What level of responsibility do game retailers have re: age restrictions


Age Restrictions for games  

70 members have voted

  1. 1. What level of responsibility to retailers have?

    • Very high. They should be informing parents who they think are making inappropriate purchases & check IDs
      30
    • Limited. Check IDs if there is a valid suspicion about the age of the customer, but offer no advice to adults buying games for kids.
      23
    • None. Can't the parents read the classification labels on the front of the cover?
      17
    • Other. Specify
      0


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After responding to a different topic on here I thought this might be an interesting topic to make. How responsible do you think retailers shopuld be when it comes to explaining the content of games to parents or asking for ID when it comes to selling games?

 

Put aside any legal issue around sales to minors, I doubt they would ever be enforced anyway, and just offer your opinion.

 

Vote & discuss.

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Poll question needs re wording as I'm assuming what you were asking is what responsibilities should they have, or possibly do they have.

(I believe it's about the same as movie rental advisors)

 

But to add input to your question, they should have more responsibility, they need to challenge for id, advise against underage gaming (where game age is in question) and should have the right to refuse to sell if advisor is convinced the person is buying a game for someone who is underage.

 

But this in itself presents a problem, as there was a joke post in last year's pictures thread that blew this reasoning clean out of the water, a woman with a child went to buy gta 5, advisor refused to sell it to her stating the reasons of game content.. the potential customers left, the child asked the mother if they're not allowed to buy the game for dad as asked (or something)

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I feel as though retailers should make sure that the person making the purchase is the appropriate age and leave it at that, just as we do in the US for alcohol. It'd be nice if the parents knew beforehand that games such as GTA V are incredibly graphically violent, but I don't think retailers are going to start explaining the details of the violence of games to customers, nor should that be their job.

 

A parent/guardian needs to do their best to know what their kids are getting up to.

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High! Sick to death of children and I do mean children. Online in games they have no business playing.

I think we need lower age restrictions such as getting rid of the 18 certificate for violent games (keep for sexual content).

i.e GTA V would be a 15 or 13(with PG).

7-12yr olds playing GTA and exploring that kind of content is wrong imho, and turning a blind eye to it is wrong and should be punishable under law.

And yes shps should be taking more responsibility or face fines for doing so. Serious fines.

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Any decent parent purchasing a game because their children cannot because ID is required with R RATED slapped across the cover then complains about violent content and their kids attitude or what their kid finds acceptable language needs a head check.

 

The day I have kids and they are unable to purchase GTA will I pick it up for them? Yes.

Will I think about what age they should be playing a game like this and assess it? Definitely.

 

I also think older gamers need to relax and not act so dam entitled. What games where we all playing as kids? Where we not all the same age as the kids we complain about now on CoD or BF? Doom, Hexen, Wolf, Duke, CS, Unreal, Quake and even GTA. I played all these games as a kid as they where released. I think the majority of us here did, remember gamespy? And anyone else that did needs to pipe down. This generation just brings the ability to hear the other players along with their maturity level a whole lot better then last on dialup and busted mics or games that never even supported anymore then text chat. And yes I find the 12 year old yelling at the top of hes lungs as annoying as the next adult.

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Ethically, they have a lot of responsibility (direct participation in the exchange), legally - none, unless they are obliged by the law not to sell R-rated games to minors.

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Any decent parent purchasing a game because their children cannot because ID is required with R RATED slapped across the cover then complains about violent content and their kids attitude or what their kid finds acceptable language needs a head check.

 

The day I have kids and they are unable to purchase GTA will I pick it up for them? Yes.

Will I think about what age they should be playing a game like this and assess it? Definitely.

 

I also think older gamers need to relax and not act so dam entitled. What games where we all playing as kids? Where we not all the same age as the kids we complain about now on CoD or BF? Doom, Hexen, Wolf, Duke, CS, Unreal, Quake and even GTA. I played all these games as a kid as they where released. I think the majority of us here did, remember gamespy? And anyone else that did needs to pipe down. This generation just brings the ability to hear the other players along with their maturity level a whole lot better then last on dialup and busted mics or games that never even supported anymore then text chat. And yes I find the 12 year old yelling at the top of hes lungs as annoying as the next adult.

 

I wouldn't compare doom, hexen, duke and quake to todays games though.

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If the game contains sexual content then it's fair to say that 15+ should be the age allowed without restrictions.

