ESRB reminds parents GTA IV isn't for children

[wraggster]

The ESRB and National Institute on Media and the Family would like to remind (naïve) parents that Grand Theft Auto IV is not appropriate for children. In a joint statement by the two organizations, the groups point out GTA IV has been rated Mature for: Intense Violence, Blood, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Partial Nudity and Use of Drugs and Alcohol. What 12-year-old wouldn't beg to play that? It sounds awesome!

The two organizations "encourage parents to be informed and exercise their discretion when considering the purchase of all M-rated games." The ESRB reminds that the average age of a gamer is now over 30 and that some titles are "clearly not intended" for kids. And GTA IV is clearly one of those games

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/25/es...-for-children/

[Ultima Chocochu]

Intense Violence, Blood, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Partial Nudity and Use of Drugs and Alcohol. What 12-year-old wouldn't beg to play that? It sounds awesome!

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/25/es...-for-children/

XDXD
Really though, it's GTA, parents should know it's not really for kids(even though I started out with GTAIII when I was 10 or 11), but yeah
What parent doesn't know about this already?

[JKKDARK]

lol, thr esrb logo on the boxart is enough. They don't need to remind us that again.

[wolfpack]

ive played grand theft auto games since they came out... and i mustve been 9 or 10 at the time when the very first one came out...

truth to the matter is, it just depends on if the child is able to "handle" the content, personally, if i had a kid, id let him play it because i was playing the exact same kind of games at his age so what difference would it make?

[F9zDark]

lol, thr esrb logo on the boxart is enough. They don't need to remind us that again.

lol parents in the US don't know what the ratings mean or just don't care. In actuality I believe these games should be illegal to purchase without ID, thus absolving the games of any blame.

ive played grand theft auto games since they came out... and i mustve been 9 or 10 at the time when the very first one came out...

truth to the matter is, it just depends on if the child is able to "handle" the content, personally, if i had a kid, id let him play it because i was playing the exact same kind of games at his age so what difference would it make?

Well I agree on some level, but the problem is, when we started with the GTA series (GTA and GTA 2) these games were top down and the characters were small. Yes there was blood and violence, but it was "obscure" because of the camera angle.

Now we have an up-in-your face camera, with many means of combat (fists, kicks, melee weapons, aiming for precise shots, etc). The waters are very different now than when some of us started playing games.

I am just tired of games being the scapegoat; and it will remain that way until the government requires ID to buy M rated games. Yeah it would suck to have to show Gamestop my ID when I goto M rated games, but if that means holding the parents, the stores or the kids themselves responsible for owning these games and "doing something stupid/illegal" then I'd be very happy.

When a 16 year old in the US acquires alcohol and drives drunk and kills a mother and her child does the government look to ban alcohol? No, they hold the teen, the store the liquor came from or the person who bought the teen the liquor responsible.

[lmtlmt]

I thought they were dude.....

they are here, if u wanna buy an MA15+ game they check ur ID to see if you are 15

[Mc_Logical]

I use to play gta 1 on ps1 at a game store, it had barrels u sit on and pay to play games, I was about 13 I think, but yeah! that was just a 2d gta lol now its more full on, well we all know younger people are genna play gta iv without a doubt, so shut up bitching because there ain`t zhit u can do about it, its the same as rated movies, kids still watch em, but we dont hear as much complaining? and thats real, this is a game, blaming video games is stupid! just look at our society these days a billion other reasons why zhit happens

EDIT: What would u rather your son/daughter doing? out maybe getting high etc? or at home playing gta harming nothing but graphics? lol whos really genna go replicate what u can do in gta in real life? if your an idiot then yeah! lol

[JKKDARK]

lol parents in the US don't know what the ratings mean or just don't care. In actuality I believe these games should be illegal to purchase without ID, thus absolving the games of any blame.

Well, I was talking about parents that can read.

[F9zDark]

I thought they were dude.....

they are here, if u wanna buy an MA15+ game they check ur ID to see if you are 15

As far as I know, they don't check ID. Some stores have a "policy" about doing it, but since it isn't illegal, it isn't enforced.

For instance, the police regularly find a young teen (15, 16) to go into a store to buy cigarettes. If the teen comes out with them, the police go in and charge the store with selling cigarettes to minors, which in my state, is a huge fine. (between 1000 - 2500 dollars if I recall correctly)