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Just saw this on my Facebook feed

Client side mute, ignore list, parental controls. Parents and kids these days have far more tools than I did when I was playing CS 1.6 online as a kid.
Absolutely, however there are plenty of parents who are not savvy enough to know this and this is where PEGI should be stepping in to inform parents of their options. Plus plenty of kids nowadays are capable of circumventing a lot of these types of thing if the parent isn't on top of things.
 
oooh, i love it when people complain about 10 year olds playing m rated games. it seems that they already forgot about the games they played when they were kids.
Oh dear.

Just because people have done things themselves in their youth (or taking it slightly further: things that humanity has done for hundreds of years for example), doesn't mean it's a good thing to do.

Not judging the parents, but that logic needs to stop.
 
It's not illegal to buy your own kids games rated higher than their age.

And it's hilarious how many people are giving these people shit for this cake when we all played stuff like this when we were kids, and most of our parents probably couldn't name the games. At least these parents are involved in what the kid is playing. If they have determined it's ok for him/her who are we to judge? I was watching horror movies and playing violent games at that age and they've had zero impact on my life in terms of ill effects.

It is illegal in some countries in the EU.

I wasn't playing 18 rated game when i was 10 either, i think i was about 16 when i as allowed to play 18 rated games.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_European_Game_Information#Where_PEGI_is_used

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/pegi-games-ratings-come-into-effect-today/0100368
 
Oh dear.

Just because people have done things themselves in their youth (or taking it slightly further: things that humanity has done for hundreds of years for example), doesn't mean it's a good thing to do.

Not judging the parents, but that logic needs to stop.

Doesn't mean it's inherently bad, either. It really is case-by-case basis. Some 10 year-olds are truly mature enough to handle CoD. That said, a parent baking a cake covered in weapons is terrible judgement on their part and evidence they themselves may not be mature enough to handle CoD.
 
I think that, personally I would wait a little bit more before letting my son/daughter play 18 rated games. There are better games for kids this age to play, and they don't involve violence or killing people.

Not that I think this kid will grow up and have any problems because of that, but... yeah, no.

AGREE.

This wouldn't fly in my house. I have kids. There is just better stuff/games for them to do than that at age 10. Also they will have plenty of time to play these games when there older. These games aren't going anywhere.
 
Doesn't mean it's inherently bad, either. It really is case-by-case basis.
Indeed, but just saying that pointing out the so called hypocrisy (because a person worried about this probably played those violent games when he was a child) is simply stupid. It's not hypocritical because just because we do things doesn't mean we necessarily should do those things.
 
I think the disturbing thing is that the parents are now encouraging it. Back then we knew that we weren't supposed to play such games and that was part of the fun.
 
If this cake was made from the parents of a 10 years old for his birthday, those parents do certainly show respect for their son's hobby, and must think that the son is capable of understanding what's real and what's fantasy, and discern the right from the wrong, and I don't see anything wrong with that. Kudos to them, and to the son.

Also, the grenade looks delicious. Grenade culture is a thing.
 
My initial reaction was not the best of parenting, but then I quickly realized who the hell knows the true story behind this cake. Now granted we might actually know the true story, I did not investigate enough to see if there are any facts tied to this picture. With that said, some possible scenarios...

  • Perhaps it is from a father whose custody of his child was taken away from him for reasons unknown and he was really trying to win their love back.
  • Perhaps it was presented by a grandparent who just simply did not know the game is not meant for kids that age.
  • Perhaps this young child is in fact very, very sick. And one of their last wishes was to finally get to experience the same game their older siblings play.
  • Perhaps it is just a truly irresponsible parent who is barely an adult themselves.

None of us really know so it is quite easy to sit here and judge.

While the picture itself could in fact be categorized as disturbing, I think it is equally disturbing that so many people are quick to judge others based on a single snapshot of time in another persons life.
 
It is illegal in some countries in the EU.