 

In U.K. age of consent (sex) for both heterosexual and homosexual is 16.

 

Europe, France, Scandinavia it's 15.

 

Most TV and films even suitable for 12 year olds, contains rude language and sexual innuendo's.

 

I and my partner raised our children from children to now adults.

 

I didn't expect their teachers to raise them, nor did I expect anyone else.

 

I read a lot about the government telling teachers they should do this and do that with children to discipline them.

 

So why should a retailer monitor the age restrictions of games being sold when there is no law to make them.

 

I buy all the games for my son on amazon.co.uk and I purchased one from eBay.

 

They didn't make an inquiry to see if it was for me or my son.

 

Majority of adults don't play play station, xbox or pc games.

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Hello,

After responding to a different topic on here I thought this might be an interesting topic to make. How responsible do you think retailers shopuld be when it comes to explaining the content of games to parents or asking for ID when it comes to selling games?

 

Put aside any legal issue around sales to minors, I doubt they would ever be enforced anyway, and just offer your opinion.

 

Vote & discuss.

I know where this topic comes from :) Good idea.

AFAIK, its illegal to buy certain games when you are less than 18. No restriction on playing them.

So a parent and her 8 year old, walk into a retailer and he says "Mom! Mom! I want the new "Blood, guts, gore, drug references 3 Special Extreme Edition" video game!". Mom goes and buys it herself with her money then the 8 year old goes and plays it at home, she (or he) has not commited anything illegal.

Alcohol, for example, cannot be bought OR consumed by minors. Thats the difference.

Im talking about up to M games which retailers stock. Im not sure if it isnt illegal to play AO games since no retailer stocks them.

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I've told this story numerous times, and it happened years ago, but it still annoys me now. 

 

I went to buy myself a slimline PS2 the day that Grand Theft Auto: Vice City came out on the PS2. I went to my local Blockbusters before work and there was already a small queue of people in front of me buying the game. In both cases they were a parent, and a young son. Each time, they went to the desk and the parent said "Grand Theft Auto Vice City please" - and the Blockbuster employee dutifully said something along the lines of "You're aware sir that this game is rated R as it contains mature content, and is unsuitable for children" and the parent basically fobbed the employee off and basically just told him to get the game. They were in both cases quite clearly buying for their kids, and were completely uninterested in the ratings. What more could the Blockbuster employee do? 

 

I even saw this recently when out for a friends birthday. Woman there had a few young kids and was on about buying GTA5 for one of her younger kids - I couldn't really help but get involved in the conversation, to express my surprise. She defended it by saying "He just tends to drive around and not follow the game, and get involved in the bad stuff.." - I pointed out to her that it contains strong language and even has story elements such as filming of a porno movie.. she was suddenly amazed, like this was the first she'd ever heard of this and said that maybe she wouldn't be buying the game for her kid!!

 

So the moral of my story? The game store workers can only do so much. The problem rests purely at the feet of the parents. My parents wouldn't have ever let me play a game that was so offensive as a kid. I find GTA hilarious fun now of course and I'm really not a prude or anything like that... but I do worry about the sort of media children are very easily able to get access to, and of course as a gamer, playing online against kids is the most infuriating thing EVER!! 

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Same as with Videos. If the game is rated 18, then it should only be sold to those customers over the age of 18 and if they don't look over that age then they should be ID'd.

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Any decent parent purchasing a game because their children cannot because ID is required with R RATED slapped across the cover then complains about violent content and their kids attitude or what their kid finds acceptable language needs a head check.

 

The day I have kids and they are unable to purchase GTA will I pick it up for them? Yes.

Will I think about what age they should be playing a game like this and assess it? Definitely.

 

I also think older gamers need to relax and not act so dam entitled. What games where we all playing as kids? Where we not all the same age as the kids we complain about now on CoD or BF? Doom, Hexen, Wolf, Duke, CS, Unreal, Quake and even GTA. I played all these games as a kid as they where released. I think the majority of us here did, remember gamespy? And anyone else that did needs to pipe down. This generation just brings the ability to hear the other players along with their maturity level a whole lot better then last on dialup and busted mics or games that never even supported anymore then text chat. And yes I find the 12 year old yelling at the top of hes lungs as annoying as the next adult.

