Am I a horrible person for playing GTA with my niece?

[Queen Of The Felines]

My seven year-old niece spent the night at my place the other day (she lives in Denver) and we spent the entire time playing games (Katamari, Kingdom Hearts, Mario 64 DS, and Donkey Konga to be specific). I told her awhile ago about some of the funy stuff that you can do in GTA: San Andreas so she asked me to show her what I was talking about. All we did was steal vehicles and drive around, smashing into stuff and trying to flip the cars over and set them on fire. We did not play any missions, we did not go around shooting or mugging people, and any language that was heard was, well, no worse than what her grandfather screams when he gets pissed off in traffic. We basically just played a cross between Destruction Derby and Crazy Taxi, and that was it.

One thing to keep in mind is that my niece is very mature and intelligent for her age and she knows that this is all a game and to not to anything like that in reality and not to repeat anything she had heard. She had a real hoot playing it and kept laughing the entire time about how over-the-top it could get.

So the next day I bring her back to my parents' house and she tells my mother what games we played. Naturally, Mom hits the roof. My sister-in-law calls and my niece also tells her what we did, and, according to my brother, she took it even worse than my mother and my brother spent about a half an hour calming her down. Now keep in mind that NONE of these people have ever played the game so they have no idea you can do stuff besides kill people, and when I tried to explain that all we did was drive around they wouldn't hear it. Now my entire family thinks I'm some evil person trying to corrupt my niece or something and if I know my sister-in-law I wouldn't be surprised if I was forbidden to have her come over again. :roll:

So am I a horrible person or is everybody overreacting? Like I said, we played it together and I made sure that we didn't do anything more adult, and she had a LOT of fun as well.

Kristine

[Evil E]

no

[Kroogah]

Short answer: Naw.

Long answer: According to a few of her cousins, my mom is a horrible person for letting me play *drumroll* Magic: The Gathering, because that makes me a Satan worshipper.

People will think what they want, if you wanna expose your niece to violence just turn on the TV during prime time. But of course that's not the same thing.

Don't worry, you'll get revenge when your niece rebels, from the info you gave (mature for her age, mom that wants to "protect her" from the outside world) it seems like it'll be a messy rebellion. :D

[Saabmeister]

Nope.

[Lemmy Kilmister]

Yes. You make baby jesus cry.
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Na, i'm just joking around. Anywho, i'll agree that maybe that wasn't the best game to be showing to your young niece. but come on, i mean it's not like she couldn't see this sort of crap just by turning on the TV after 8, or hear swear words just by walking down the street or being in a store. Honestly, Some parents just need to chill out a little bit.

[Lady Jaye]

And then you'll be the cool auntie who doesn't blow all this out of proportion...

[Leo_A]

You couldn't of found another game to play that hasn't been all over the media in recent years?

[ClubNinja]

I don't think you're a bad person, but I do think that it's entirely disrespectful that you pulled a "Mature" game out for someone *else's* seven-year-old without at least running it by them first. Whether she's your niece or some kid off the street, her *parents* are the ones who set the ground rules for her, and to go ahead and (apparently) violate those isn't too classy. If you had asked ahead what kind of games she was OK to play, and they said "anything's fine", then that's one thing. To use your own judgement here, regardless of how "mature" the girl is, just undermines the parents. If someone - even an Aunt or close friend - did that to me, I'd be bullshit too.

[Pantechnicon]

You couldn't of found another game to play that hasn't been all over the media in recent years?

Maybe not. She probably couldn't have either. (/removes grammar cop hat)


@QoF: Um...nah...

I went through a similar agonizing moral inventory when I let my 7-year-old son play a little bit of GTA:VC with me. It really comes down to just what exactly you let them see.

In my case, though, I did pull the reins in a little tighter as to what exactly I let the little guy do, and I stuck by those rules myself, which were basically: 1) No carjacking, but taking an unoccupied car off the street was okay. 2) No weapons in hand. If I accidentally picked up a wanted level I would just run away. 3) No intentionally running people over. And if I did run someone over I always said "oops" or something to let him know it wasn't intentional. We were left with driving stunts and flying the seaplane (which he loved), as well as the mini missions for fires, ambulance, taxi and the ice cream truck (Son: "But why do the police chase us when we sell the ice cream?" Me: "Uh, because they think we don't have a permit. Just go to the next neighborhood if the police come."). Lots of fun, and imho perfectly acceptable for a young child.

