My parent's were recently invited by a one of their friends  to their 9 year old's birthday party where there would be parents and kids. To me that is weird enough since I'm 19 but what the hell they are good friends. So couple days after the party I asked my Mom how it went ( still laughing inside about the fact they went to a 9 year olds B party with no kid of their own) and she said it went well and she said the parents gave him Assassins Creed for a present. She then asked me if that game would be bad for him. I responded " yeah sure a mature rated game where you stab people like ugh ugh ugh is fine for a 9 year old".  I then continued to talk to her about how it really pisses me off how the video game industry gets a bad rap because parents provide kids with mature rated games. Sure maybe 16 and 15 year olds can be mature enough to play games that are rated for the ages 17 and up but there is no way a 9 year old is going to know how to properly handle the mature themes of a M rated game.
 
Do you guys have any other experiences with parents giving M rated games to their young kids and I'm I right or wrong in your opinion on 9 year olds stabbing people being bad for them? Sure you can say its none of my or your business but I am part of the community that gets hated on because of these parents actions or lack of action in regards to them not taking away mature rated game from their kids.

I played Mature games as a kid and it's no big deal. Really, this whole thing is being taken out of proportion (i'm talking about that new vote on violent games).

" I played Mature games as a kid and it's no big deal. Really, this whole thing is being taken out of proportion (i'm talking about that new vote on violent games). "

" I played Mature games as a kid and it's no big deal. Really, this whole thing is being taken out of proportion (i'm talking about that new vote on violent games). "

I played mature games when I was very young also but graphics are rather realistic now which I don't think young kids should see.   I think it was ok for me and others of my age as graphics back there were about as realistic as Jeff having a beard.

A bit more on topic I find it more annoying when parents give there kid a game THEN complain about the violence and what not.    If they just took one minute to actually read the back of the box or look at the big fucking rating icon on the box...

It is seriously an individual case. I've been playing violent games when I was around eleven or ten and my parents didn't care, since I was raised properly. My dad only restricted me on tougher topics in games and cinema, on the basis that I didn't possess enough knowledge and experience to properly understand them.

Really, it's all about individuality here.

I've only killed two people in my life so far after playing Killer Instinct.

Well until a certain age, I wouldn't expose my child to content like that. After that though, I understand that they are mature enough for it, and I'm ok with them playing games like those (within reason, this one may or may not border it). That age would probably be 12 or 13.
 
The real issue here is bad parenting.

Even beyond the UH UH UH UH UH violence (which, yeah these particular games have a bunch of), there are some pretty mature themes and concepts in both Assassin's Creed games that I certainly wouldn't want to let my child get too much of until he/she was a bit older and more mature. 
 
As far as the violence goes, I'd think AC would probably also be a game I'd hold off on my kid playing. I'd be more open to Halo or such, if we were going by M rated games. 
 
But yeah, case-by-case. Some kids can handle mature themes and violence, others can't until their older.

I don't actually think I ever got a mature game too early as a kid. I think the earliest one was when I was 14 I got Twin Snakes. I asked my dad to buy it for me, came back later that weekend with the game and said. 
"You know that this game is rated M, for 17 or over" 
"Yeah, I know" 
"Ok"
I'm a good kid though, so I was trusted.

If the kid is raised well and/or they are naturally intelligent then I don't think them playing a Mature rated game is a problem.  If the parents of the child are negligent then it can be a problem.  As long as quality ethical and moral values are instilled in the child by either the parents or from some other source, then them playing Mature video games isn't a problem in my opinion.

Hmm, wouldn't ACII be a littel complicated...don't remeber how i played when I was nine

I played a lot of Mortal Kombat 2 around that age or younger, so looking at Assassin's Creed...it doesn't seem so bad now.

I was 6 when I first played Diablo 2. I can say it wasn't too bad.

I find it more troubling that you responded   " yeah sure a mature rated game where you stab people like UGH UGH UGH".  

It's kind of like how they spin research on drugs around. Take a simple set of facts and skew the hell out of them.
That whole Marijuana as a gate way drug is figured by asking users of Harder Drugs if they've ever used Marijuana, all of them have; instead of say, asking Marijuana users if they went on to use anything else harder. 
 
How is this relevant you might ask? 
 
