allegedly plays an 18+ game or watches an 18+ film, the scientific line is that the kid was already crazy. So what's the point in age-restriction if the content doesn't change anyone and if kids want to see it?

Then the kicker: kids don't grow up. At 18, they're still as immature as when they were 13, or 10, or 7. I know a lot of 'adults' in their 40s, 50s, 80s, who are immature little children. So what about 18? I certainly didn't magically become responsible, mature, and not an axe murderer at a specific age. Responsibility comes from experiences, and being an axe murderer comes from whether or not you're mental.