Although I agree with some of your points, the highlighted point is subjective, I'm 38, and my gaming console for the time was the Atari 2600, gamers were centipede, asteroids etc...

ersb or bbfc or any age rating wasn't available as there was no graphic content

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I wouldn't compare doom, hexen, duke and quake to todays games though.

 

Graphics no they don't compare visually, the message of violence was the same though. I think I was just under 10 playing Duke 3D and thought the strippers and language where hilarious, it didn't effect me in a adverse way. But even at 8 or 9 I knew repeating blow it out your ass or eat sh*t and die would of gotten me a good belting behind the ears. 

 

Although I agree with some of your points, the highlighted point is subjective, I'm 38, and my gaming console for the time was the Atari 2600, gamers were centipede, asteroids etc...

ersb or bbfc or any age rating wasn't available as there was no graphic content

 

I know older generations exist, it's how I discovered gaming. With my mum at arcades, grandfather copying floppies for me. I just think the biggest nomination of gamers right now is the 18-30 age group and we all grew up on violent games as kids and I like to think most of us turned out fine.

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I think if there's a child with them, they should inform them if they think it's unsuitable, however ultimately it's up to the parents I feel. The parents know best if their kids can handle it. I played violent games at an early age, me and my Dad played GTA 1 together, taking a life each. I was 6 when GTA 1 came out, I used to play the original Unreal, later on GTA 2 etc, Tekken and Resident Evil. My Dad knew I wasn't an idiot and could separate real life and video games, and knew that I'd never repeat the kind of language I heard on those games around him. He even let me watch Alien, The Thing and American Werewolf in London with him when I was 6-7.

 

By aged 12 I was hearing more swearing and foul language on my school playground than the average GTA game, me and my friends found gore in games to be funny, enjoyed being scared by Resident Evil games.

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I've had lectures from shop assistants who think I've been buying cigarettes for underage kids, I don't think it's any different to buying a minor age restricted media.

 

Products contain age restrictions for reasons, and whilst I believe staff should try to educate adults who they believe are buying adult games for minors, it all ultimately lands on the head of the adult in question.

 

A lot of parents these days are a bit 'behind the times' and don't know what they're buying for their kids. If I was a major game retailer, I'd play on that ignorance to provide a clear breakdown of just what age ratings mean.  Normally, I'd say that would be going above and beyond their remit, but it is inbound marketing at it's finest.

 

Who are these parents going to buy from after watching an informative video concerning video game ratings?  The company that told them Saints Row IV wasn't a game about theological arguments.

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To be clear, this topic isn't proposing removing restriction or classification information, just how much employees/companies should intervene when selling games.

 

To repeat an anecdote I offered in another topic, which gave me the idea for this one: I know someone who worked at a game retailer and one day was borderline abused by a customer because he dared to suggest to her the game she was buying for her very young son probably wasn't suitable. As far as any argument about parents being ignorant and needing info, this is how large classifcation info is on Australian game covers:

 

LbjMiXL.jpg

 

 

Is anyone going to argue that is too small or unclear for a parent? Unless that parent is illiterate then I don't see the excuse.

 

Actually, the big red symbol would probably tip them off even if they were illiterate.

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So why should a retailer monitor the age restrictions of games being sold when there is no law to make them.

 

But there is. In the UK at least, age restrictions on games are legally binding. It is just as a illegal to sell an 18 rated game to someone younger than 18 as it is to sell alcohol to an under 18 year old (though the punishments will obviously be different).

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guess i'm the only one who's parents made a big deal of not watching movies or playing games that were rated above my age. GTA vice city or SA on my original Xbox? Forget about it they said. System of a Down, my cd got snapped in half and thrown away. If any movie used fowl language, either change channel or turn off the tv was it in my case. Parents these days know nothing of parenting, they simply want to gratify children's demands in fear of not being 'liked' or being 'cool'. You should make a point of it to make sure you're children are taught right, because once they are grown up, then its waaay too late.

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I believe stores should be responsible in not renting/selling a game without proper age verification (when in question).  But that is where it should end.  There should be nothing said when a 40 year old parent and a 10 year old are together to get a game.  

 

The store is not the parent.  Nor should they put in their opinion on the matter.  The parent, should BE A PARENT and make the proper decision on the upbringing of the child.  

 

Now, if a parent returns to the store and complains about not being informed of the rating.  The store should simply respond "Miss/Sir, it is YOU who are supposed to be the parent and know what you are providing your child" and be done with it.