Well, you get the idea. Common sense has to prevail. Some things in the GTA games are okay to show little kids, some need a little fudging and others blatantly cross the line. The important thing is that you were guiding your niece and exercising responsibility.

Some of my son's friends, sadly, have been exposed to the seedier elements of the GTA games by irresponsible relatives (cousins and uncles) in their own families. Hope that doesn't come back to bite them in the ass one day.

[frodo2968]

I don't think you're a bad person, but I do think that it's entirely disrespectful that you pulled a "Mature" game out for someone *else's* seven-year-old without at least running it by them first. Whether she's your niece or some kid off the street, her *parents* are the ones who set the ground rules for her, and to go ahead and (apparently) violate those isn't too classy. If you had asked ahead what kind of games she was OK to play, and they said "anything's fine", then that's one thing. To use your own judgement here, regardless of how "mature" the girl is, just undermines the parents. If someone - even an Aunt or close friend - did that to me, I'd be bullshit too.

I completely agree with that. No, the incident does not make you a *bad person*, but I think it was a bad move. She's 7 years old! Playing GTA: SA?

Seriously, I can't really see what you would expect to happen. Seven-year-olds are quite apt to tell their parents what they did - especially if she had loads of fun. And her parents will naturally hit the roof when it comes to finding out that their 7 YEAR OLD girl was playing the newest GTA.

I know I would hit the roof if I had a 7-yo playing GTA:SA without my consent or knowledge.

The thing is, maybe what you were showing her was not M-rated material, but how about this: she sees that part of an M-rated game, and thinks, "There's nothing naughty about this type of game!" That's what she'll be thinking if she realizes what an M-rated game is, and that it even is M-rated. Plus, maybe her grandfather curses or whatever in traffic, but do her parents know that? Because it is perfectly normal (and right, in my opinion) for parents to choose not to expose their 7-year-olds to cursing, violence, etc. So again, I really can't see what you expected to come of it.

But it does suck - I'm not saying that it doesn't. Just use better judgement next time (and hope that there IS a next time).

[FantasiaWHT]

What they said :)

Short answer, no you're not bad because of that.

Long answer, no, but since this wasn't YOUR child, you shouldn't have been making a decision like that without asking her parents.

I don't think you did any wrong to the CHILD, but I think you did do wrong to her parents.

[rayearthknight]

My wife and I had a similiar discussion when my two older daughters (ages 9 and 8) started playing my Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball game. Her take was that it was too explicit...and my reply was that it's a simple game of volleyball--they play the exhibition game, mostly and they don't care about friendships or giving items to the other characters. They mostly play the game with particular characters that they liked from DOA3 (that's ANOTHER story all together) and just play volleyball-they're are not looking at the "physics engine" that the game uses and--insteresting enough--they refuse to use the characters that wear the revealing swimsuits.

Now, when I bought Outlaw Volleyball--I refused to let them play it. I let them see the intro to it and they flat out didn't want to play--it wasn't as friendly as DOAXBV...to that, I agree.

[FooFighter]

I play GTA with my boys all of the time. I know that they are intelligent and will not go out on a killing spree because of a game. I think that is all a bunch of bunk.

I think you are a cool aunt :-P

[Kamino]

Kristine, I'm on your side on this one. Any game can be evil. Heck, I picture the katamari as Godzilla in the later stages, when it's big enough to roll up towns...
You had fun. That's what games are about. FUN. Criminy....

[retroman]

i dont think so either...whats wrong with that,,as long as she knows wright from wrong

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

I say whip out Punisher the next time she's over. :P

[Nesmaster]

The way you played it, I see nothing wrong. I do agree however that you should've brought it to her parents attention first :P

[Sothy]

Qof how did someone as cool as you come from such a hight strung uptight numbnuts family?

Tell them to chill or Ill put the frickin leeches on them.

[Videogamerdaryll]

Am I a horrible person for playing GTA with my niece?

No...

[drwily008]

It's not like you let her play The Suffering or The Guy Game............or did you? :D

Anyways, to quote a witty fellow from Queens: "Parents just don't understand!"

You'll have to explain to her that it is a bad game if you do bad things. And that you kept it very tame and just drove around in the cars and did jumps and stuff.