Violent video games aren't the problem (then again, all of you knew that), but the kind of parents that won't pay attention to what their child is doing for entertainment - will also pay zero attention to what their child is doing to get into trouble. They will be ignorant and blissfully unaware until something big and bad happens, and then it just can't be their fault, it has to have been some outside influence...
 
There's just no common sense anymore....and we should start calling it Rare Sense.

There is really nothing wrong with being desensitized to violence, as long as you are smart enough to know that (to invoke a rather clichéd phrase) violence is not the answer.

As everyone already said, its all relative. I've been playing violent video games since I was 10 or 11.

If my kid was a little less intellectually developed, or had difficulty making proper decisions frequently, I would keep them from most video games. 

" I played Mature games as a kid and it's no big deal. Really, this whole thing is being taken out of proportion (i'm talking about that new vote on violent games). "

It's actually "uh uh uh uh uh", not "ugh". Big difference in tone.

I always felt it was up to the parents. To each their own. I'm just gonna be pretty free with it. I remember playing Mortal Kombat when I was around 5 or 6. I turned out a-OK. Games are more realistic now, but I always knew that shit was "make-believe". I'll just balance my kid out with some Super Mario Galaxy or something.

One of the biggest things that people haven't come to terms with yet is the fact that mature games today are much worse then the ones we played as a kid. Doom was dark, gorey and turned you to a satanist right? At that time the games were so simple that they had no affect on the human psyche as everything was extremely primitive. Now take a look at the level which games have come to, feeding off history (in assassins creed's case) and mutating it into something new and in many ways more dark. Kids below a certain age shouldn't play mature games, that's the sad fact of today. However government regulation isn't the solution. It would be a much better plan if Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo added their own precautions and regulations within the hardware. In the case of Microsoft it's not hard, they are already trying to put an ever vigilant eye into your living room, might as well make use of it in some good way.

"ugh ugh ugh."

" @xyzygy said:

" I played Mature games as a kid and it's no big deal. Really, this whole thing is being taken out of proportion (i'm talking about that new vote on violent games). "

Lets be serious though, mature games weren't that graphic two generations ago. Hell, even PS2 generation games were rarely that graphic. Right now, everything has reached new levels of realism. Stabbing a dude in the face is not the same visceral effect as shooting something in Resident Evil 1 and seeing red squares fall out of him. "

" @xyzygy said:

" I played Mature games as a kid and it's no big deal. Really, this whole thing is being taken out of proportion (i'm talking about that new vote on violent games). "

Lets be serious though, mature games weren't that graphic two generations ago. Hell, even PS2 generation games were rarely that graphic. Right now, everything has reached new levels of realism. Stabbing a dude in the face is not the same visceral effect as shooting something in Resident Evil 1 and seeing red squares fall out of him. "

" Hmm, wouldn't ACII be a littel complicated...don't remeber how i played when I was nine "

I've been playing mature games since I was 8, and I'm totally fine. Me and my butcher knife don't have any problems.

I watched "Taxi Driver" when I was <10 years old. ...  Maybe, that explains something...

" @xyzygy said:

" I played Mature games as a kid and it's no big deal. Really, this whole thing is being taken out of proportion (i'm talking about that new vote on violent games). "

Lets be serious though, mature games weren't that graphic two generations ago. Hell, even PS2 generation games were rarely that graphic. Right now, everything has reached new levels of realism. Stabbing a dude in the face is not the same visceral effect as shooting something in Resident Evil 1 and seeing red squares fall out of him. "

" I was 6 when I first played Diablo 2. I can say it wasn't too bad. "

" @LiquidPrince said:

" @xyzygy said:

" I played Mature games as a kid and it's no big deal. Really, this whole thing is being taken out of proportion (i'm talking about that new vote on violent games). "

Lets be serious though, mature games weren't that graphic two generations ago. Hell, even PS2 generation games were rarely that graphic. Right now, everything has reached new levels of realism. Stabbing a dude in the face is not the same visceral effect as shooting something in Resident Evil 1 and seeing red squares fall out of him. "

But this is a kids imagination we're talking about. They know what those red squares represent and in their own head, are probably thinking of more violent things than what is actually being shown.  It's the same as watching someone being stabbed in a movie on less-than-Youtube quality video, then watching the same thing on Blu-Ray. Of course the quality is way better, but you still know what just happened in both cases. "

" @xyzygy said:

" I played Mature games as a kid and it's no big deal. Really, this whole thing is being taken out of proportion (i'm talking about that new vote on violent games). "

So did I. But i'm not going to let my kids play them. "

It's simply preparing him for the post-apocalyptic future, when "uh uh uh uh uh" face-and-neck stabbing will become a very useful skill.

