GameStop Doles Out The M-Rated Harshness

[Valkysas]

Re: GameStop Doles Out The M-Rated Harshness

here's how I see it.

Gamestop employees that sell M rated games to minors SHOULD be fired.
Selling M rated games to minors is the major reason there are so many attempted lawsuits against the industry every year.
These people in my mind, are often justified in suing the retailers for this. I would be irate if any game store happened to sell my kid a mortal kombat title, for instance. I, like many people, would not want a child exposed to that. I see no point in taking it up with the developers and publishers, its out of their hands once it heads to the warehouse. the stores should know better. stores do NOT sell R rated movies to kids. theaters do not allow kids into R rated movies alone. stores also do not sell pornography to kids. thus stores should also not sell M rated games to kids. A lot of people have this idea where "it's only a game", so they have no problem selling them to kids. if their jobs need to be on the line in order for them to wake the **** up and say "no" to a nine year old trying to buy GTA, then so be it.

[The Toecutter]

Re: GameStop Doles Out The M-Rated Harshness

Terr, how can you preach absolute freedom while at the same time saying parents should have complete control over their children? And how can you honestly believe such control is possible? Mom can't follow little Billy 24/7 to make sure he's not buying Blood Guts Anal Rape 3 from Gamestop.

I'm not saying they should have complete control over every last thing their children do, just responsibility for the actions of their children, knowledge of what their children are doing, open communication between parent and child of what will and will not be acceptable.

If the child brings a violent videogame home when such a thing wasn't allowed, it would not be unreasonable for the parent to punish the child to let the child know that isn't acceptable behavior. If the child is respectful, they will listen. If they don't, then more drastic punishments are needed to reinforce that message, or alternatively, open dialogue is again needed between parent and child.

The parents may not be able to follow them 24/7, but it's certainly not unreasonable to expect the parents to be aware of what their children are buying, or even how their children are acquiring the money to buy such things. Many instead want limitations to be set on everyone so someone else can do the parenting for them, because maybe it's not as convenient to have to parent your own child, or talk with your child openly about these subjects, or compromise with your child and maybe determine whether or not they are mature enough to have such a product, or tell your child why they can't have this product, or *gasp* punish your child if they acquire such a product when you told them it was not okay too.

[Valkysas]

Re: GameStop Doles Out The M-Rated Harshness

Tell a kid why they can't have something, and you'll end up giving them a list of reasons to get it.

If the child brings a violent videogame home when such a thing wasn't allowed, it would not be unreasonable for the parent to punish the child to let the child know that isn't acceptable behavior.

If a kid brings something like that home, the parent is likely not going to find out about it. kids hide things. kids are damn good at hiding things. I hid all sorts of stuff in my room that my parents never found out about.

to this, you might say, "well, keep the game systems in the living room". well, that won't work. the kid will have access to it at some point, even if it's in the middle of the night. and damn near nothing can be done if your kid has a portable system.

[The Toecutter]

Re: GameStop Doles Out The M-Rated Harshness

The parent isn't likely to find out about it if the parent isn't paying attention. Yes, kids are excellent at hiding things. But then again, so too are parents excellent at finding things, if they make the attempt and if they pay attention to their child. Many times has a friend of mine been caught with porn stashed between their mattress, in their ceiling, under a floor tile, in their schoolbag, and other places when they were pre-teens. Turns out the parent never even bothered to discuss with their child the significance of these things, the implications of what is depicted, any philosophical ramifications, or whether it was allowed.

Parents don't talk to their kids now days as much as they used to, but then get upset if their child becomes delusional in regard to what is depicted in various forms of media or if the child makes actions influenced by these things. If they let the game system or the TV raise the child, then there are going to be obvious problems with the way parent and child perceive each other and how respect is given and relayed.

It is fairly normal for kids to keep secrets from their parents, but likewise, children used to have a greater respect for their parents because communication was more common. With communication, most children do come to realize what 'no' means. If the parent is too overbearing, too lenient, or just plain lazy, then problems are much more likely to arise. and who's fault is it? Not the game maker's, or the game store's, but the parents.

My parents talked to me about the games I was playing(or movies I was watching), understood I was 'mature' enough to play them despite my age, and had those laws not even existed, would have certainly had no problem with me renting or buying this material. Yet the state had decided one size fits all, and I always needed them to accompany me just to purchase these things. It didn't apply to just games, but liquor(only if the state found out, my parents would have been unjustly punished at the time), certain forms of reading material, movies, and other things(some of which were illegal for adults too). Just plain stupid. If someone is responsible enough to have something, isn't going to harm anyone with it, and if a child, has no objection from the parents, then a law restricting them is only serving to infringe upon their role in making a decision.

[Chrome Homura]

Re: GameStop Doles Out The M-Rated Harshness

Tell a kid why they can't have something, and you'll end up giving them a list of reasons to get it.

If the child brings a violent videogame home when such a thing wasn't allowed, it would not be unreasonable for the parent to punish the child to let the child know that isn't acceptable behavior.

