Age Appropriate?

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Hi Santa brought my 8 year old an xbox one, he previously had a 360. Anyway I've always let him play only age appropriate games, off he goes to his friends house and plays call of duty. ( Obviously I can't control this in other people's houses)

He's begging me to get it for him saying it's not that bad it's based on ww2 etc etc. I'm still thinking it's a 16's game for a reason. Honest opinion please is it a mild game does it deserve it's 16's rating? Am I the only person on the planet (as he says! ) that considers age rating before buying a game ?

Thanks!

AndyBoBandy

I'd let him have it, there is nothing in those games that he won't have already been exposed to,

Just don't get him GTA5 yet, it's most definitely 18 rated for a reason.

The_Valeyard

Call of duty based on WW2? Not since 2008?

Maybe the really old games. The more modern ones do tend to have very strong language. And couple Of The games have been controversial. Like Modern Warfare 3 where you have to massacre civilians in a Russian airport.


Maybe check which actual game he wants first?

theteal

Will he play online? If so, definitely not.

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The_Valeyard wrote: »

Call of duty based on WW2? Not since 2008?

Maybe the really old games. The more modern ones do tend to have very strong language. And couple Of The games have been controversial. Like Modern Warfare 3 where you have to massacre civilians in a Russian airport.


Maybe check which actual game he wants first?

Which would be considered the mildest? Maybe that'll be the compromise.

TitianGerm

now online wrote: »

Hi Santa brought my 8 year old an xbox one, he previously had a 360. Anyway I've always let him play only age appropriate games, off he goes to his friends house and plays call of duty. ( Obviously I can't control this in other people's houses)

He's begging me to get it for him saying it's not that bad it's based on ww2 etc etc. I'm still thinking it's a 16's game for a reason. Honest opinion please is it a mild game does it deserve it's 16's rating? Am I the only person on the planet (as he says! ) that considers age rating before buying a game ?

Thanks!

Is he going to be playing online or just the story mode?

At the end of the day it's up to you but you could always look for a Playthrough on YouTube and see if you deem the campaign suitable?

I assume he was playing Modern Warfare Remastered?

TitianGerm

The_Valeyard wrote: »

Call of duty based on WW2? Not since 2008?

Maybe the really old games. The more modern ones do tend to have very strong language. And couple Of The games have been controversial. Like Modern Warfare 3 where you have to massacre civilians in a Russian airport.


Maybe check which actual game he wants first?

That 2008 game was re-released with Infinite Warfare a few weeks ago.

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theteal wrote: »

Will he play online? If so, definitely not.

He does play minecraft online, again maybe the compromise maybe not playing COD online. Omg it's so hard to do the right thing!

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emmetkenny wrote: »

Is he going to be playing online or just the story mode?

At the end of the day it's up to you but you could always look for a Playthrough on YouTube and see if you deem the campaign suitable?

I assume he was playing Modern Warfare Remastered?

Because I haven't looked into the game at all I doubt know which one he played. I'll have to find out and definitely do research!

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What call of duty would be the mildest?

TitianGerm

now online wrote: »

Because I haven't looked into the game at all I doubt know which one he played. I'll have to find out and definitely do research!

If it's about WW2 then it's either Battlefield 1 or Modern Warfare Remastered (this comes bundled with Infinite Warfare, it is quite expensive).

I'd ring his friends parents and ask could they send you a picture of the box. Then you can watch the story gameplay on YouTube and make up your mind.

TitianGerm

now online wrote: »

What call of duty would be the mildest?

Personally I don't think any of them are that bad but I grew up watching 18s films with my Dad.

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Just looking online, they're 18s games, I thought they were 16.

TitianGerm

now online wrote: »

Just looking online, they're 18s games, I thought they were 16.

They are 18s because you shoot people in them.

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emmetkenny wrote: »

If it's about WW2 then it's either Battlefield 1 or Modern Warfare Remastered (this comes bundled with Infinite Warfare, it is quite expensive).

I'd ring his friends parents and ask could they send you a picture of the box. Then you can watch the story gameplay on YouTube and make up your mind.

Great idea, thanks

_Brian

Just say no.
Be a parent.

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emmetkenny wrote: »

They are 18s because you shoot people in them.

I was happy to let him play minecraft and fifa etc etc!

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_Brian wrote: »

Just say no.
Be a parent.