I wasn't playing 18 rated game when i was 10 either, i think i was about 16 when i as allowed to play 18 rated games.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_European_Game_Information#Where_PEGI_is_used

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/pegi-games-ratings-come-into-effect-today/0100368
Can you point out where in those links it states it's illegal for a parent to purchase a game rated higher then the intended recipients age anywhere in the EU?

As I've already stated PEGI is only a guideline for parents, it is only legally enforceable when applied to retailers selling games they know or suspect are for an audience younger than the rating. When applied to the UK trading standards state that PEGI enforcement does not apply for any 'exempt' transaction, for example one that takes place outside of a retail environment. Such as a parent giving their child a game.

Edit

Here is the distinction:

It is illegal to SELL a game for an underage child
It is not illegal to BUY a game for an underage child.


Edit 2

I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and suggest you are getting confused between age restricted sales for things like tobacco/alcohol and games/films. It is absolutely an offence to buy cigarettes or alcohol for under eighteens.
 
I think the disturbing thing is that the parents are now encouraging it. Back then we knew that we weren't supposed to play such games and that was part of the fun.

Yeah, its better when parents have no idea what theyre kids are playing.

if the parents have bought call of duty ghosts for him, it's breaking the law. is breaking the law not a problem? lol

Breaking the law? I dont know where you live but the vast majority of the world leaves that decision up to the parents.
 
At that age I saw Optimus Prime get murdered! That messes you up man, not shooting dudebros. Most annoying thing about the cake is the parents pushing banality.
 
Well, you felt bad for the kids playing CoD because they'll grow up to be inferior to the kids that are playing other games like rpgs.

This has nothing to do with the person's lifestyle, except their gaming habits. By your logic you could conclude that people who don't game have zero taste in gaming (as it's not their hobby) therefore less "inferior" to COD diehards (as at least COD diehards are gamers) thus those people must be on welfare. Doesn't make sense.

Let me break this down, kids are impressionable so what they play now will, in the majority of cases, be what they like when they grow up. I have worked out that when I was 10 I was playing Final Fantasy X for the first time, which builds likeable characters, has a good story, touches on social aspects such as religion, relationships, etc... I didn't start playing COD until COD 2 (properly in MW) until several years later and I enjoyed it for what it was but due to my past (Final Fantasy, Zelda, Pokemon, Megaman, etc...) COD could never satisfy my gaming needs as there isn't really an experience there (the major one for me is that I'm having fun with friends online but this is very in the moment and could easily be replaced by the next big shooter, whereas there's only one place I'm getting a FF X experience).

Let's use a real life example. Say you have a pair of identical twins and they are brought up in two completely different environments. These two people would grow up to be very different. Now let's say one twin represents me and the other this 10 year old kid (from the cake we'll assume COD is one of his favourite games). Now I can only go from my own experiences but everyone I know who says COD is one of their favourite games is a COD FIFA gamer (I'm from the UK, the sport game may differ depending on your region). What's telling is that all my friends who are COD FIFA gamers don't play anything else, and to me once you've played one, you've played them all. Before I was 10, around 7 or 8 years old, I had to stay in hospital and my Dad bought me a game as a reward for being brave (or something like that :p), that game turned out to be FF VII. So I would definitely say what you play and like in your past shapes your future. I have a wide range of games I like (including shooters: Halo, Gears) but COD FIFA gamers limit themselves to the same genre and it's by that I mean bad taste. And if he's playing COD now, I'm going to guess he'll be playing COD (or COD equivalent) in the future.
 
The liberal use of fondant is the only thing that bothers me. I don't know of any friends who weren't allowed to play violent games as a kid. I didn't know so many gaffers were schoolmarms.
 
I don't think there's a problem with children playing mature games, as long as the kid knows what he/she's doing and plays the game primarily because it's fun, and not because it's "the cool thing to do and because my friends play it". I'm seeing more and more cases of the latter, which isn't a problem per se, but parents should monitor those kids.

