Comments on: Video Games = Drugs?Parents = The Anti-Drug. http://blog.miloco.com/2006/03/video-games-drugsparents-the-anti-drug.html Why do I have a Blog? When I find out, I'll tell you. Wed, 04 Jan 2012 04:33:50 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Mike Milo http://blog.miloco.com/2006/03/video-games-drugsparents-the-anti-drug.html/comment-page-1#comment-116 Mike Milo Sat, 04 Mar 2006 19:19:30 +0000 http://www.miloco.myblogstorage.net/?p=83#comment-116 Well I don't know... I think a lot of the whole rating system depends pon the subject matter. For instance I play Halo and Halo 2 and my kids love to watch me play it but they don't want to play it out of shear difficulty. They like it because it's exciting and I don't think it messes their heads up because we are fighting aliens with nothing close to a human face (which if not intended is a great idea) In fact in both Halos if you by accident hit one of your fellow soldiers and kill him, the rest of the team will attack you and make you lose the game, proving to me (and my kids), that it's not a good idea to kill another human. However playing something like Rainbow 6 or Ghost Recon is a different story. It's like actually hunting another human which at the heart is inherently disturbing. You lie in wait and set sights on a human face (usually not caucasian I might add), shoot them in the head and there's blood all over the snow you hear them scream and that to me is disturbing. That is NOT for kids unless you want your child to be a sniper. I don't really enjoy that game as much and my kids get bored in the first few minutes of seeing me play it anyway and I usually follow soon after. I have to say it seems pretty obvious which games are decent for kids and which aren't. Does it have a human running with a gun on the cover? Is there explosions all over the box? Probably not for kids. If it's all aliens and they are attacking our world as we know it I am less worried about it; it's fantasy and fantasy has been repeatedly proven to make kids smarter and think omore because you have to use your imagination which I am all for. GRanted if it's a game about aliens and there is a dismemevber alien on the back of the box then perhaps it's not for kids... Area 51 wasn't because it was humans changing INTO aliens which is creepy and so is Doom. Those are Mature for a reason and when I play that, my kids leave the room or I will be woken up in the middle of the night with tales of the teddy turning into a monster. Not sure if I made any point here, but I enjoyed typing it all! Well I don’t know… I think a lot of the whole rating system depends pon the subject matter. For instance I play Halo and Halo 2 and my kids love to watch me play it but they don’t want to play it out of shear difficulty. They like it because it’s exciting and I don’t think it messes their heads up because we are fighting aliens with nothing close to a human face (which if not intended is a great idea) In fact in both Halos if you by accident hit one of your fellow soldiers and kill him, the rest of the team will attack you and make you lose the game, proving to me (and my kids), that it’s not a good idea to kill another human.

However playing something like Rainbow 6 or Ghost Recon is a different story. It’s like actually hunting another human which at the heart is inherently disturbing. You lie in wait and set sights on a human face (usually not caucasian I might add), shoot them in the head and there’s blood all over the snow you hear them scream and that to me is disturbing. That is NOT for kids unless you want your child to be a sniper. I don’t really enjoy that game as much and my kids get bored in the first few minutes of seeing me play it anyway and I usually follow soon after.

I have to say it seems pretty obvious which games are decent for kids and which aren’t. Does it have a human running with a gun on the cover? Is there explosions all over the box? Probably not for kids. If it’s all aliens and they are attacking our world as we know it I am less worried about it; it’s fantasy and fantasy has been repeatedly proven to make kids smarter and think omore because you have to use your imagination which I am all for. GRanted if it’s a game about aliens and there is a dismemevber alien on the back of the box then perhaps it’s not for kids… Area 51 wasn’t because it was humans changing INTO aliens which is creepy and so is Doom. Those are Mature for a reason and when I play that, my kids leave the room or I will be woken up in the middle of the night with tales of the teddy turning into a monster.
Not sure if I made any point here, but I enjoyed typing it all!

]]> By: Andrew Milo http://blog.miloco.com/2006/03/video-games-drugsparents-the-anti-drug.html/comment-page-1#comment-115 Andrew Milo Sat, 04 Mar 2006 09:38:24 +0000 http://www.miloco.myblogstorage.net/?p=83#comment-115 ugg. :( Wrong indeed... ugg. :( Wrong indeed…

]]> By: Jason Lomberg http://blog.miloco.com/2006/03/video-games-drugsparents-the-anti-drug.html/comment-page-1#comment-114 Jason Lomberg Sat, 04 Mar 2006 04:10:00 +0000 http://www.miloco.myblogstorage.net/?p=83#comment-114 I have a unique position on this issue, since I used to work at Electronics Boutique. We'd get kids trying to buy M-rated games all the time, though my manager stuck to his guns. Occasionally, we'd get a parent buying an M-rated game for their kid, and when we informed the parents of the game's content, they'd become beligerent, ranting about, "don't me how to raise my kid!" After I left, I heard that EB had switched its policy, so that they could sell M-rated games to minors (since after all, the "M" rating is and always has been a suggestion, not a law), as long as they informed the buyer of the game's content. Can you believe that?? I don't know if that's still the case, but that sounds very wrong. I have a unique position on this issue, since I used to work at Electronics Boutique. We’d get kids trying to buy M-rated games all the time, though my manager stuck to his guns. Occasionally, we’d get a parent buying an M-rated game for their kid, and when we informed the parents of the game’s content, they’d become beligerent, ranting about, “don’t me how to raise my kid!” After I left, I heard that EB had switched its policy, so that they could sell M-rated games to minors (since after all, the “M” rating is and always has been a suggestion, not a law), as long as they informed the buyer of the game’s content. Can you believe that?? I don’t know if that’s still the case, but that sounds very wrong.

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