I'm being a parent by trying to make an informed decision

The_Valeyard

Watching the walk-through Of The levels online isnt a bad idea, nice you know exactly which game it is.

TitianGerm

now online wrote: »

I was happy to let him play minecraft and fifa etc etc!

You kill zombies thingys in Minecraft with an axe

I think there is an option in COD to turn off the blood graphic if that's any help.

Mickeroo

emmetkenny wrote: »

If it's about WW2 then it's either Battlefield 1 or Modern Warfare Remastered (this comes bundled with Infinite Warfare, it is quite expensive).

I'd ring his friends parents and ask could they send you a picture of the box. Then you can watch the story gameplay on YouTube and make up your mind.

It might be BF1 (even though that's WW1) but Modern Warfare isn't set in WW2 either

But yeah I'd make priority finding out exactly which game he wants then doing a bit of research on whether you feel it's age appropriate or not.

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Call of duty, black ops 2. Off to research it now

TerrorFirmer

All of the Call of Duty games have pretty adult themes but Black Ops 2 wouldn't be the worst of them in terms of content. It's obviously violent as shooting games tend to be and all of the COD games feature pretty strong profainity, most also have scenes of torture/execution/murder etc as well as scenarios that require the player to sneak up on enemies and cut their throats, etc. Generally speaking it's nowhere near the likes of GTA but obviously it is up to you as a parent what you feel is appropriate, I personally wouldn't really consider it very appropriate for an 8 year old though (some of the older games like COD1, 2 and 3 are not as violent or profane but they're set in WW2 whereas the newer ones are all modern/futuristic so he might have zero interest in those).

One thing I would say though is that online is definitely not suitable for an 8 year old due to the amount of abuse that goes on in online matches.

Damien360

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

One thing I would say though is that online is definitely not suitable for an 8 year old due to the amount of abuse that goes on in online matches.

Online without a microphone is ok. The crap I hear from kids online would put most 18 rated games to shame. But if the kid gets frustrated easily, then stay away from online completely as he will get killed quickly.

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Decision made, it's a no. We'll stay age appropriate for a few years yet. He's decided to get plant vs zombies instead. Thanks for all the info and advice!

Buttros

Surprised nobody suggested ea access... Pay 25 EUR a year and get a long enough list of games. Both plants vs zombies included. All FIFA NBA NFL and hockey games excluding this year's

i''m not sure if there is a way to restrict access to the older games such as UFC and battlefield. He would get a good few new games and might be happy with that.

dbagman

I played all these games growing up and iv only shot maybe 3 people in real life.

Point being content contained within them probably wont have any lasting effect on your child and the ages on games are generally guidelines. In terms of shooting games at least. As mentioned before I'd think twice about the likes of GTA given the other themes involved. I mean we all played with toy guns and little plastic soilders and GI Joe as kids. Children will hear bad language either at home on tv or in the playground. You won't have control over any of it sadly. Point in case him playing this game at a friends house.

Just do your research into particular titles and you should be fine. I wouldn't take age ratings as the letter of the law.

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Buttros wrote: »

Surprised nobody suggested ea access... Pay 25 EUR a year and get a long enough list of games. Both plants vs zombies included. All FIFA NBA NFL and hockey games excluding this year's

i''m not sure if there is a way to restrict access to the older games such as UFC and battlefield. He would get a good few new games and might be happy with that.

That's another thing we're looking into. Bloody money racket though, paying for gold membership and ea access. I'll have to see if there's a way to restrict it. Any ideas ( I'll buy you all a virtual punt for all the help and info you're giving me! )

TitianGerm

now online wrote: »

That's another thing we're looking into. Bloody money racket though, paying for gold membership and ea access. I'll have to see if there's a way to restrict it. Any ideas ( I'll buy you all a virtual punt for all the help and info you're giving me! )

Two completely different services to be fair provided by two separate companies.

Also the amount of free games you get with Gold is definitely worth the €35 a year.

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emmetkenny wrote: »

Two completely different services to be fair provided by two separate companies.

Also the amount of free games you get with Gold is definitely worth the €35 a year.

Good point, well made!

Ea access is determined by his profile and I'm not sure if his d.o.b is on his profile. Up until now we've always bought hard copies of games, it might be time for me to come out of the dark ages,get ea access and buy online.

BadCharlie

I signed up for ea access. You get 3 games of plants vs zombies on it. The one I play is plants vs zombies garden warfare. It has been fun to play. Kind of funny at times.