What I think *is* a problem, is the following:

- Parents not caring about what their kids are playing. I've frequently had customers (I worked in games retail) who were buying GTA for their ~8 year old son and clearly had no clue of what goes on in those games. When I explain the content, sometimes they put the game away and thank me for telling, and sometimes they don't, saying it's fine or they say they will keep an eye on the kid. No problem there. But there also lots of parents who don't even want to hear it, or just shrug it off with "his friends have it too, I can't stop him". tldr too many parents don't know what they're buying for their children when it comes to games.

- Parents encouraging their kids to play mature games. Usually, "gamer dads" who play CoD or GTA who try to shove their hobby onto their kids. My dad also introduced me to gaming, but we played Banjo Kazooie and he bought me Zelda. He wouldn't let me touch Castlevania until I was a bit older, and he also didn't ask me to play Quake with him.

- Other people buying mature games for kids. Seriously, what the fuck are you thinking? I have to turn down many kids who want to buy a 18+ game, and then they go to some stranger and ask them to buy it for them. Sometimes, these people actually AGREE. Since when are you his/her parent? Would you buy alcohol for those kids too? Or anything else that they aren't allowed to buy by law? "It's just a game". Yeah it's just a game. But it's still the parents' decision. Not yours.

Kids can play mature games and be totally ok. But games are becoming more realistic, more easily available and parents don't keep up with these changes. They should be more informed.

OT: If that kid loves CoD and he's not hurting anyone with it, I don't see the problem. I do hope that his parents are around when he's playing to keep an eye on him so that he doesn't give names to everybody's mom, but if that kid is a cool kid, why not.
 
Can you point out where in those links it states it's illegal for a parent to purchase a game rated higher then the intended recipients age anywhere in the EU?

As I've already stated PEGI is only a guideline for parents, it is only legally enforceable when applied to retailers selling games they know or suspect are for an audience younger than the rating. When applied to the UK trading standards state that PEGI enforcement does not apply for any 'exempt' transaction, for example one that takes place outside of a retail environment. Such as a parent giving their child a game.

Edit

Here is the distinction:

It is illegal to SELL a game for an underage child
It is not illegal to BUY a game for an underage child.


Edit 2

I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and suggest you are getting confused between age restricted sales for things like tobacco/alcohol and games/films. It is absolutely an offence to buy cigarettes or alcohol for under eighteens.

This was when it was the BBFC ratings;

In contrast to the system in the US, in the UK video games that depict "gross violence", "sexual activity" or "techniques likely to be useful in the commission of offences" must be classified under the British Board of Film Classification's (BBFC) film rating system under the Video Recordings Act of 1984. The Act provides that it is an offence to supply such a game to anyone below the age limit, punishable by a fine of up to £5000 or up to six months in prison. However, in the region of 90% of all titles released on to the market are exempt from this legal classification.

http://www.out-law.com/page-5810


I know that the PEGI system replaced this, i thought the fines & punishment was the same under the new system.
 
I think the worst part of this is the grenade but other than that, nothing surprising. I see little kids walking around in CoD shirts all the time and I just shake my head.
 
I guess this will be used as evidence of a link between video game causing kids to go violent if this kid ever shoots up a school. That is why we are outraged right? We think the parents are making him a violent psychopath. Right?
 
I guess this will be used as evidence of a link between video game causing kids to go violent if this kid ever shoots up a school. That is why we are outraged right? We think the parents are making him a violent psychopath. Right?

No, I think the outrage stems from CoD not having heart and soul like Pokemon, or maybe its about the kid not having good enough taste for Final Fantasy. Maybe something about gun culture and Dualshocks too.
 
Obligatory:

BAHMDmYCQAAAuBD.jpg

I once saw a different version of this where the image of the adult was actually Dennis' avatar.
 
This was when it was the BBFC ratings;

In contrast to the system in the US, in the UK video games that depict "gross violence", "sexual activity" or "techniques likely to be useful in the commission of offences" must be classified under the British Board of Film Classification's (BBFC) film rating system under the Video Recordings Act of 1984. The Act provides that it is an offence to supply such a game to anyone below the age limit, punishable by a fine of up to £5000 or up to six months in prison. However, in the region of 90% of all titles released on to the market are exempt from this legal classification.

http://www.out-law.com/page-5810


I know that the PEGI system replaced this, i thought the fines & punishment was the same under the new system.

