Age Restrictions on games

idontlikefig

So I thought I'd start a thread on something which really annoys and actually embarrasses me. Age restrictions on games. I am 20 years old so it shouldn't be a problem.
I remember buying GTA when I was 12. I don't look terribly young, plenty of times I don't get ID'd buying alcohol. Yet for some reason if I get an 18+ game in gamestop/cex/argos I am asked for proof of age. Argos annoy me the most because the person behind the counter always looks younger than me. Every time I get asked I cringe with embarrassment that I am actually being asked FOR A GAME. Its only a very recent problem, I'd never run into this back when I was actually under 18.

There is no law saying it is illegal to sell anything entertainment, as long as you are not selling pornography to minors. (speaking of which your average 12 year old can get porn on the internet within seconds)

Since it is not against the law I feel like i have the right to feel insulted to have to prove age for a game. I've never witnessed it happen to anyone else.

People working in these shops really have no common sense, or are terrified by their employers who have no common sense. Like don't sell human centipede to somebody to somebody who looks 12. If I was working in these shops, I'd sell anything to anyone. If you are mature enough to go to the shop alone you are mature enough for any 18s game.

Has some law being passed within the last two years which has made game-sellers pretend they are selling alcohol/tobacco?

Has anybody ever had a problem like this. Or even have an opinion on the matter? Maybe you worked in one of the places mentioned.

Retr0gamer

It might not be against the law to buy a game if you are under age but it's also not against the law for shops to ask for ID or to refuse to sell you the game if you don't have ID.

You've also got to remember that the person behind the counter also risks losing their job if a problem arises and they haven't checked for ID.

J. Marston

idontlikefig wrote: »

So I thought I'd start a thread on something which really annoys and actually embarrasses me. Age restrictions on games. I am 20 years old so it shouldn't be a problem.
I remember buying GTA when I was 12. I don't look terribly young, plenty of times I don't get ID'd buying alcohol. Yet for some reason if I get an 18+ game in gamestop/cex/argos I am asked for proof of age. Argos annoy me the most because the person behind the counter always looks younger than me. Every time I get asked I cringe with embarrassment that I am actually being asked FOR A GAME. Its only a very recent problem, I'd never run into this back when I was actually under 18.

There is no law saying it is illegal to sell anything entertainment, as long as you are not selling pornography to minors. (speaking of which your average 12 year old can get porn on the internet within seconds)

Since it is not against the law I feel like i have the right to feel insulted to have to prove age for a game. I've never witnessed it happen to anyone else.

People working in these shops really have no common sense, or are terrified by their employers who have no common sense. Like don't sell human centipede to somebody to somebody who looks 12. If I was working in these shops, I'd sell anything to anyone. If you are mature enough to go to the shop alone you are mature enough for any 18s game.

Has some law being passed within the last two years which has made game-sellers pretend they are selling alcohol/tobacco?

Has anybody ever had a problem like this. Or even have an opinion on the matter? Maybe you worked in one of the places mentioned.

Don't think you'd last long in that job then.

Something I think needs to be addressed is gambling, or the element of gambling in games.

It's very rare for me to take a "Think of the children!" stance but I really don't like the way games market stuff like Ultimate Team packs in Fifa and Loot Boxes in Overwatch.

These games have age ratings of 3+ and 12+ respectively so they are marketed towards kids too. I don't want it banned, I just think there should be gambling warnings if you buy Fifa points/Lootboxes/etc.

The_Valeyard

Buy online. Probably a better price. And no id hassle

LunarSea

Actually it is illegal to sell rated games to underage customers.

PEGI was originally a guide, but has since become a legal rating.

People in these shops have "no common sense"? So the potential scenarios are:

1. Be reprimanded by their employers (either by beinh collared by their manager or worse, stung by a secret shopper that will report above the shop's manager) or potentially lose their job that is used to keep a roof over their heads, food on table, etc. or...

2. Cause some lad that is older than he looks to grumble a bit under his breath as he presents his ID.

Sorry OP, it is you that has no common sense and sound as if you've never worked a day in the real world.

K.O.Kiki

J. Marston wrote: »

Don't think you'd last long in that job then.

Something I think needs to be addressed is gambling, or the element of gambling in games.

It's very rare for me to take a "Think of the children!" stance but I really don't like the way games market stuff like Ultimate Team packs in Fifa and Loot Boxes in Overwatch.

These games have age ratings of 3+ and 12+ respectively so they are marketed towards kids too. I don't want it banned, I just think there should be gambling warnings if you buy Fifa points/Lootboxes/etc.

IDK, the Loot Boxes in Overwatch are grand with me.

They're cosmetic fluff and you get them free through play.

J. Marston

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

IDK, the Loot Boxes in Overwatch are grand with me.