No you're not a bad person.

[Ackman]

I was talking to my nephew (11) I don't see much the other day, and he has a book with all the gta cheats and he starts telling me about fanny magnet and stuff and which missions he's on.

His dads says it's okay so?

I played MK, Doom etc etc when I was younger and I'm not a total crazy :hmm: but violent ppl will always be violent even if games aren't around, I've seen them, I'm not a particularly violent person myself even though I play loads of violent games.

But back OT your probably going to hell, eh well I hear it's not so bad.

[vulcanjedi]

it's a thin line.

I recently had a similar situation in my house. My 6 yo had a friend spending the night The friend, who is the same age is not allowed to play games where you shoot people. And he was a little over anxious to play one. So they played Brute Force and I got to listen to my son explain how it's all just a game and all about sniper rifles and death matches and frags and 15 minutes later they went back to playing spongebob.

I don't make a big deal out of it and my kids don't either. I think they might want to try something just because they hear about it and are not allowed.

Hmm, when I grew up in the early 60's kids were still playing cops and robbers and cowboys and indians. Running around yelling Bang! You're DEAD!

And I turned out ok :) debatable :)

VJ

[AB Positive]

Don't worry, you'll get revenge when your niece rebels, from the info you gave (mature for her age, mom that wants to "protect her" from the outside world) it seems like it'll be a messy rebellion. :D

Oh hells yeah. Overprotective parents = long, messy rebellion. Which sadly will probably get back to you in their mind because NO way this was their fault. :angry:

Argh. I dread what would happen if she happened to be gay too. You might have to adopt a niece, heh.

-AG

[Cmosfm]

Nah, you're not a bad person at all, but I guess it was a bad move to do. I remember when my mom was a "bad parent" because she let me brother play with Pokemon Cards and watch Harry Potter....because according to the church, they were both evil and satanic because they have witchcraft in them or some bullshit. I think they were against "fun" too.

Either way, yeah, next time (if there is a next time, I hope there is), just keep the M rated games away so no one gets their panties in a wad.

We love you Kristine! http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/images/smilies/new_grouphug.gif

[Kid Ice]

Wow, with all those other games you had to go and pop GTA in?

I guess it depends a little bit on the context of the babysitting situation...if they dumped the child off on you, hey, you're just doing your thing. But if you're voluntary babysitting and they are trusting you in good faith...I don't want to get all preachy here, but you did ask...I would have a *big* problem with that as a parent.

Oh, and parents who allow their kids to do that kind of stuff...play MA games, watch R-rated movies, etc... are NOT COOL. They are too lazy to set boundaries for their children...it's easiest to just let the kids do whatever they wish. If you are a parent and it's important to you that your kids (good grief) think you are cool, you have some serious self-image problems.

[FooFighter]

Wow, with all those other games you had to go and pop GTA in?

I guess it depends a little bit on the context of the babysitting situation...if they dumped the child off on you, hey, you're just doing your thing. But if you're voluntary babysitting and they are trusting you in good faith...I don't want to get all preachy here, but you did ask...I would have a *big* problem with that as a parent.

Oh, and parents who allow their kids to do that kind of stuff...play MA games, watch R-rated movies, etc... are NOT COOL. They are too lazy to set boundaries for their children...it's easiest to just let the kids do whatever they wish. If you are a parent and it's important to you that your kids (good grief) think you are cool, you have some serious self-image problems.

When I was a kid I pretty much was allowed to play whatever game I wanted. Even though people, not unlike you, were chanting about the evils of Dungeons and Dragons, my friends and I played it. Was I allowed to watch R rated movies....Hell No. Likewise my boys do not watch R rated movies. Its not a matter of being cool. My 14 year old would love to play The Guy Game, will I let him?... Hell no.

Of course you're probably right, they will probably grow up and end up like me and become something horrible like (Good Grief) a State Trooper.

However I will update my earlier post and say I would NEVER allow someone elses child to play one of these games without their permission.

[frodo2968]

However I will update my earlier post and say I would NEVER allow someone elses child to play one of these games without their permission.

Righto, same here...parents cannot just blow it off in a situation like this, because then they are contradicting their rules that they have set. The what if it happens again? And again? Then the kid will learn that the parents don't mean what they say.

