Did I break the law at Gamestop?

You didn't break the Law, you just went around it. From my point of view you broke the moral purpose of the law, which is: if you're not old enough, you can't play GTA.

The correct behavior would probably have been to ignore their request. It's no big deal, though.

There's a reason for age limitations on games and if we could all respect them we'd have less people attacking our favorite hobby.

Black_Knight_00

There's no spirit of the law to break because there's never been a law.

only if you think you did , those kids would have bought it off the internet anyway if you had not bought for themishoturface

No laws were broken, whether you think they were or not. There is no legal reason a minor can't buy an M rated game.

You didn't break the Law, you just went around it. From my point of view you broke the moral purpose of the law, which is: if you're not old enough, you can't play GTA.

The correct behavior would probably have been to ignore their request. It's no big deal, though.

There's a reason for age limitations on games and if we could all respect them we'd have less people attacking our favorite hobby.

Black_Knight_00

There actually is no legal age requirement. The spirit of the guideline was circumvented for sure, but there's no legal obstacle for anyone of any age to buy or play a game. None.

If we the gamers can't get this concept through our heads, how are we supposed to be effective advocates for our hobby in the real world? Games don't need to be legally regulated, no other media is. We can regulate ourselves to the degree necessary for public order -- and what's more we do. There's already a link earlier in this thread to the FTC study that shows the comparitive effectiveness of music, movie, and game ratings enforcement, and we're the best of all of them!

If we don't know this and can't express it, nobody else is going to take us seriously either.

Lol. I bought Diablo 2 from my cousin when I was 15 I believe. Who cares.

Don't give me that nonsense about how it makes it harder for adults to get these games. The reason that those games are harder to get out is the fact that as a whole, people still consider the medium childish to a certain extent. That, and the ESRB pushes a rating system that's flawed, dated, and overall pretty meaningless except to overly conscientious adults that don't take the time to have a look at what the game actually entails.

starfox15

Im sorry but its pretty obvious that after things like hot coffee, devs are afraid to put some of the content out for fear that kids will get a hold of it, even if the ratings say they shouldnt. There should be a law, this would protect the devs from any responsibility. Parent's should still be able to buy a game for their kids, but if a non custodial parent/guardian does it, it should be a criminal act just like buying porn or alcohol for them.

NO ONE other than a minor's parent should be deciding if they are mature enough to play the game.

Im sorry but its pretty obvious that after things like hot coffee, devs are afraid to put some of the content out for fear that kids will get a hold of it, even if the ratings say they shouldnt. There should be a law, this would protect the devs from any responsibility. Parent's should still be able to buy a game for their kids, but if a non custodial parent/guardian does it, it should be a criminal act just like buying porn or alcohol for them.

NO ONE other than a minor's parent should be deciding if they are mature enough to play the game.OneWingedAngel

I appreciate the overall sentiment here, but I don't equate buying a kid an M rated game to buying him X or NC-17 rated movies. The M rating is more like an R rating, and taking a minor to see an R-rated movie isn't yet considered a criminal activity, even by someone other than parents. AO games are supposedly the equivalent of the NC-17 rating.

Im sorry but its pretty obvious that after things like hot coffee, devs are afraid to put some of the content out for fear that kids will get a hold of it, even if the ratings say they shouldnt. There should be a law, this would protect the devs from any responsibility. Parent's should still be able to buy a game for their kids, but if a non custodial parent/guardian does it, it should be a criminal act just like buying porn or alcohol for them.

NO ONE other than a minor's parent should be deciding if they are mature enough to play the game.

OneWingedAngeI

Here's my problem with making it a crime if some one buys an M rated title for a minor...where would it stop? If you're going to press charges on a violent game, why not a violent movie? Also, is there any way to monitor who is and who isn't a parent? Also, if I buy a violent game, my underage friends would probably just come over to my house. Is it a crime to let them play a M rated title with me? Either way, they are being exposed to the inappropriate content. Heck, some people buy M rated titles and give them away as presents, or at least I'm assuming.

BTW, when I asked on the title if I was breaking the law, I was being a bit silly about it. My friends would always go to me when they wanted to buy an M rated title or trade in something...although the titles are not Always GTA. Once it was Prince of Persia WW, so it varies.

[QUOTE="starfox15"]

Lol. I bought Diablo 2 from my cousin when I was 15 I believe. Who cares.

Don't give me that nonsense about how it makes it harder for adults to get these games. The reason that those games are harder to get out is the fact that as a whole, people still consider the medium childish to a certain extent. That, and the ESRB pushes a rating system that's flawed, dated, and overall pretty meaningless except to overly conscientious adults that don't take the time to have a look at what the game actually entails.

OneWingedAngeI

Im sorry but its pretty obvious that after things like hot coffee, devs are afraid to put some of the content out for fear that kids will get a hold of it, even if the ratings say they shouldnt. There should be a law, this would protect the devs from any responsibility. Parent's should still be able to buy a game for their kids, but if a non custodial parent/guardian does it, it should be a criminal act just like buying porn or alcohol for them.

NO ONE other than a minor's parent should be deciding if they are mature enough to play the game.

Yeah, I tend to agree. While I hate the government intervening in just about anything, it would give gaming companies much more freedom in creating their content. I'm not so sure that a law applying to citizens would be effective, as it would probably go uninforced and ignored or overturned, but a law on the commercial sale of video games, rather than a simple store policy, would give developers a larger sheild to hide behind.

This would have no bearing on the original topic, but as to OneWingedAngel's point, might just garner us some better content.