They're cosmetic fluff and you get them free through play.

Yeah I know and there shouldn't be any warning for the ones you get from levelling up but if you buy them, I think there should be a warning/notification even if it is only skins etc.

Nollog

People usually take it as a compliment.

/\/ollog

/\/ollog wrote: »

People usually take it as a compliment.

I know I do , very flattering to be asked in argos when buying a game

I had a spiel for the OP about his "common sense" remark and "sell anything to anyone"one but I think I'll save my breath and let them find out for themselves how real life in a job works :rolleyes:

idontlikefig

I ran into trouble in Argos today which fuelled this thread. So after seeing your replies I went digging looking for the source which said there is no law in Ireland regarding the sale of video being sold to underage people, only to find on citizeninformation that there is.

Damn I don't use this website often how do I take down this silly nonsense I said ?

That was a very good point about the gambling and ultimate team btw

o1s1n

Aldi still ask me for ID when buying booze and I'm 32, with a beard.

I don't know why but I thought that relevant.

Icyseanfitz

o1s1n wrote: »

Aldi still ask me for ID when buying booze and I'm 32, with a beard.

I don't know why but I thought that relevant.

ditto on the beard and being asked for id
ah i dont mind, tbh the quality of game graphics and mature themes these days im glad people are being asked, i wouldnt want my kids picking up gta 5 or witcher 3, some fairly dark and disturbed things in there.
Saying that i played the ps2 gta's underage but imo stuff has advanced to near realism which makes beating up a hooker to get your cash back that little bit more real :pac:

SeantheMan

idontlikefig wrote: »

I ran into trouble in Argos today which fuelled this thread. So after seeing your replies I went digging looking for the source which said there is no law in Ireland regarding the sale of video being sold to underage people, only to find on citizeninformation that there is.

Damn I don't use this website often how do I take down this silly nonsense I said ?

That was a very good point about the gambling and ultimate team btw

Just leave it up, you posted something and discussion followed, however you checked up on it for yourself, found to be wrong but admitted and pointed it out.:)
More respect for someone who'll admit their wrong rather than going back and changing their post.:cool: I think there could be a time limit for the ability to edit....can't remember for sure.

EDIT : Just checked now, immediately after posting I have the ability to edit this, but my posts on other threads lack the button. So...there ye go.

Digital Solitude

48 hours Sean, and it's marked as edited after 5 minutes.

Personally I think they're a good thing, and at the end of the day the employees need to cover their own asses. I've been a passable 18 year old since I was 15, and it's not too uncommon for a 15-18 year old to rock a full beard and look well over 20, that's where the trouble comes in.

Realistically when it's something this trivial you're not going to chance getting in trouble over it

Skerries

Digital Solitude wrote: »

it's not too uncommon for a 15-18 year old to rock a full beard and look well over 20, that's where the trouble comes in.

and that's just the women

ShadowHearth

The reason why Gaming has a bad reputation is because youngsters get their hands on 18+ stuff. The rating there is for a reason.

I would be a full of **** if I would say that I never played 18+ stuff when I was a kid. Thing is though, I am 30 now and back in my day 18+ Games were not so open with sex, drug, alcohol and murder themes. Very graphic at that too.

I played GTA 2 back in the day when I was kid, now imagine kid playing this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oABqMcrSqfc

Duggy747

o1s1n wrote: »

Aldi still ask me for ID when buying booze and I'm 32, with a beard.

I don't know why but I thought that relevant.

Having worked in Lidl, those fúckers in management come down on you like a ton of bricks if you don't ask people for ID. Managers will watch the tills through the CCTV to make sure a person with drink is asked for ID, if you're not asked then the staff member gets a formal warning.

Aldi / Lidl is the only place I want give a shíte about being ID'd, I know the poor bugger behind the till has a gun to their head :pac:

Anyways, I remember a mother giving out to me about how violent Call of Duty and GTA is for children and how her kids play them all the time. After I raised the obvious point of "Who bought the games?.......who's paying for their Xbox Live membership to play them online?"

To which you get the usual reply of "I know but............still......."

french_bloke

About 8/9 years ago I went in to HMV in Blanchardstown, there was a 20th anniversary edition of Predator released, I was about 22. I was asked for ID to buy the DVD!! Luckily I had ID but was mortified to be asked, would've been worse if I had no ID and they wouldn't let me buy the movie!


"Heat seekers Dillon?! Pretty sophisticated for a bunch of half-assed mountain boys!"

idontlikefig

I suppose its more common to get ID'd for games/dvds being 18+ then I thought. Still can't get my head around how I'd get anything I wanted when I was 13 as long as the manager of gamestop was not on the til

Riesen_Meal

LunarSea wrote: »

Actually it is illegal to sell rated games to underage customers.