" @Muttinus_Rump said:

" @xyzygy said:

" I played Mature games as a kid and it's no big deal. Really, this whole thing is being taken out of proportion (i'm talking about that new vote on violent games). "

So did I. But i'm not going to let my kids play them. "

Why?  I'm honestly curious.  I mean, there could be a bunch of valid reasons - they may not be able to handle it, they may scare easily, they already have violent tendencies that are easily sparked... You didn't give a reason, so for now I'll assume that  your kids are much like you.  If you could handle mature games, why couldn't your kids?  I'm not going to go on a big rant, but I find a lot of parents don't allow their kids to do something that they themselves did, all without a valid reason.  If mature games screwed you up, I understand.  If your kids aren't as mature as you were at the same age, I understand.  But if they're as mature as you were, what is the problem?   What is the harm? "

I had no problem playing violent games at an early age.  If your kid is some kind of psychopath who's mind could get altered by watching movies or playing video games with some violence in it then sure, you should prevent that child from watching those movies/playing those games.  I don't think it's okay to let a normal child watch a movie that has a more intense psychological effect like Saw, but I'd have no problems at all with letting a stable minded 9-year-old play Assassin's Creed II.

Games didn't have ratings when I was a wee lad.

Children need to understand fantasy and reality. I played Mortal Kombat when I was 11. My test to my child, "Do you think Superman is a real person?" I was asked that when I was 8 and I laughed and said no and asked if any kids thought that, the adult said yes.

" @jschmoe said:

" @Muttinus_Rump said:

" @xyzygy said:

" I played Mature games as a kid and it's no big deal. Really, this whole thing is being taken out of proportion (i'm talking about that new vote on violent games). "

So did I. But i'm not going to let my kids play them. "

Why?  I'm honestly curious.  I mean, there could be a bunch of valid reasons - they may not be able to handle it, they may scare easily, they already have violent tendencies that are easily sparked... You didn't give a reason, so for now I'll assume that  your kids are much like you.  If you could handle mature games, why couldn't your kids?  I'm not going to go on a big rant, but I find a lot of parents don't allow their kids to do something that they themselves did, all without a valid reason.  If mature games screwed you up, I understand.  If your kids aren't as mature as you were at the same age, I understand.  But if they're as mature as you were, what is the problem?   What is the harm? "

My parents had no idea what they were buying me, they assumed all video games were for kids because it's a thing that kids do. I came out alright, I might have come out better, I might have come out worse without mature videogames, it doesn't matter. The point is, I thought the rules didn't apply to me when I was younger but now I realise that I shouldn't have been playing that shit. It doesn't matter if I came out good in the end, I don't want my kids playing Grand Theft Auto 8 when they're 10. "

Few years back I was an intern at the local gamestore.
A granny buys GTA San Andreas, for her grandson's birthday who was becoming 13.
So I explained to her what the game was about and generally be a good cashier with the gamers age in mind but she wouldn't have none of it.
 
Sure enough she comes back the day after, threatening to sue the store for selling such a violent game to a minor...
You bought it for your grandson while you were advised it's not a game for kids, as the rating suggested.
Meh, people.

No but my 3 year old nephew loves when I play violent games. I had to give it up when he's around because he seems to imitate stuff. Even when I play Skate he jumps around like he's bailing haha. But I set up the SNES and 64 for him so now the only violence he sees is Goldeneye. I hate when parents give spoiled kids M rated games because not only does it make the kid an even bigger brat but it makes online so annoying.

I've played games for 16+ since I was 9 and I'm fine. 
 
But I like stabbing food like uh uh uh uh uh

" I played Mature games as a kid and it's no big deal. Really, this whole thing is being taken out of proportion (i'm talking about that new vote on violent games). "

" @xyzygy: I know plenty of people who didn't play mature videogames when they were kids. Hell, most people I know didn't play videogames at all. And they're fine. So you're saying a 10 year old should actually be encouraged to play GTA? Fucking ridiculous. "

I've played M rated games since I was ~8.
 
 
Censorship is fucking stupid.