A disturbing one from GameStore

[slavetotheman]

A few minutes later I hear the kid bawling his eyes out because he wasn't allowed to buy a game. Then I hear the mom say that's what he gets for trying to trick her, and out they went kid crying the entire time.

The tears of children like these water the seeds of my contentment

[Kullervo]

I remember as a kid begging for Mortal Kombat for the Sega Genesis.
I got it eventually but not from my parents. My aunt bought it for me when she was visiting.Thats how I managed to get much of the things my parents didn't approve of.
Boy were my parents upset about it. More towards me for knowing I wasn't supposed to get it.

[infinitemonkies]

there are an awful lot of peopple out there who are still, in this day and age, under the impression that if it's a video game, cartoon, or comic book it must be for kids.

When I was a video rental peon, I had parents trying to rent anime like ninja scroll for their toddlers. A few days ago I saw a woman at the library check out an akira graphic novel for her 6 or 7 year old.

[chainedbarista]

my son pulled that little trick for gta (don't remeber which version) with my mom when he was about 9 or 10; after she bought it, she told me about it-i fumed because i knew he lied to her about the content.

i told her that i don't allow him to have that type of game and that he basically snowjobbed her, earning him a butt chewing from two generations of family.

he still tries things like that now that he's a 'wise' 16 year old, but still fails; slow to learn, these teenagers.

[ralerin]

And then there is context. What 6 year old kid hasn't seen Star Wars, right?

21, have only seen one and didn't care for it.

[AriRashkae]

Ah, but which one did you see? That makes a large difference.

[EricKei]

Hey now, let's be fair. SW isn't for everybody...granted, I'm one of the ones who DOES like them, tho ^_^

But if you saw one of the more recent ones first, then, yeah, I can understand that putting you off of the series as a whole...

[Mike Taylor]

Most of my customers nowadays (including parents & grandparents) are pretty savvy as to what the ratings mean, but back in the late 1990's and early 2000's it was a non-stop battle to get it through mommy's and daddy's heads that Grand Theft Auto was not a little child's game.

[EricKei]

it was a non-stop battle to get it through mommy's and daddy's heads that Grand Theft Auto was not a little child's game.

Yeah, that's what always confuse dme about all of these things...

GRAND THEFT Auto...

KILLER Instinct...

MORTAL KOMBAT...

BLOOD...well, anything...

What person in their right minds would even THINK a game with titles like these might be even remotely good for little kids?!

[Chef Geekier]

I get all sorts of reactions when a kid tries to rent a game/movie they're not meant to. Most of the time, I explain, they either put it back or go ask their parents. Sometimes they try to argue with me. I tell them if they want to pay the $10,000 fine I'd be getting, and my wages for however long I'm unemployed, that's fine. Until then, they play by my rules.

Except for this one kid who came down by himself. He wanted to get an MA15+ game, he was about 10. When I wouldn't let him hire it, he called his mum, and demanded that I speak to her. She then proceeded to attempt to chew me out. I stuck to my guns, and she came down to the store in the end. And again yelled at me for making her take all of 15 minutes out of her busy schedule to actually look at the game her son wanted to hire. Seriously, she spent more time yelling at me (combined on the phone the first time and in person) than she spent in travelling time. She was a real bitch.

[kendiara]

Hehe this reminds me of one of my daughters friends that had came over when she was about 12. He saw my husbands copy of GTA and was all like "Can I play it??", Hubby says no. Kid complains he has the game at home and described enough of it to convince us of such. Spouse is completely unmoved, his comment was " Then go home and play it."

[Devilot]

there are an awful lot of peopple out there who are still, in this day and age, under the impression that if it's a video game, cartoon, or comic book it must be for kids.

I've encountered some of those at my work at the library. Gave one a rather inaccurate estimation of how child-appropriate Fun Home was after she'd mistaken it for a children's book, while telling her it decidedly wasn't -- I'd only briefly glanced at it at that point, and it had some more... extreme content I hadn't seen yet. Fortunately, she was returning it at the time, rather than checking it out, or my error could have gotten ugly.

EDIT: For that matter, someone like that seems to have been in charge of cataloging at one point, and might still be. Vogelein: Clockwork Fairy isn't really inappropriate for children like some of the things discussed -- beyond some rather horrifying endnotes about punishments for just being a Roma back in the day -- but isn't really for them, either. And Ichigo Mashimaro... no, just no. It's pretty much fine for children to watch, but it's not for children. I mean, one of the lead characters is pretty blatantly a pedophile, for god's sake.

[Acolyte]

In one of the EBGames I work in, we've got one kid who'd I'd guess is 13 or so, and the only thing he's interested in is the amount of gore in a game. He comes in and just starts picking up games and asking how much gore is in it, and if I know about any other ones...downright creepifying. EBGames/Gamestop gets all the creepy kids.

[Ironclad Alibi]

In one of the EBGames I work in, we've got one kid who'd I'd guess is 13 or so, and the only thing he's interested in is the amount of gore in a game. He comes in and just starts picking up games and asking how much gore is in it, and if I know about any other ones...downright creepifying. EBGames/Gamestop gets all the creepy kids.

To bad there isn't a game that features Al Gore. Or is there?

[Tiberious]

Yeah, that's what always confuse dme about all of these things...

GRAND THEFT Auto...

KILLER Instinct...

MORTAL KOMBAT...

BLOOD...well, anything...

What person in their right minds would even THINK a game with titles like these might be even remotely good for little kids?!

GTA, I can agree with. KI gets rather outlandish at points, and it's not really all that bad when it comes to the home ports. Mortal Kombat, back when it was good (read: MK2 and UMK3/MKT), was also getting rather silly with its violence.

Blood...Storm? God that game was TERRIBLE, and completely over the top.


Now, I remember back when the bowling alley I worked at had a Time Killers cabinet. This little kid was being watched by his father as he played, and I asked him if he thought that was a game the boy (about... 5 or 6, I'd guess) should be exposed to. I made sure he got to see the AI opponent react to the boy's dizzied character, and after he saw the aftermath, he looked at me and said, "Oh, but that's alright." I just left it at that. I figured as long as he knew, he could make an educated parenting decision himself.