PEGI was originally a guide, but has since become a legal rating.

This is actually not true at all for Ireland - for the UK it is legally binding, but not for Ireland - I think the only game we actually banned was Manhunt 2...



See below from Wikipedia:

Computer games Edit
Unlike most other countries, the Film Censors Office have little involvement in video game censorship. This led to an unusual situation where in the 1990s the UK-owned GAME sold the sanitised versions of Carmageddon which was a victim of censorship in the UK, whilst Irish owned stores sold the uncut versions imported from the United States. Games may only be banned if the Film Censor judges that it is unfit for viewing,[36] which has happened once to date, with the banning of Manhunt 2 on 18 June 2007, over two weeks before its launch date of 6 July.[37]

Ireland is a member of PEGI, but places no legal powers on its age recommendations. Retailers may attempt to enforce them at their discretion.[B/]

idontlikefig

Fieldog wrote: »

This is actually not true at all for Ireland - for the UK it is legally binding, but not for Ireland - I think the only game we actually banned was Manhunt 2...



See below from Wikipedia:

Computer games Edit
Unlike most other countries, the Film Censors Office have little involvement in video game censorship. This led to an unusual situation where in the 1990s the UK-owned GAME sold the sanitised versions of Carmageddon which was a victim of censorship in the UK, whilst Irish owned stores sold the uncut versions imported from the United States. Games may only be banned if the Film Censor judges that it is unfit for viewing,[36] which has happened once to date, with the banning of Manhunt 2 on 18 June 2007, over two weeks before its launch date of 6 July.[37]

Ireland is a member of PEGI, but places no legal powers on its age recommendations. Retailers may attempt to enforce them at their discretion.[B/]

I read that too, which is what got me thinking posting this. However I read this on citizen information

"There are a number of offences under the Video Recordings Act, including the importation, possession or supply of prohibited or wrongly certified videos/DVDs or supplying videos/DVDs without a licence. It is an offence to supply a video/DVD to someone who is younger than the class the video/DVD is certified as suitable for.

Members of the public may report violations (and suspected violations) of the Act directly to the IFCO or to the Gardai who are authorised to seize prohibited or wrongly classified videos/DVDs from suppliers. The penalties for breaches of the Act include fines and, in certain cases, imprisonment."

I'm not one for being super sceptical on wiki info, but citizeninformation is a much more reliable source.

Riesen_Meal

idontlikefig wrote: »

I read that too, which is what got me thinking posting this. However I read this on citizen information

"There are a number of offences under the Video Recordings Act, including the importation, possession or supply of prohibited or wrongly certified videos/DVDs or supplying videos/DVDs without a licence. It is an offence to supply a video/DVD to someone who is younger than the class the video/DVD is certified as suitable for.

Members of the public may report violations (and suspected violations) of the Act directly to the IFCO or to the Gardai who are authorised to seize prohibited or wrongly classified videos/DVDs from suppliers. The penalties for breaches of the Act include fines and, in certain cases, imprisonment."

I'm not one for being super sceptical on wiki info, but citizeninformation is a much more reliable source.

That's for videos and DVD's though, not games...

I get sceptical over wiki stuff myself but I know for a fact it can't be enforced here, I used to work for Xbox a few years ago and we had to learn about them in training but were told they applied to UK and not Eire....

idontlikefig

Fieldog wrote: »

That's for videos and DVD's though, not games...

I get sceptical over wiki stuff myself but I know for a fact it can't be enforced here, I used to work for Xbox a few years ago and we had to learn about them in training but were told they applied to UK and not Eire....

I would have thought the same rules applied to both though.

In that case why are places so strict on it? Not the people at the counter but the people employing them? Obviously don't give 18+ stuff to kids, but why do they bother IDing people who look between 16-20 ?

I'm answering my own question here but it might be because the companies are multi-national, and there would be no point in gamestop/argos altering their policy for Irish outlets just to suit Irish law. Might as well stick to the same one.
What are the chances of a parent getting anywhere in a court case if there is no law about enforcing PEGI rules? Which still has me wondering why does it seem like gamestop/argos would fire someone for not asking for ID from someone who looks between 16-20 ?

Notorious

o1s1n wrote: »

Aldi still ask me for ID when buying booze and I'm 32, with a beard.

I'm nearly 30 and I cannot get served in Aldi or Lidl when I've my younger sister with me. Shes a young teenager. This annoys me. The cashier actually told me she'd serve me if I queued again and told my sister to wait outside.

Riesen_Meal

Notorious wrote: »

I'm nearly 30 and I cannot get served in Aldi or Lidl when I've my younger sister with me. Shes a young teenager. This annoys me. The cashier actually told me she'd serve me if I queued again and told my sister to wait outside.

And you accepted that?

I'd look for a manager in that instance...

