Ask GamerDad 6/27/08
Posted on June 30th, 2008 by
Dear GamerDad,I’m 12 and my mom thinks that I will become a lunatic if I play Mature-rated video games but I’m only asking for games with no drugs, sex, or alcohol and I’ve been begging for six years because I’m too old for kiddish games and I have every Teen game I’d like which is not very much. I used to play GTA3 when I was six and I was fine and I am very mature for my age. All this and a question about socks!
June 30th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
I have an issue with some of the comments you made when addressing the twelve year old. I agree with you that he didn’t seem very mature but I disagree with the comment “12 is pretty much the apex of immaturity”. You’re right 95% of the time but there are exceptions. He may not have been one of them but that comment did seem to imply that people around that age range are immature and M rated games (even the lighter ones) are always inappropriate for people around that age range. I may be misinterpreting your comment here and I apologise if I am since I am probably either exaggerating, jumping to conclusions or both here.
June 30th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
There’s really no point in having age ranges at all if you take into account exceptions. My official stance is that, yeah, M-rated games are innappropriate for ALL kids under 13. I support the ESRB and have only disagreed with them on a few occasions. Where I differ from most in this argument is that I support parents who determine their own kid is mature enough to play M-rated games.
So, to put it simply, if your parents asked me if you should play M-rated games. I would say no. It’s the best answer I can give professionally.
But since they think M-rated games are okay for you Some Guy then I don’t judge their decision.
I think that line, or at least the way I wrote it (APEX OF IMMATURITY) was his notion that T-games offered him nothing and that, somehow, a non-carnage game was “kiddie”. I think those are immature notions that 12-year olds (wanting badly to get away from kid stuff) have more than any other age group on Earth.
July 1st, 2008 at 6:00 am
I absolutely agree with GamerDad – his interpretation was exactly what I thought upon reading that as well. Also, as he says, there are 18 year olds who aren’t ready for E-10 games and 8 year olds ready for M games – you simply cannot makes rules that are 100% applicable. But that ‘tween’ age is all about transition – and that is what ‘apex of immaturity’ means to me, that they are pushing hard to become associated with adulthood and not with childhood – and that very notion clouds their judgment in a way that is much more immature than kids just a couple of years younger who want older stuff but are still very open to age-appropriate stuff. We just went through that with my older son who was fighting to be placed in a category for swim lessons not based on his abilities but on the likely age group …
As for Halo, that whole ‘T will ruin it’ notion is another thing I notch to immaturity, but that is because of the way the message is presented. I agree with GamerDad here as well – it is what changes and compromises are made for the rating. With the upcoming Fallout 3, gamers aren’t satisfied just because the game will still be rated M, they are concerned about what changes to the core and critical elements are being made. It is always about the gameplay.
July 1st, 2008 at 9:52 am
According to the free online dictionary and oxford english dictionary, the definition of the world “apex” is “the highest point”. Saying that 12 is the highest point of immaturity does imply that all 12 year olds are immature. I would have been fine with something around the lines of “12 is usually the apex of immaturity” or “in most circumstances, 12 is the apex of immaturity”.
July 1st, 2008 at 10:00 am
Well I have to say all 12 yr olds are immature. You won’t find that out until you reach ~30 yrs old or so.
July 1st, 2008 at 10:06 am
Have you met every 12 year old in existence, Freakhead?
July 1st, 2008 at 11:26 am
Why are you splitting hairs – is it such a far stretch to say that the vast, overwhelming majority of 12 year olds are not ready for the life & decisions of an 18+ world?
Also, 12 (or 13) is the Apex because it is that point where you are really starting to hit that transitional teenage period, so you are most looking to push off those things which identify you are a child.
And why so hung up on it … I mean, are there exceptions? Sure. But then there are probably 11 year olds, too … and 10 year olds as well … and reading some things there are 6 year olds playing GTA who pronounce themselves ‘fine’, so obviously 6 is old enough for M games. But if we’ve established 6, then surely there are some 5 or 4 or possibly even 3 year olds who are ready to blow heads off of folks in SoF2. And since any parent has seen maturity variation between toddlers, some 2 year olds or even 18 month olds are as mature as other three year olds.