I just really can't understand why you would pull out an M-rated game (especially GTA:SA) and play it with a 7-year-old without the parent's knowledge or consent.

And also it depends in the amount of trust that the girl's parents have in you. Do they know you very well? Sure, you SAY that you kept the game in basically a Teen rating, but can they trust you well enough to KNOW that you're telling the truth? And no, I'm not doubting you - it's just an important factor (IMO) in the matter.

[ddockery]

I only read about hald of these replies, but in short I don't see it asa problem, because you played it WITH her. If something crazy happened or it got out of hand, you were there to step in, and more importantly talk about it.

[AB Positive]

Wow, with all those other games you had to go and pop GTA in?

I guess it depends a little bit on the context of the babysitting situation...if they dumped the child off on you, hey, you're just doing your thing. But if you're voluntary babysitting and they are trusting you in good faith...I don't want to get all preachy here, but you did ask...I would have a *big* problem with that as a parent.

Oh, and parents who allow their kids to do that kind of stuff...play MA games, watch R-rated movies, etc... are NOT COOL. They are too lazy to set boundaries for their children...it's easiest to just let the kids do whatever they wish. If you are a parent and it's important to you that your kids (good grief) think you are cool, you have some serious self-image problems.

sorry to single you out Kid Ice, but you're the first post I could find along these lines. Nothing personal.

BUT...

Did no one read the full post?

All they did was take cars, ride them around, and make some jumps. If memory serves, that's ALL I did when I played Vice City. It's not like she showed her niece any violence or sexual activity. The worst thing that could happen is that possibly the car hit someone after a jump on accident, but the kid's not going to go out, take her parents car and start jumping.

Dear gods, people. Reading comprehension is your friend. This sort of stuff will barely get you a T rating if that's all you put in the game. And, for reference, that's the same rating that Super Smash Bros. Melee gets.

Now. Who's going to be the first to say a 9-year old shouldn't play SSBM? Go on. I dare ya ;)

-AG

[Cmosfm]

Wow, with all those other games you had to go and pop GTA in?

I guess it depends a little bit on the context of the babysitting situation...if they dumped the child off on you, hey, you're just doing your thing. But if you're voluntary babysitting and they are trusting you in good faith...I don't want to get all preachy here, but you did ask...I would have a *big* problem with that as a parent.

Oh, and parents who allow their kids to do that kind of stuff...play MA games, watch R-rated movies, etc... are NOT COOL. They are too lazy to set boundaries for their children...it's easiest to just let the kids do whatever they wish. If you are a parent and it's important to you that your kids (good grief) think you are cool, you have some serious self-image problems.

sorry to single you out Kid Ice, but you're the first post I could find along these lines. Nothing personal.

BUT...

Did no one read the full post?

All they did was take cars, ride them around, and make some jumps. If memory serves, that's ALL I did when I played Vice City. It's not like she showed her niece any violence or sexual activity. The worst thing that could happen is that possibly the car hit someone after a jump on accident, but the kid's not going to go out, take her parents car and start jumping.

Dear gods, people. Reading comprehension is your friend. This sort of stuff will barely get you a T rating if that's all you put in the game. And, for reference, that's the same rating that Super Smash Bros. Melee gets.

Now. Who's going to be the first to say a 9-year old shouldn't play SSBM? Go on. I dare ya ;)

-AG

I read the entire first post, the thing is, that the game is in fact rated M and whether or not they just rode cars around or not, they did in fact play the game and I'm sure the parents of the girl didn't like hearing that they "played GTA San Andreas". I personally don't think QoF did ANYTHING wrong, but not in the parents eyes, in the parents eyes they were out beating and killing hookers, cursing, killing civilians, etc. See what I mean?

That's like popping in "Juggy Girls Volume 3" and only watching the actual story parts that don't have anything sexual or mature in them. Fact of the matter is, the girl goes home and says "I watched Juggy Girls", what is she supposed to think? She's gonna think you sat there with a 7 year old and watched Bob Throb pork Juggy Jane in the bootyhole. And convincing her otherwise is going to be extremely hard to do.

I wonder if the parents of the girl actually sat down and asked her what SHE saw and heard?