Notorious

Fieldog wrote: »

And you accepted that?

I'd look for a manager in that instance...

No, I didn't purchase. I've done my time in retail and management, and sometimes I feel bad causing hassle on staff who get treated harsh enough as it is.

At the same time, it's a ridiculous rule. It's happened to me more than once. Once you've ID and once you're over 18, there should be no problem. If I decide to buy alcohol and hand it to a pack of 14 year old kids, that isn't Aldi's problem.

Riesen_Meal

Notorious wrote: »

No, I didn't purchase. I've done my time in retail and management, and sometimes I feel bad causing hassle on staff who get treated harsh enough as it is.

At the same time, it's a ridiculous rule. It's happened to me more than once. Once you've ID and once you're over 18, there should be no problem. If I decide to buy alcohol and hand it to a pack of 14 year old kids, that isn't Aldi's problem.

I've picked up a few beers in Aldi with the children with me before and they never said anything, but I fully agree with you - that sounds nuts!

sniper_samurai

Fieldog wrote: »

This is actually not true at all for Ireland - for the UK it is legally binding, but not for Ireland - I think the only game we actually banned was Manhunt 2...



See below from Wikipedia:

Computer games Edit
Unlike most other countries, the Film Censors Office have little involvement in video game censorship. This led to an unusual situation where in the 1990s the UK-owned GAME sold the sanitised versions of Carmageddon which was a victim of censorship in the UK, whilst Irish owned stores sold the uncut versions imported from the United States. Games may only be banned if the Film Censor judges that it is unfit for viewing,[36] which has happened once to date, with the banning of Manhunt 2 on 18 June 2007, over two weeks before its launch date of 6 July.[37]

Ireland is a member of PEGI, but places no legal powers on its age recommendations. Retailers may attempt to enforce them at their discretion.[B/]

Criminal Girls: Invite Only released on the Vita last year was banned here too, its not available at retail or on the Irish PSN store, but is available in the UK and the rest of Europe. I expect that its sequel out later this year will suffer the same fate.

The only video games I've ever seen here with IFCO age ratings on them are GTA San Andreas, Manhunt and Resident Evil 3.

raze_them_all_

Digital Solitude wrote: »

48 hours Sean, and it's marked as edited after 5 minutes.

Personally I think they're a good thing, and at the end of the day the employees need to cover their own asses. I've been a passable 18 year old since I was 15, and it's not too uncommon for a 15-18 year old to rock a full beard and look well over 20, that's where the trouble comes in.

Realistically when it's something this trivial you're not going to chance getting in trouble over it

This I've had a proper beard since 16/17, used to work as a doorman from the age of 17 and often had women of 25+ trying to chat me up, blokes can pass for much older with facial hair, Also i wish some places would enforce the age rating, not better than playing a shooter/fighting game and getting told by a 13 year old that they ****ed my ma

Absolam

idontlikefig wrote: »

I would have thought the same rules applied to both though.

In that case why are places so strict on it? Not the people at the counter but the people employing them? Obviously don't give 18+ stuff to kids, but why do they bother IDing people who look between 16-20 ?

I'm answering my own question here but it might be because the companies are multi-national, and there would be no point in gamestop/argos altering their policy for Irish outlets just to suit Irish law. Might as well stick to the same one.
What are the chances of a parent getting anywhere in a court case if there is no law about enforcing PEGI rules? Which still has me wondering why does it seem like gamestop/argos would fire someone for not asking for ID from someone who looks between 16-20 ?

They're strict on it because it's good for the industry to be seen to be responsible. It's good because if they're visibly enforcing a voluntary code then there's no need for a mandatory one; breaching a mandatory code would have financial implications for a retailer. No idea why a parent would want to go court over it though.

Robert ninja

ShadowHearth wrote: »

The reason why Gaming has a bad reputation is because youngsters get their hands on 18+ stuff. The rating there is for a reason.

I would be a full of **** if I would say that I never played 18+ stuff when I was a kid. Thing is though, I am 30 now and back in my day 18+ Games were not so open with sex, drug, alcohol and murder themes. Very graphic at that too.

I played GTA 2 back in the day when I was kid, now imagine kid playing this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

I think you're wrong in saying modern games are more violent and sexual. I'd say there's more toned down and censored approach than ever. Pretty sure RE5's camera moves away the scene to hide decapitation and anything so much as a woman in tears is has people screaming rape.

Meanwhile try pushing these scenes on today's sensitive tesco game-isle browsing mothers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_kRBZYI1Mk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9F5vWd5Slo

While there's still violent & sexy games out there there's just a whole lot less and little of it will disturb the minds of any generation decensitised to the internet where ISIS propaganda videos and all kinds of porn are readily available.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDDIiIOFE_Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9856_xv8gc