Video Games Age Ratings Essay

Thousands of teens in the United States play violent video games everyday, for hours on end. Teens and children playing violent games are now accepted as a part of life. They sit in front of a screen and watch blood and gore, with no emotions and without cringing. The games become increasingly more violent, as the age that children begin to play these games drops, from twelve to ten to eight. Now, we have six or seven-year-old children playing games rated M, for 17 and older. Teens should not be allowed to play violent role-playing games because it teaches them that violence is acceptable, that it is fun to be violent, as well as desensitizing them to violence.

Among the various questions that adults may think of when considering teenagers as video game players, one that can easily plague the debate about appropriateness of video games is the question: why do teenagers want to play “mature” rated games? Is it the possibility of sexual content within the game data? Is it the violence that serves as the primary gameplay for many of these games? Is it the simple association with the word “mature” that acts as the game rating? As pertinent as these questions may be, particularly to parents or teachers who fear the negative effects of video games, I choose to ask something completely different: what if the story, rather than being an adult or “mature” story, is actually a teen story that draws these teen players into the game?

In terms of violence in E-rated video games, I believe it's up to the parent to decide whether or not their child could play the game. Most E-rated games are either sports and racing games so there's not that many violent moments during the game. Of all the E-rated games they studied, 21.3 percent of games have animated violence, which is a lot tamer than realistic violence. For example, both Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda, while they do have violent moments, are less violent then Grand Theft Auto or Gears of Wars. Now there is a new rating which is E10+ and it's for anyone who is 10 years and older. Again, it's the parents job to know which game is suitable for their child and not buying them whatever game they see on the shelve.

The ESRB issues more than one thousand ratings per year. Five percent of those games are considered to contain mature content (Clements, 2012). Additionally, only an estimated eighteen percent of games sold, throughout the year, are designated with mature ratings (Clements, 2012). This low percentage could impact the reasons why legislation has not taken action against mature content published within video games. Research has proven individuals younger than seventeen are typically unsuccessfully able to purchase video games designated with a mature rating (Clements, 2012). Additionally, those under the age of seventeen typically receive the mature rated game as a gift from a legal guardian or a friend, which bypasses the guidelines set forth by the ESRB.

Video games, such as Grand Theft Auto, depict graphic scenes which are saturated with themes of sex, robbery, and murder. Despite the game being rated M (for mature), many young children play and enjoy this game. Of course, Grand Theft Auto is not the only violent video game in the market. Call of Duty, Halo, and Destiny are all examples of shooting, roll-playing games. As I previously mentioned, many young children and teenagers play one or even all of these games. Parents and family give them as Christmas and birthday gifts, or even as incentives for good behavior. One of the main problems here is the audience. The themes in these games become ideas in young impressionable minds. In an interview with Chris Berry, a student at Reading Area Community College, he remarks:

Call of Duty, Mortal Kombat, Grand Theft Auto, and Doom. Many know these games for their violent nature, stemming from their graphic scenes or gameplay involving shooting or beating up opponents, and these factors have caused these games to stir up quite a bit of controversy. For the last few decades, people have debated the effects of these games on the people who play them. Many believe those who play the games become more aggressive as a result of their violent nature, while others argue that playing the games has no effect on one’s behavior. Society should realize that violent video games have, at most, minimal effect on players’ behavior.

The first reason that the game, “KIller”, is perilous for teens is that participants go through the personal information of their classmates. Guy Martin in his article “Shootout” (2009) notes that, “In 2007, Jake Protell, a freshman, distinguished himself by ferreting out the itinerary of a field trip that two targets were taking to Tel Aviv.” Based on this excerpt, it seems as though some irresponsible students are willing to sort through field trip forms that do not concern them, just to “kill” someone in the game. In a similar situation of invading personal information, a group of [adjective] seniors “Posing as Cohen’s teammate Dominic, using Dominic’s caller I.D. The call had been engineered from a remote computer by a squad member with prodigious hacking skills.” This quote from the article shows that students in the game went as far as to use someone else’s phone number to call the landline of a victim’s house, where they most certainly don’t

1.Dafnis, Jason. "The Video Games Rating System Is Not Effective." Violent Video Games. Ed. Roman Espejo. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press, 2015. At Issue. Rpt. from "Everything That's Wrong with the ESRB." Blunder Busters (8 Jan. 2014). Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 10 June 2015.