[QUOTE="OneWingedAngel"]Im sorry but its pretty obvious that after things like hot coffee, devs are afraid to put some of the content out for fear that kids will get a hold of it, even if the ratings say they shouldnt. There should be a law, this would protect the devs from any responsibility. Parent's should still be able to buy a game for their kids, but if a non custodial parent/guardian does it, it should be a criminal act just like buying porn or alcohol for them.

NO ONE other than a minor's parent should be deciding if they are mature enough to play the game.m0zart

I appreciate the overall sentiment here, but I don't equate buying a kid an M rated game to buying him X or NC-17 rated movies. The M rating is more like an R rating, and taking a minor to see an R-rated movie isn't yet considered a criminal activity, even by someone other than parents. AO games are supposedly the equivalent of the NC-17 rating.

I get what you and viewtiful are saying. overall i don't think it would be a highly enforcable thing, but here is why i think it should at least be a law. say joey goes and buys this game and parents freak out. rockstar (hey why not use them as the example) can just say well so and so store broke the law by allowing him to obtain it. It's not so much about pressing charges every time it happens, but more about being able to stop making the developers the scapegoat.

I do admit it would be very tough to enforce though. You can sure bet if stores got bigger fines over it they would be a bit more inclined to be more wary of who they sell the games to.

its not illegal, just store policy. its not like buying beer for a minor. i wouldnt buy it for them though. its pretty racy.OneWingedAngeI

There actually is no legal age requirement. The spirit of the guideline was circumvented for sure, but there's no legal obstacle for anyone of any age to buy or play a game. None.

If we the gamers can't get this concept through our heads, how are we supposed to be effective advocates for our hobby in the real world? Games don't need to be legally regulated, no other media is. We can regulate ourselves to the degree necessary for public order -- and what's more we do. There's already a link earlier in this thread to the FTC study that shows the comparitive effectiveness of music, movie, and game ratings enforcement, and we're the best of all of them!

If we don't know this and can't express it, nobody else is going to take us seriously either.

SophinaK

You're right, it is not a law, it's a guideline, although from my point of view it should be a law. If you're underage you don't get the M game, period. If someone sells it to you he gets fined. Don't call me a douche, this would actually help gaming by getting rid of one of the main argument JThompson has againt us.

...i do think it should be a law that you cant sell these things to minors, or buy them for someone else's kid. its just making it more difficult for us actual adults to get the content we want. devs are too scared to put certain things in games because idiots will buy it for kids that should not be playing it.OneWingedAngeI

Well spoken. I couldn't agree more.

Don't call me a douche, this would actually help gaming by getting rid of one of the main argument JThompson has againt us. Black_Knight_00

We don't have to get rid of his arguments. We got rid of him.

Today the judge ordered Mr. Thompson to wrestle Uwe Boll to prove himself and save his law license.

Actually, I still can't get on gamepolitics.

As a DAD I would be mad that you helped them if they were my kids. If their mom and dad was not walking in there and buying it for them. Then their parents may not have wanted them to play the game. You took away from what the parents may have been trying to do. I don't even buy myself a GTA game because I don't want my 8 year seeing me play it. HarlockJC

I agree. The ESRB ratings exist so that parents can improve their roles as parents by monitoring what games their kids play. The original poster took that responsibility away from the parents.

As a DAD I would be mad that you helped them if they were my kids. If their mom and dad was not walking in there and buying it for them. Then their parents may not have wanted them to play the game. You took away from what the parents may have been trying to do. I don't even buy myself a GTA game because I don't want my 8 year seeing me play it. HarlockJC

That's what I'm talking about. Parents must do exactly what you're doing.

[QUOTE="HarlockJC"]As a DAD I would be mad that you helped them if they were my kids. If their mom and dad was not walking in there and buying it for them. Then their parents may not have wanted them to play the game. You took away from what the parents may have been trying to do. I don't even buy myself a GTA game because I don't want my 8 year seeing me play it. EnigManic

I agree. The ESRB ratings exist so that parents can improve their roles as parents by monitoring what games their kids play. The original poster took that responsibility away from the parents.

The only problem you get is where parents go to far. And say because they do not want their kids playing it, then the game should not be made at all. This happen to comic books many years ago and almost killed comic books off. If not for the actions of people like Stan Lee it would of.

What's worse, playing a "mature" video game or playing in the streets?!

A kid isn't violent because he sees violence in video games... Agressive kids can be violent because their parents show them a bad example, and then piss them off by not allowing them to buy the game they want. Talking to them about violence is much better than censoring stuff.

People need to chill out about this insignificant matter.

No laws broken only your own laws of ethics. Whats wrong with GTA 4? The puzzle game right? Made in Russia?..........hmmmmmmm-Vinzki-

Hmmmmmm....... Let's see...

A game that allows you to kill cops and innocent civilians and commit other felonies and glorifies gang violence? As far as those kids were concerned, it's a matter for their parents to decide, not a complete stranger.

So I went to Gamestop yesterday, and these teens were standing outside and asked me if I could buy them GTA4 if they give me the money for it. I hesitated at first, but then I figured it wasn't that big a deal. I mean, to this day I play games my mom does not approve of, even though I'm 19. So what would you have done in the situation? Would you have but GTA for them or just rub it in their faces that they're too young to be playing it? They looked like they were in high school by the way.

viewtiful26

There's no law against against it. No need to worry.

no i would have done the same thing after all its just store policy people only have a problem with these kind of games because they think kids take what they do in games to heart and that they will reinact them, society may be messed up but if the kids you bought it for have kids then at least they wont be covering theyre eyes from every boob and scene of gore in a movie or game.