While the game industry gets bigger and bigger, there is a growing criticism of policy-makers and authorities on the phenomenon of games. A recurring theme is violence in games, and especially the bad influence that would have on the more youthful gamers.
Until the day of today there is no research showing that there is a direct relationship between the playing of a game as Battlefield or Quake, and picking up a machine gun to your peers at school to shoot. It would be in countries like America a lot care if you’re not on every corner of the street with a weapon could buy, but that discussion is an endless fate to be doomed, I’m afraid.
As long as kids don’t play video games not intended for them, there can be among policy-makers is also no fuss about that relevant games. There is chosen for a rating system, the PEGI rating, so it would be nice if they were there in the practice. With people I mean parents – it is worth the effort to occasionally look at what the offspring will play, but most of all sellers in the shops.
And that is so wrong. The people behind the counter and sales people on the floor don’t how old the male with his crisp banknotes on the other side of the desk. For every sold game, there is a, certainly in this time where illegal downloading and the conversion of the consoles thrives.
So has my nephew for Christmas a Xbox 360. The boy is 12 years old and he knows damn well what work his uncle does. A day after Christmas there appeared an e-mail with a request or I have a number of games could be arranged. Rude? Oh, if I was 12 years old and love gaming was lwa n a uncle had that the Berlin Wall can be build with computerspeldoosjes I would have probably done the same.
The wish list was Assassin’s Creed (18+), Halo 3 (16+) and Medal of Honor: Airborne (16+). Somewhat dazed I stared at my screen. I had here is now the teacher of morals to go hang out or evil not to see? Assassin’s Creed is going really too far, and no, that line I so not for the son of my sister. I asked her then to her educational opinion in this, but they knew it not really. Maybe but Halo 3 on the male? There if you shoot only against aliens? Or just hard to say: you are too young, come in about 4 years but back?
The fact is that on the same afternoon my nephew Call of Duty 4 bought at the Free Record Shop. Anyone who Call of Duty 4 has played, will recognize that it is a tremendously intense game. The leeftijdsrating is 16+ and the seller in question has not for a moment think that my nephew actually that age. And now a twelve-year-old a game to play which you the execution of a president through the eyes of the same president are experiencing or where you are at a given moment, a burning helikopterwrak creeps and eventually bob puts?
My feeling says that Call of Duty 4 too heavy for a 12-year-old while Halo 3 may just can. Both games have a 16+ rating, while I was Infinity Ward’s shooter is a significantly role here.
I have the solution for the problem, but I do know that that leeftijdsratings not work. Sellers pull barely get anything, some parents keep it in mind, but many parents also do not, and as a young kid you always look into the forbidden fruits of slightly older children. If we still have a system, then in each case the official lwa le bodies that are connected to, in this case the stores that games sell, to keep. Doubt, to parents and uncles is still up to them, but retailers should be simply to follow the rules.