So there it is – according to the ‘have you met everyone’ theory, Some Guy believes that there are 1 year olds who should not be stopped from peeing urine in Postal 2.
😀
(yes, that was all hyperbole meant entirely in good fun)
July 1st, 2008 at 11:51 am
Someguy
“pretty much” can be read, above, as a qualifier for “apex.” And, you do seem mature but I gather you are 12, hon? I bet you’ll be even more mature when you’re older than 12.
I bet you’ll even agree about 12-year olds. But nobody likes it when an old person corrects them so lets just say “I don’t think Gamerdad was targeting you personally.”
July 1st, 2008 at 12:00 pm
He is a very smart and well spoken 13 year old who has been involved in many good forum discussions … which is why I felt obligated to give him a rough time …
July 1st, 2008 at 12:02 pm
When did I say that, because of the exceptions, everyone in an age group that’s usually immature should be allowed to play M games. I really shouldn’t have mentioned video games because my main point had pretty much nothing to do with them. My main and pretty much only gripe was that GamerDad said that 12 was “the apex of immaturity” which implied that all 12 year olds are immature. Yes, it’s not a stretch to say that the vast majority of 12 year olds are immature but GamerDad could have made it more clear that he recognises that there are exceptions.
July 1st, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Betsy Ross is right,
I didn’t write: 12 is the apex of immaturity
I wrote: 12 ispretty much the apex of immatturity.
I therefore implied that “Pretty much all 12-year olds are immature.”
Yeah, that’s splitting hairs maybe, but I do usually write directly. Declaratively. So, my writing “pretty much” is unusual.
July 1st, 2008 at 12:34 pm
I would say that your statements more greatly implied video games than did GamerDad imply that all 12 year olds are immature. That is because the entirety of the original question was about trying to use GamerDad as leverage to show his parents that he should be able to play M game. That in and of itself is immature, but no matter.
And the question I ask to you is – if 12 isn’t the apex of immaturity, then what is? I mean, what GamerDad talked about was that time when you are trying to throw off the limits of childhood. At 12 you are not recognized even as a teen, so you are still tossed into the ‘little kid’ camp.
July 1st, 2008 at 12:44 pm
I agree with everything GamerDad said, I couldn’t have said it better myself. The thing is that the ESRB rating is a guideline for consumers. It says that an independent group of people think that the content of this game is appropriate for a particular age group. It is up to you, the responsible consumer (and parent in most cases) to make the final decision of what your child can and can not play.
So if you are 12 and mom says no to M rated games, guess what? You don’t play M rated games. It is really that simple.
July 1st, 2008 at 1:06 pm
I don’t think that there is really an apex of immaturity. It can differ greatly between people and there’s just too much variation in maturity levels to say that one specific age group is the “apex of immaturity”.
July 1st, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Besides, everyone knows 14 is the apex of immaturity.
July 1st, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Yeah what’s funny is we’re trying to defend saying 12 is immature. I don’t think most people consider high school age a mature age. 🙂
July 1st, 2008 at 2:11 pm
I’m not denying that. I’m just saying that there are exceptions.
Also, with your numerous ageist comments, you don’t seem to be incredibly mature yourself in my opinion.
July 1st, 2008 at 2:19 pm
High school? I was thinking the other day that college graduates are terribly immature.
July 1st, 2008 at 2:26 pm
I think that all of those are true, but they come from a different place – you still have kids in their early-mid 20’s saying “I’m too much of a MAN to play E rated games!”, but it falls to somewhere in that 12 – 13 year old range where a kid would completely reject ever having liked X that he absolutely obsessed about 6 months prior just because he fears identification with something appropriate for younger kids.
I have a desk in the R&D center for one of my projects that is in a large area that is also being used to house a dozen or so college summer interns (these guys/girls have it good, the rest are in desks in the hallway!) … so yeah, college students are still very young in oh so many ways …