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Limited. They should ID if there is suspicion of the buyers age, but they shouldn't actively sway the decision of parents. If a parent wants to buy their child a mature (or 17+/whatever rating) video game, the retailer has no say in the decision (as the person buying it isn't under 18), and therefore doesn't need to preach to the parent that their choice of game for their child is wrong. Maybe a reminder to look over the game to ensure they feel it is appropriate for their child, and of course answer any questions the parent has about the game, but that's it.

 

I still remember when I was a kid and wanted to buy some Spawn game, my father went with me to buy it but even after he paid for it, the clerk wouldn't hand me the bag containing the game (it was rated M for violence and what not). He said he couldn't hand me the game and insisted on giving it to my father, who then 2 seconds later handed me the bag to carry. We all know what kind of violent horrible murderer that game turned me in to......

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i think video game restrictions are asinine. sure, put a warning label on there that there's severe violence, or sexual situations, but it should be up to the parent to understand.

 

that's a bit off topic, though. It should not be up to the store to enforce restrictions.

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guess i'm the only one who's parents made a big deal of not watching movies or playing games that were rated above my age. GTA vice city or SA on my original Xbox? Forget about it they said. System of a Down, my cd got snapped in half and thrown away. If any movie used fowl language, either change channel or turn off the tv was it in my case. Parents these days know nothing of parenting, they simply want to gratify children's demands in fear of not being 'liked' or being 'cool'. You should make a point of it to make sure you're children are taught right, because once they are grown up, then its waaay too late.

 

 

There seems to be an assertion or suggestion there that exposure to mature content might create anti-social or irresponsible adults. Not sure I agree with that.

 

My parents were pretty lenient but also took the time to make sure I was mature enough to understand the content I was viewing & listening to. Outright bans seem to make forbidden content all that more desirable. A few of my friends always wanted to hang at my house because we could play violent games and listen to N.W.A. or Slayer  :rofl:. None of them, to my knowledge, are criminals or drains on society.

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i think video game restrictions are asinine. sure, put a warning label on there that there's severe violence, or sexual situations, but it should be up to the parent to understand.

 

that's a bit off topic, though. It should not be up to the store to enforce restrictions.

 

Yes and no.... I think that video game stores should enforce the warning labels similar to what is done for movies, however, I think that is were the responsibility for the store ends.  Ultimately it is up to the parent to get off their duffs and find out about the game before purchasing it for their kids. A simple google search of the games titles brings up enough information about the game for parents to make an informed choice.

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There seems to be an assertion or suggestion there that exposure to mature content might create anti-social or irresponsible adults. Not sure I agree with that.

 

My parents were pretty lenient but also took the time to make sure I was mature enough to understand the content I was viewing & listening to. Outright bans seem to make forbidden content all that more desirable. A few of my friends always wanted to hang at my house because we could play violent games and listen to N.W.A. or Slayer  :rofl:. None of them, to my knowledge, are criminals or drains on society.

parents are irresponsible if they can't recognise the limits of age restrictions, on the mental well being and development of their children. A large part is also if the parent is careless and gets into the habit of 'spoiling' their children, they simply give them things/access to content, without teaching how to earn it or the pitfalls. Also no where in my post did I make a link to exposure to mature content = criminals or societal leech. I'm simply stating  the obvious : most parents have 0 clue how to raise children, not all tho. Also most forget that in pre/teen years, you literally are like a sponge, what you see and hear, is what you repeat in social spaces.

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guess i'm the only one who's parents made a big deal of not watching movies or playing games that were rated above my age. GTA vice city or SA on my original Xbox? Forget about it they said. System of a Down, my cd got snapped in half and thrown away. If any movie used fowl language, either change channel or turn off the tv was it in my case. Parents these days know nothing of parenting, they simply want to gratify children's demands in fear of not being 'liked' or being 'cool'. You should make a point of it to make sure you're children are taught right, because once they are grown up, then its waaay too late.

 

My parents had a VHS tape with some German porn (the most popular "type" of porn in USSR) on it that they used to hide from me, but I still always managed to find it! :D

 

One time, in grade 6, I showed it to my best friend and he was literally petrified at sight of female genitalia. He was so scared and shocked that he actually swore to never have sex. (He's now happily married).

 

Nowadays, no 12 year old would find some 80's soft-core porn or rather, erotica, to be shocking because they've already seen everything online and in the Game of Thrones series.

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