The topic of whether or not minors should be allowed to purchase violent video games containing violent content is very popular in current years and there are many arguments to support either side of the debate. I personally believe that minors should be allowed to purchase video games with violent content. In this essay I will argue why I feel this way.

There is a concern on how to manage underage rental of DVD’s and age restricted games. The Motion Picture Association of America (37) has established ratings that are socially acceptable for rating videos. There are also similar video game restrictions set up by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) that rates content contained in the game and recommended age appropriateness. (36). To comply with these rating entities, Redbox has a disclaimer that must be acknowledge about the rating on the DVD or game chosen and the renter is of appropriate age.

Content analyses show that 89% of video games have some violent content. Half of the video games on the market have extreme violent actions toward other characters. Games, today, are allowing players to not only connect with the game physically, but also emotionally and psychologically. In essence, the player becomes the character. According to Nielson Media Research, at least 45 million households in the United States have at least one video game console (Markey & Charlotte, 2010). The average age of video game players has increased to age 34, and 60% of Americans play interactive games on a regular basis. However, researchers believe that younger children are more susceptible to the negative effects of playing violent video games compared to older teenagers and adults. Furthermore, games that include violence have raised serious concerns among

Video games; a pastime for many people across the world, a form of entertainment, and, of course, a way to destress yourself from the outside world. Video games have been around since October 18, 1958 and have been evolving rapidly through the years. “ More than fifty years ago, before either arcades or home video games, visitors waited in line at Brookhaven National Laboratory to play “Tennis for Two,” an electronic tennis game that is unquestionably a forerunner of the modern video game” (“The First Video Game” 1). Since then, you can play video games at a local arcade or buy a copy of a game you like at a store like Gamestop! There are several companies and millions of titles of games to play from and, definitely, a wide variety of platforms to play on. Video games have a plethora of genres and types of games to play. For example, one could embark on a new journey in a role-playing game like Fallout 3 to playing an american football game in the Madden series. The options do not just end right there! Since video games are advancing so if there content! Specifically, in their action and shooter genre. In a modern action/ shooting games, one can see the blood and even characters get their head blown off. Some video game titles have mass murder scenes and even sexual themes. “As the level of violence in video games has increased, so has concern for the effects on those who play - especially those who play a lot” (“Video Game

“I like video games, but they’re really violent. I’d like to play a videogame where you help the people who were shot in all other games. It’d be called Really Busy Hospital.”-Demitri Martin. Role playing games have been a source of fun and entertainment for children and adults. There are more safe and calm games such as Just Dance, and there are more Perilous games such as Call of Duty. Role playing games such as killer are perilous for school age children putting them in danger, teaching violence, and teaching reckless behavior.

The topic I chose was, “utilizing video games to achieve open and honest communication between parent and child.” I have personal experience, as a employee of one of the largest video game retailers, GameStop, in viewing how various video games impact communication between parents and their children. There are various measures that help regulate the audience that play these types of video games. One of these measures are the use of the ESRB rating system (Entertainment Software Rating Board), which is a system that rates games for its content to help consumers understand the content for games and its appropriateness for those who will be playing those games. This system uses a “M” rating, for mature games, intended for an audience of those who are 17 or older. These games receive a rating of mature due to their violence, language, and sometimes, sexual content.

However, these initiatives can reduce the sales of the video games since some of those scenes are the major parts of the games that players engage. There is a fundamental concept that tends to miss out when parents are purchasing video games for their children. The majority of them do not differentiate games meant for adult consumption and the games created for children and teenage content. There needs to be a strong campaign to make the parents aware of proper choice of video games that suits the age of the players. The organization can also work on coming up with games that allow parental control by allowing parents to block some of the scenes that they consider inappropriate for the children.