My local got closed down

[Frizz.Meister]

I dont know the details as to exactly why it was shut down or whether it was the government or the company, but it was more than famous for selling to underage kids. Although i cant really talk as it was where i bought all my 15 and 18 rated games before i was old enough.

Age restrictions in Britain are a complex and badly managed. They come in 3 different forms, one is the ESRB form which most people seem to think doesnt matter as much. One is the BBFC form which is the same as we have for films making it a legal offense. The third is this strange blue box which no one really understands but for the most part people think its difficulty.

Why we cant just have 1 system i dont know but anyone on xbox live/psn can tell you its mostly minors playing such games.

In regards to the post above me. Yes GAME is prehaps the worst store i've ever shopped in. Im only 20 yet im older than most people serving me, as soon as you walk in they try to sell you the latest console even if you say you have the equivilent (eg, ps3 xbox360) and they trade in game for £1 and sell them on for as much as £20 effecitvly scamming kids. However in the UK there is no real alternative as GAME bought out electronics boutique and GameStation.

[Hatta]

I dont know the details as to exactly why it was shut down or whether it was the government or the company, but it was more than famous for selling to underage kids. Although i cant really talk as it was where i bought all my 15 and 18 rated games before i was old enough.

Sounds like they were providing a badly needed service then.

Age restrictions in Britain are a complex and badly managed.

Age restrictions anywhere are bad. Youth are the last class that it's widely deemed acceptable to discriminate against. Ageism isn't any nicer than racism or sexism.

In regards to the post above me. Yes GAME is prehaps the worst store i've ever shopped in. Im only 20 yet im older than most people serving me, as soon as you walk in they try to sell you the latest console even if you say you have the equivilent (eg, ps3 xbox360) and they trade in game for £1 and sell them on for as much as £20 effecitvly scamming kids. However in the UK there is no real alternative as GAME bought out electronics boutique and GameStation.

Sounds a lot like GameStop.

[AppleQueso]

Age restrictions anywhere are bad. Youth are the last class that it's widely deemed acceptable to discriminate against. Ageism isn't any nicer than racism or sexism.

There are pretty legitimate reasons to 'discriminate' against youth, especially when they aren't emotionally or mentally mature enough yet to make certain decisions. I don't mean to exaggerate your view, but do you really think that it's wrong to have age limits on how old you have to be say, drive?

Children aren't mature enough to understand adult decisions, I see nothing wrong with limiting some of their freedoms until they're old enough to understand them.

[Niode]

In regards to the post above me. Yes GAME is prehaps the worst store i've ever shopped in. Im only 20 yet im older than most people serving me, as soon as you walk in they try to sell you the latest console even if you say you have the equivilent (eg, ps3 xbox360) and they trade in game for £1 and sell them on for as much as £20 effecitvly scamming kids. However in the UK there is no real alternative as GAME bought out electronics boutique and GameStation.

Sounds a lot like GameStop.

Owned by the same company as far as I know.

There is an alternative. Online. If you really must trade (I don't see the benefit to be honest) then go to CEX. They give half decent trade in prices. Often you can get more money from them than you paid for the game online. My friend basically games for free by abusing this system. He got his Kinect for practically nothing by buying 6 of them and trading 5 of them in at £20 more than what he paid for it (after trading in the bundled games). The used game industry is killing the video game industry and causing companies like EA to put stupid pre-order bonuses (which hold back content for everybody else) and those stupid VIP codes in new releases. I say abuse them for all their worth. They deserve it.

[Bikeage]

Age restrictions anywhere are bad. Youth are the last class that it's widely deemed acceptable to discriminate against. Ageism isn't any nicer than racism or sexism.

Thanks for the laugh, I needed one today. And kids should not be playing CoD, Halo, etc, online unsupervised, because there are guys like me out there who utter shockingly offensive, terrible, downright disgusting things while playing that no child should hear.

[Hatta]

Surely there are limits. Nobody wants to put a 7 year old behind the wheel. But if you're going to remove rights from a class of people, make damn sure that it's based in reality and not fear. It was once popular opinion that slavery was OK because the African race was inferior, and their owners were doing them a favor by providing them work and shelter. We know that's a bogus and self-serving position. Most restrictions we put on children are similarly bogus and self-serving, and exist without any evidence to support their efficacy.

Think of the ordeal that you have to go through if you want to take Grandpa's license away. You have to prove that he's a danger, you can't just look at him and say "he's obviously too old!". And that's just for one person, and driving isn't even a right! Yet we have no problem taking fundamental rights (e.g. free speech) away from an entire class of people with absolutely no evidence that it poses a danger at all. This is clearly oppression.

To top it all off, almost every time something is done "for the children", they have an ulterior motive. They put a rating system in "for the children". Retailers refuse to sell AO games "for the children". As a result it becomes next to impossible to market, and therefore for me to purchase games with explicit sexuality. All done with absolutely no evidence that any children were ever in danger in the first place.

The "think of the children" movement is the greatest threat to our freedom. We'd be safer and freer if we abolished all arbitrary age limits than we would be if we let them have their way.

[Frizz.Meister]

Sorry to go a little off topic but being a youth leader whos into video games alot of parents ask me about the ratings and online experience and such, and i have to ask.

Is it true that a game with online open voice support cant be rated lower than a 12A?

Logically that seems bogus but if you were to put 30 minutes of me playing COD on DVD and sell it, there would be no question that it should be an 18. Especially given the new craze of threatening people with horrific torture. Seriously whats up with that at the moment???

EDIT: for any Non brits a 12A rating means you have to be over 12 unless and adult is with you.

[dsheinem]

The "think of the children" movement is the greatest threat to our freedom. We'd be safer and freer if we abolished all arbitrary age limits than we would be if we let them have their way.

http://harmful.cat-v.org/society/childr ... e_children

[Erik_Twice]

Age rating systems are dumb. Call me when showing a penis doesn't get a 18+ rating or they even bother to have some transparency.

Meanwhile I'm going to buy Mein Kamp from my local bookstore and check the juvenile section to read about Sherlock's Holmes drug addiction while checking the genocide in the Bible.

[Curlypaul]

If parents have a problem with kids playing certain games they should do their jobs and supervise their kids. It's not the job of a store clerk to raise your kids.

Thats what I was getting at but making the opposite point. If you dont mind your kids watching violence or pornography, then you can let them if you like. However, if you DONT want your kids to experience those things then its not up to some snot nosed student to hand it to your kids anyway.