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Just saw this on my Facebook feed

Dunno whether this belongs in Gaming or OT, but it made me pretty sad. I didn't comment on it though, no clue what to tell the parent who's ecstatic about her son's birthday

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I do not see the issue? It's a birthday cake for a kid... Would you have preferred if the kid received a gift to a shooting range?

Don't read into this much, OP!
 
I do not see the issue? It's a birthday cake for a kid... Would you have preferred if the kid received a gift to a shooting range?

I'm not trying to turn this into a political thread, but what would be wrong with that? I'd rather have someone own a gun, take it to the range, and learn about safety and proper shooting than someone own a gun and make a negligent mistake because he never learned about how it works.
 
When I was 11 I played San Andreas and I'm now a pacifist.

Not everything is a problem, OP.

While both games are violent in nature, they are very different thematically. Perhaps that's where the problem is?

The GTA series is known for its social commentary and satire. It often pokes fun at racism, violence, policy, and society. In doing so, it also pokes fun at those who perpetuate what it criticizes. In that sense, COD is part of what it makes fun of (e.g. GTA V and Jimmy). COD, for the better part of the series, grounds itself in realistic conflicts, and makes them black/white issues. There in lies the danger, not just for 10 year olds but everyone, that COD and other games like it simplify broad global/social/cultural conflicts into opposing binaries. And the player is always on one side of that binary.

Of course, COD could be a huge meta-commentary on war, then my post is rubbish.
 
Most of you played MK at 10, heck I played it at 7 or so. I do not see a problem with this at all.

Kids regularly consumed content out of their age group back then, quite a few game examples and heck movies too! Look at Robocop and Terminator, which kid DIDN'T love that shit and those even had tons of toys deliberately aimed at us!

And it was awesome.
 
Seems awesome. I don't personally enjoy it(Call of Duty, I mean) but it's nice to see parents willing to fuel their childs' interests. As long as he knows that it isn't how reality works, or should work, then it's all good.
 
Honestly, I don't really care that a kid is playing CoD, it just sort of makes me cringe that someone is a big enough of a fan of a game as mediocre as Ghosts in particular that his parents would make a cake themed around it. I guess whatever floats your boat though.

Also, the grenade just looks sort of bizarre on a birthday cake.
 
That's an impressive cake. I don't see why everyone is so bothered by it. Kids nowadays play Call of Duty just like kids used to play Goldeneye or Doom or what have you.
 
And we played Mortal Kombat in the arcade full of losers who spout profanity in person. What's the point?

I don't know what arcade you were going to, but most people who went to arcades to play didn't really do a hell of a lot of the yakkity-yak-yak, unless you wanted someone to turn around and say "do you MIND? I'm trying to play a game here."

And when they did talk, I always found them wanting to help me improve my play style in between each match.

So no, equating that to the dregs of Xbox Live ain't gonna fly with me.


But I think the problem with CoD as opposed to the violent content some of us absorbed as children is because of this "mature" and "serious" tone of the title, how it glorifies a real-world violence. A kid can try to Sub-Zero your ass and fail every time... give that kid access to a gun (which many do, sadly) and shit just got real. THAT is the difference many in my age bracket are aware of.
 
Kid likes COD, parents went to a lot of trouble to make a cake based on what their son likes. I don't see the problem. Cool of the parents to do this.
 
This must be what it's like to be old, and outraged that kids play the violent games.

When I was 9, I was all about DOOM and Heretic and Hexen. How badly?

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I bought it at a book store. So many levels. Came with Wadauthor. And it was super sick.

We all played games just as much outside their intended age when we were that young. Don't lie.
 
All I'll say is that I don't think kids should be playing violent video games until they're old enough to find ways to get them. Trick your parents into buying them? That's cunning. Find a way to bypass the age restrictions online? Resourceful. At least that shows a certain level of maturity and understanding, even if it's not a direct relation. But if it's parents just handing CoD to their 10 year old, that's where I take issue.
 
Eh, I've kinda come to terms with the idea that maybe kids playing Call of Duty online isn't considerably worse than war games they'd play with their imaginations or through comics and such. I drew a lot of bloody comics as a kid and I think that I'm okay. It's a bit unsettling considering the nature of the game, but whatever.

Yeah but how often when you were playing with your imagination like that did you have others yelling racist slurs, obsessive profanities etc?
 
Does anyone actually follow the ratings? I've never seen anyone go "I can't wait until I turn 17 so I can play M-rated games".
 
I didn't play M-rated or violent games when I was a kid, but I also had pretty restrictive parents. Most of my peers in school did, and if anything I was scared that my fellow schoolmates were messed up in the head because I was under the impression that playing those games before you turn a certain age messed up your brain.
 
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