[Immutable]

I read the entire first post, the thing is, that the game is in fact rated M and whether or not they just rode cars around or not, they did in fact play the game and I'm sure the parents of the girl didn't like hearing that they "played GTA San Andreas". I personally don't think QoF did ANYTHING wrong, but not in the parents eyes, in the parents eyes they were out beating and killing hookers, cursing, killing civilians, etc. See what I mean?



Good point.

[AB Positive]

I wonder if the parents of the girl actually sat down and asked her what SHE saw and heard?

Hmm, very good point. I'm willing to bet "no" here, heh.

EDIT: Bet... not be. I write teh awful.

-AG

[ClubNinja]

Wow, with all those other games you had to go and pop GTA in?

I guess it depends a little bit on the context of the babysitting situation...if they dumped the child off on you, hey, you're just doing your thing. But if you're voluntary babysitting and they are trusting you in good faith...I don't want to get all preachy here, but you did ask...I would have a *big* problem with that as a parent.

Oh, and parents who allow their kids to do that kind of stuff...play MA games, watch R-rated movies, etc... are NOT COOL. They are too lazy to set boundaries for their children...it's easiest to just let the kids do whatever they wish. If you are a parent and it's important to you that your kids (good grief) think you are cool, you have some serious self-image problems.

sorry to single you out Kid Ice, but you're the first post I could find along these lines. Nothing personal.

BUT...

Did no one read the full post?

All they did was take cars, ride them around, and make some jumps. If memory serves, that's ALL I did when I played Vice City. It's not like she showed her niece any violence or sexual activity. The worst thing that could happen is that possibly the car hit someone after a jump on accident, but the kid's not going to go out, take her parents car and start jumping.

Dear gods, people. Reading comprehension is your friend. This sort of stuff will barely get you a T rating if that's all you put in the game. And, for reference, that's the same rating that Super Smash Bros. Melee gets.


I don't really think what she was and wasn't exposed to in the game is the *real* problem here. It's obvious that the girl's mother didn't want her child playing Grand Theft Auto. Now, maybe she didn't specify that in advance, but maybe she trusted that Auntie would demonstrate some good judgement when watching the girl. Anyone with half a brain knows that GTA is a hot button, or at very least, a gray area. Before entering a gray area with *someone else's child*, I think it's just common sense to run it by the parent(s) first. I would never *ever* let my nieces near a game like GTA, regardless of how "innocently" I was planning to let them play it, without talking to their parents first. Likewise, I would expect the same courtesy in return.

Again, the real problem here isn't GTA, it's the fact that it's not her place to make this kind of decision without involving the parents. Doing so basically says "Hey, I know this is a controversial game that you may be opposed to, but I'm not going to bother to find out before I stick your kid in front of it." That's the problem. If any parent wants to play GTA with their kid, then fine. If anyone else wants to play GTA with that same kid, then they damn better be respectful of the parents' wishes first.

Oh, and this part:


Argh. I dread what would happen if she happened to be gay too. You might have to adopt a niece, heh.

That's entirely unrelated. A parent can wish to raise their child however they desire, while still embracing that child for who they ultimately are. I don't care whether my child is gay, straight, or reptile - he's not playing GTA at 7.

[chadtower]

So am I a horrible person or is everybody overreacting? Like I said, we played it together and I made sure that we didn't do anything more adult, and she had a LOT of fun as well.


Preface: I have not read any of the responses and honestly don't care what they are anyway.


Kristine... you and I have a LOT in common. I like you and respect you.

I have kids close to that age. I would have reacted the same way they did. I agree with them that what you did is wrong. They trusted you with the girl and you intentionally exposed her to things they consider inappropriate.

This is their child. It is their decision what they are exposed to and by whom. Just because they allow the grandfather to swear around the girl does not give you the right to expose her to the same. The grandfather is their parent and you are not.

If that were my child it would be the last time she is left in your care.

[kirin jensen]

That's like popping in "Juggy Girls Volume 3" and only watching the actual story parts that don't have anything sexual or mature in them. Fact of the matter is, the girl goes home and says "I watched Juggy Girls", what is she supposed to think? She's gonna think you sat there with a 7 year old and watched Bob Throb pork Juggy Jane in the bootyhole. And convincing her otherwise is going to be extremely hard to do.

I wonder if the parents of the girl actually sat down and asked her what SHE saw and heard?

