Is restricting sales to minors really a violation of the first amendment? Is it even a bad thing?

Who here thinks kids should be allowed to play GTA IV?

I do.

I have played the original GTAs, Quake, Doom, Heretic and so on when I was a kid, and with decent parenting and society, I did not end up a mass murderer.

How the hell do you plan to stop them would be my question.

I remember way back when my friend bought Driver or GTA II and I'd be round there all the time playing it. Mind you, with the added realism these days there are other things to consider I suppose.

Should they be able to play it if someone gets it for them? Sure there's not much you can do at that point, should they actually be playing it though? No, obviously not. Just because we did and turned out okay doesn't mean 12 year olds should be playing games like GTA imo. Plus you don't know you're not a mass murderer yet Kerza.

fixed=-)

Either way it doesn't work. Because Neither options effectively.

The only good options is GOOD PARENTING. And NOT BLAMING VIDEO GAMES FOR YOUR SHIT PARENTING SKILLS WHEN SOMETHING GOES WRONG.

there isn't substantial evidence to corroborate claims whereby video games lead to violence. It's all too easy to push the blame on video games. What of films/television shows which perpetuate violence then? The onus is on the parent to decide whether the game is suitable for the child or not,

too add to that, what about the enviroment the child is raised in outside of the parents direct control, i.e. school classmates, and such.

there are far too many factors to claim one item is influencing a child to violent tendency's, including things outside of anyone's control(genetics for example).

i personally think the esrb is there for what it's there for, and company's which sell games should have to challenge each buyer the same way they do for selling alcohol/cigarettes, after that it's out of there hands.

Uhhhh, you could make it illegal to sell M-Rated games to kids, like the Plaintiff's were aiming to do. I'm not saying kid's shouldn't be allowed to play Mature games, but it shouldn't be their choice. If your parent wants to accompany you on your purchase, then that's their business, but parents should have the protection of knowing their kids don't have access to something they don't want them accessing.

i think eldiablov was making the point of how a friend might own the game, so the child could just play it at the friends house.

as well, if the kid is young enough that such games would greatly influence them toward violent tendency's, it's doubtful there going to come up with the cash, and ride, to purchase the game.

This is so people can be better parents, you moron. You can be fucking super dad, there's nothing stopping your kid from getting his own money and buying what ever he wants. This allows parents to at least know what their kids are interested in, so you can intervene, and handle it the way you feel necessary.

Nobody is trying to ban games. That's not the point. All they're trying to do is put more validity in ESRB ratings. I don't see why people are against that. If you're 16 years old, then yeah, I see why you might be against that kind of idea. But for anybody who is old enough, and has any actual responsibility in their life, they see this as a good tool. I wouldn't be against my kid playing m-rated games after, say, age 13, but I wouldn't want him doing it with out my knowledge. And that's something that this helps with.

---------- Post added at 06:25 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:19 AM ----------

Get a paper route, take said bike to store, buy game... It's not that hard. And yes, there are other ways for kids to play the games they want to play, but why does that invalidate this? If there's one way in, that doesn't mean you have to open every other way too.

In a world where you have to be 18+ to buy M-Rated games, I'd like to know who's not benefiting? Who's being hurt, exactly?

i never said that them getting it another way invalidated this, just trying to point out that it's not exactly going to stop a child from being able to play the game.

perhaps parents taking advantage of the parental controls, and advocating for better parental controls is a better use of time, this way, even if the child gets the game, they still can't play it on there own console.

Agreed. Parents should do all those things. That doesn't take away from the fact that I don't think this was a good ruling.

No matter what the fuck you think you can do to stop kids. Kids , just like anyone and everything else , they will find a way around it.

They always have, and always will, so it's pointless.

As someone else pointed out, there are too many factors besides just a video game that contribute to behavior.

WHICH VALIDATES MY PREVIOUS STATEMENT. Blaming violent video games instead of your piss poor parenting , acting out of ignorance and passing a law that already has many flaws and ways to bypass them is pretty much stupid and isn't a solution. It won't stop anything, it won't do anything other than piss people off.

Because in the end , games are just that. Games.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Just like Movies, are Movies.

And just because someone saw something in a movie , doesn't make it an excuse for someone's own stupidity if they try to imitate something from a movie and something goes horribly wrong.

Just like movies, which 13 year olds cannot walk up to the counter and buy a ticket for an R rated movie, they should not be able to buy M rated games that young either, I don't see why it's even a question. No one is saying it will neccesarilly turn them into a killer but I mean really. Because they can play the game somewhere else or find someway around it, that means we should just allow children to buy M rated games? Since it's easy for teenagers to buy alcohol, does that mean we should just allow them to and change the law? I mean just because someone can find a way to access it after jumping through hoops doesn't mean we should remove the hoops and hand it to them. I'm sorry but there is absolutely no reason a kid should be able to buy an M rated game. Like Joey said if their parents want to get it for them and say it's okay and want to buy it with them, then great do it I love M games too, but don't say they should be allowed to buy it themselves that's ridiculous.