Supply in this instance relates to a contract of sale between retailer and customer, it has never been illegal for a parent to show age related content to a minor in the uk.
 
Can I just ask? Why is it so surprising that it's a dualshock instead of a 360 controller. I don't get it.

The better version of Ghosts is on the 360. People are saddened that his parents would build a cake for him and give him the PS3 version when they supposedly "love" him.

You see the feels in the OP's original post.

Dunno whether this belongs in Gaming or OT, but it made me pretty sad.
 
Supply in this instance relates to a contract of sale between retailer and customer, it has never been illegal for a parent to show age related content to a minor in the uk.

Yup.

You're not going to get arrested just for letting your 11 year old watch a 12 rated movie.
 
This was when it was the BBFC ratings;

In contrast to the system in the US, in the UK video games that depict "gross violence", "sexual activity" or "techniques likely to be useful in the commission of offences" must be classified under the British Board of Film Classification's (BBFC) film rating system under the Video Recordings Act of 1984. The Act provides that it is an offence to supply such a game to anyone below the age limit, punishable by a fine of up to £5000 or up to six months in prison. However, in the region of 90% of all titles released on to the market are exempt from this legal classification.

http://www.out-law.com/page-5810


I know that the PEGI system replaced this, i thought the fines & punishment was the same under the new system.


You know, I think we need some more laws globally. For protection of course. Why don't we just jack our TVs in so that they (the deciders) can view through the webcam/monitor the content stream and determine anytime we might be showing youth "inappropriate content" so we can locate, isolate, and imprison/fine them? We wouldn't want anything deemed by committees or agencies to be "too violent" to be viewed now would we? And we certainly need to punish the heathens.
 
I would have fucking shit my pants if I got this cake as a kid.

I dunno about you guys but when I was 10 playing "guns", cops and robbers, war... "I just blew your arm off! You can't use it anymore!", "I shot you in the leg, now limp around!". That was like 90% of my play time. Playing with GI Joes and acting out gruesome war crimes like drowning Destro until he'd tell us where Serpentor was hiding was run of the mill stuff. CoD is no different. I played the first MK when it came out on SNES. I was 11. Good parents = this is fine. And judging from that cake he has AWESOME parents.
 
The better version of Ghosts is on the 360. People are saddened that his parents would build a cake for him and give him the PS3 version when they supposedly "love" him.

You see the feels in the OP's original post.
Hahaha... XD
After all the replies, it would be amazing if it turned out that the OP was just sad that it was the PS3 version of the game.
 
I guess this will be used as evidence of a link between video game causing kids to go violent if this kid ever shoots up a school. That is why we are outraged right? We think the parents are making him a violent psychopath. Right?
Don't be stupid.

Nobody's claiming that obviously (and obviously nobody actually becomes a mass murderer because of playing video games).
The thing is, that games can affect us, in both good and bad. The effects are subtle though and no child is going to say "hey I don't think it was good for me to play that violent game".

But again, I don't judge the parents in question. We don't have any context here really.
 
It is cool that the mom put so much effort into a cake based around her son's hobby. You can argue about if letting kids play mature games is bad or not, but some parents have little issue with it. I was able to play Manhunt before I was 18 and I turned out fine. It is better the parent is the one that calms the curiosity before the child stumbles on it himself. It is no different than a parent letting a child watch an R-rated movie. It is often the sheltered children that turn out the most messed up.
It isn't like the parent buys the child the game and then gets upset that it is a mature game. The mom in this case knows what the game is about. I have zero issue with this. PG-13 and R movies are up to the parent(s) just like T and M games...

Can I just ask? Why is it so surprising that it's a dualshock instead of a 360 controller. I don't get it.
Look at the cake again, the child owns a PS3.
 
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