Great. Now I'm going to have the phrase "Bob Throb porkin' Juggy Jane in the bootyhole" running through my head all day.... :drinking:

[Kid Ice]

Wow, with all those other games you had to go and pop GTA in?

I guess it depends a little bit on the context of the babysitting situation...if they dumped the child off on you, hey, you're just doing your thing. But if you're voluntary babysitting and they are trusting you in good faith...I don't want to get all preachy here, but you did ask...I would have a *big* problem with that as a parent.

Oh, and parents who allow their kids to do that kind of stuff...play MA games, watch R-rated movies, etc... are NOT COOL. They are too lazy to set boundaries for their children...it's easiest to just let the kids do whatever they wish. If you are a parent and it's important to you that your kids (good grief) think you are cool, you have some serious self-image problems.

When I was a kid I pretty much was allowed to play whatever game I wanted. Even though people, not unlike you, were chanting about the evils of Dungeons and Dragons, my friends and I played it. Was I allowed to watch R rated movies....Hell No. Likewise my boys do not watch R rated movies. Its not a matter of being cool. My 14 year old would love to play The Guy Game, will I let him?... Hell no.

Of course you're probably right, they will probably grow up and end up like me and become something horrible like (Good Grief) a State Trooper.

However I will update my earlier post and say I would NEVER allow someone elses child to play one of these games without their permission.

Sounds like we have a lot in common. I too played a lot of D&D and was allowed to play whatever I wanted, but there weren't games like GTA back then. And I wasn't allowed to watch R-rated flicks and it wouldn't have done me any good if I was.

Ooh, and uhh...I'm not chanting about the evils of anything. I think we can all agree there are better games for a young child to play than GTA.

[Kid Ice]

Wow, with all those other games you had to go and pop GTA in?

I guess it depends a little bit on the context of the babysitting situation...if they dumped the child off on you, hey, you're just doing your thing. But if you're voluntary babysitting and they are trusting you in good faith...I don't want to get all preachy here, but you did ask...I would have a *big* problem with that as a parent.

Oh, and parents who allow their kids to do that kind of stuff...play MA games, watch R-rated movies, etc... are NOT COOL. They are too lazy to set boundaries for their children...it's easiest to just let the kids do whatever they wish. If you are a parent and it's important to you that your kids (good grief) think you are cool, you have some serious self-image problems.

sorry to single you out Kid Ice, but you're the first post I could find along these lines. Nothing personal.

BUT...

Did no one read the full post?

All they did was take cars, ride them around, and make some jumps. If memory serves, that's ALL I did when I played Vice City. It's not like she showed her niece any violence or sexual activity. The worst thing that could happen is that possibly the car hit someone after a jump on accident, but the kid's not going to go out, take her parents car and start jumping.

Dear gods, people. Reading comprehension is your friend. This sort of stuff will barely get you a T rating if that's all you put in the game. And, for reference, that's the same rating that Super Smash Bros. Melee gets.

Now. Who's going to be the first to say a 9-year old shouldn't play SSBM? Go on. I dare ya ;)

-AG

Yes I read the whole thing.

Yes I understand they only drove around and did jumps or whatever.

I find it difficult to believe that for any length of any GTA game nothing objectionable happens. But that's not the point.

When I was 13 my father took me to strip clubs. He took me during the day when there were no strippers. I drank soda and played Millipede and shuffle bowling. He hung out with his friends and played pool.

When mom found out, she hit the roof. My dad, who was/is an IDIOT, thought it was OK because no strippers were there.

So I see this situation somewhat along the same lines...no, nothing awful happened, but it was inappropriate and unnecessary, IMO.

[Immutable]

...When mom found out, she hit the roof. My dad, who was/is an IDIOT, thought it was OK because no strippers were there.

So I see this situation somewhat along the same lines...no, nothing awful happened, but it was inappropriate and unnecessary, IMO.

Yes, I see how your situation relates to the thread. It's just funny how you and Cmos tend to use "mature" examples for an analogy. No offense. Heh...

[Crazycarl]

see i try to keep that stuff away from my nephew usually since A) i dont want my sister to kill me and B) i do think people should watch what little kids play. i hear u and i dont see anything wrong with driving around....as long as ur not shooting a hooker :D . so in short u didnt do anything wrong, but you should be careful since other people (like her parents) might not want her playing it regardles.