If a kid brings something like that home, the parent is likely not going to find out about it. kids hide things. kids are damn good at hiding things. I hid all sorts of stuff in my room that my parents never found out about.

to this, you might say, "well, keep the game systems in the living room". well, that won't work. the kid will have access to it at some point, even if it's in the middle of the night. and damn near nothing can be done if your kid has a portable system.

the first part, while partially true, is not universal. Some kids will actually do what they are told, contrary to popular belief. But then, that is some. Actually, few are like this. But they do exist. And let me tell you, I disliked the "goody two shoes" kids just as much as everyone else did at that age. Those tend to grow to be the practically autonomous workers.

About the "systems in the living room" comment, this is true. When I was younger, my brother would sneak out late at night to play Legend Of Zelda:Majora's Mask. If he got loud enough, he'd wake up one or both of our parents and games/controllers would be taken away. Although, they were a bit less adept at hiding then us, and we were more adept at searching.

Back to the argument at hand. It is a commonly known fact that people are going to have different ideas about parenting. I certainly did not like being given restrictions at that age, and would get around them whenever possible, much to my mother's dismay.

(Note that I remember these things a bit more vividly than most because it wasn't that long ago for me.)

I personally believe I am still too young to get into an argument about this, let alone devise my own ideas about parenting. but then, that could be the conditioned part of my mind saying what I am and am not mature enough to do or say. Which holds true in the end, I currently do not know.....


EDIT: 'Cutter, I am not even going to begin on just how much I ****ing HATE the mere idea of, "one size fits all."

[Czechs Mex]

Re: GameStop Doles Out The M-Rated Harshness

And let me tell you, I disliked the "goody two shoes" kids just as much as everyone else did at that age. Those tend to grow to be the practically autonomous workers.

You keep using tha word. I do no think tha means wha you think it means.

[highwind]

Re: GameStop Doles Out The M-Rated Harshness

You keep using tha word. I do no think tha means wha you think it means.

[Caciss]

Re: GameStop Doles Out The M-Rated Harshness

Terr, this is a company. Not our government.

The parents of a large amount of their consumers want restrictions on the games kids can buy. Thus, they put this in to affect.

We can argue if it helps, if it's truly necessary, but it's all redundant. Parents don't want their kids buying M-rated games, and so Gamestop is appeasing the consumer.

Anyhow, these are young kids, not adults who are capable of making truly educated decisions, so I really don't give a ****.

[neobi]

Re: GameStop Doles Out The M-Rated Harshness

So if I don't like my manager, then I purposely sell a game to a minor. :-)

[hitogoroshi]

Re: GameStop Doles Out The M-Rated Harshness

You have to not like your job, either.

[Hyper Dingo]

Re: GameStop Doles Out The M-Rated Harshness

Blood Guts Anal Rape 3

Hey Ryner...My birthday is coming up.

[Ryner]

Re: GameStop Doles Out The M-Rated Harshness

Didn't you read the rest of the topic? Blood Guts Anal Rape 1 and 2 are far superior.

[Hyper Dingo]

Re: GameStop Doles Out The M-Rated Harshness

Didn't you read the rest of the topic? Blood Guts Anal Rape 1 and 2 are far superior.

1 I can see.....but 2 had far too much guts and not enough anal.

But what about the remake Blood Guts Anal Rape: Pink sock edition for the Wii?

[Ryner]

Re: GameStop Doles Out The M-Rated Harshness

I admit I didn't forsee the use of the Wii controller in such a creative way...

[The Toecutter]

Re: GameStop Doles Out The M-Rated Harshness

I would like to correct something I said earlier in this topic. Turns out that the legislation penalizing stores for selling minors games with a mature ESRB rating was more locally oriented(in my case, St. Louis county, but was recently overturned). I had mistakenly thought it was national. I remember when I went to buy GTA3 when I was 16, and no one would sell it to me, despite that my parents had no problem with it. Since they were lazy and didn't want to accompany me, I had to wait.

However, what I have found in regard to legislation that many of these wacko security moms and nutjob politicians are pushing is disturbing.

Terr, this is a company. Not our government.

A company afraid of such things as the Family Entertainment Protection Act, which would classify selling M rated games to minors a felony. It looks like this company is trying to do damage control at this point to lessen the odds of an uproar among the segment of parents who do not wish to take responsibility for their child and/or lessen the chance of increasing the risk of such legislation mentioned above being passed.

Legislation promising large fines, felony convictions, and even jailtime, to people who sell these products to kids, even if it hasn't yet been passed, sounds somewhat threatening, even coercive, especially when you consider the segment of the population that is backing it.

The parents of a large amount of their consumers want restrictions on the games kids can buy. Thus, they put this in to affect.

You could probably find a large amount of parents that really don't care for this much just the same.

We can argue if it helps, if it's truly necessary, but it's all redundant. Parents don't want their kids buying M-rated games, and so Gamestop is appeasing the consumer.

It's only appeasing a certain demographic. It's providing an annoyance to another.

Anyhow, these are young kids, not adults who are capable of making truly educated decisions, so I really don't give a ****.

There are a lot of 15 and 16 years olds who are plenty mature enough to handle the subject matter of these games. Hardly 'young kids' by any stretch of the imagination.



The following sums the situation up best:

"I have a 14-year-old son, and it's part of my job as a parent to find out what's in a certain movie or TV program or game," said Gail Markels, senior vice-president and general counsel for game industry trade group Entertainment Software Association.