[bargora]

My opinion: All of the parents who are mentioned or have posted in this thread excoriating QOF have taken leave of their senses. This is the same reason politicians can pass whatever shite they like as long as they say its FOR THE CHIIIIIIIIILDREN!

Rockstar combines a cool physics engine with an open-ended gameplay environment and all anyone can think of is the M on the case and the possibility of GBH on prostitutes.

I think that these reactions are/were predictable (and so you probably should have anticipated them and saved yourself a lot of grief and threw in one of the "Driver" games instead, Kris), but hysterical. Unless the parents are objecting to the stuff the kid actually saw.

For the record, I find a lot of that murder and adultery in the Bible to be highly objectionable. FAIR WARNING: Read the Bible to my future kids and I'm coming after yer ass with a shotgun. (Unless you keep it to the clean bits ;) )

[squidblatt]

You've got to obey the ground rules that parents set for their children, but then I don't think you should feel responsible for their overreactions. I think you made a slight error in judgement, but nothing that justifies anyone "hitting the roof." If your family is going to hold this against you, then they are being unreasonably alarmist. You know about games - they don't, and I don't think they should dismiss your judgement out of hand. I'm not saying that they shouldn't insist that you not do it again, but there is no reason for them to make a big deal out of it. Unless they really think you would display inappropriate material to a child, they ought to calm down.

However, if you knew they didn't understand video games, you might have done a better job of protecting yourself by avoiding M rated titles altogether. If it were my child, I would not want them to play even a supervised game of GTA; it's just too much of a leap of faith to assume that everything wiill be kept at an appropriate level. However, if I found out that my child did play the game, I wouldn't think it was a big deal. I consider the main consequence of children playing these games to be a degradation of taste.

[Cmosfm]

...When mom found out, she hit the roof. My dad, who was/is an IDIOT, thought it was OK because no strippers were there.

So I see this situation somewhat along the same lines...no, nothing awful happened, but it was inappropriate and unnecessary, IMO.

Yes, I see how your situation relates to the thread. It's just funny how you and Cmos tend to use "mature" examples for an analogy. No offense. Heh...

Why is it funny? We're comparing mature examples to a mature rated game? Apples and apples I say. :/

[vespertillio]

Kristine, I would say yes and no. Yes it was ok to let her play as long as she knew that it was only a game and just for fun. No, because you should have asked her parents first. This is coming form a guy who routinely plays various Bond games with his 5 year old son.(His latest is Rogue Agent. He rocks at it lol)
I taught him at a young age that these were only games, not real, and just for fun. He knows never (and I mean never) to touch a gun in real life (not that we have any) and that hurting others is fundamentaly wrong. He's very well rounded with interests in other games (All the Marios, Spyro, Star Wars, Disney) as well as an obsession with bugs and animals. He also has no prbkems making new friends. I see it as way for us to have fun together while giving him a chance to develop great hand/eye coordinaton and problem solving skills.

He has asked before if he can play Bond with his friends but I have always said no as their parents might get a little mad. I explain to him that some parents might not like their kids playing the games due to the guns and violence. He has never had a problem with this and will always pop in Mario Kart or one of many other kid friendly games we have.

BTW, are you close to Denver? If so you should come to one of our VG nights that we have. we have a wide selection of Arcade Standups, as well as retro computers and cosoles all ready to play on a moments notice. You are more than welcome to drop by. Anyway, good luck with the family. They will forget about it soon enough. At least until Thanksgiving or X'mas, when all gloves are off apparently. LOL

[Kid Ice]

My opinion: All of the parents who are mentioned or have posted in this thread excoriating QOF have taken leave of their senses. This is the same reason politicians can pass whatever shite they like as long as they say its FOR THE CHIIIIIIIIILDREN!

Rockstar combines a cool physics engine with an open-ended gameplay environment and all anyone can think of is the M on the case and the possibility of GBH on prostitutes.


Whoa. Whoa. Whoa.

I interepreted QOF's question as "Is my family overreacting by making a big deal out of this?"

My response in summary was "No, I would have felt the same way."

I don't see how politicians fit into this.

I agree that (not that this has much to do w/ the original post either) undue attention has been given to the adult-oriented aspects of the GTA games at the expense of recognition of the series' accomplishments in gameplay.