I was over at my friends house last night. He let his nephew play RDR. His nephew did nothing more than go on a continuous shooting spree in the game. And when it was time for him to go and stop playing it, all hell broke loose. He threw an insane temper, probably the craziest I have seen. He got irate.
Anyway, what effects do you think it could possibly do to him?
Red Dead Redemption
Game » consists of 23 releases. Released May 18, 2010
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Red Dead Redemption is the spiritual successor to 2004's Red Dead Revolver, featuring a vibrant, open world set in the decline of the American Wild West. Players take on the role of former outlaw John Marston, who is forced to hunt down his former gang to regain his family.
Would you let a 6 year-old play RDR?
No. The violence is pretty serious. The Jump scares (cougars, and such) can be pretty bad. There is frontal female nudity in the game (though it is very brief). And there are topics like necrophilia, prostitution, gambling, conning, and random violence that I don't think I would want a six year old to be exposed to.
The effects though couldn't be that bad. I'unno, maybe he'll set a cat on fire or something. Normal stuff, y'know?
I let my young cousins play RDR, GTAIV and so on when they visit. But then again I sit with them and make sure they understand that they play a game and understand the seriousness of the "play" they are doing. Like I do when they play war in the backyard. It's no difference. Whatever happens to the nephew relies on his parents and your friend. Not the game.
Personal involvement and responsibility all the way.
I think those are the kids problems, not general ones. Still, I wouldn't let my 6 year old play ANY games less than a decade old. I attend the Paul Barnett school of parenting, and it I ever have kids I want them to be at least able to play older games. I think that anybody who grew up on even kid-friendly current-gen games is going to have incredible difficulty going back and playing some incredible games.
Essentially, I want my kid to have the life-altering experience of Super Mario 64 that I did.After that he can get in to Call o' Duty 5...thousand.
I probably wouldn't but I don't really think it would have any negative effects. Kids throw tantrums all the time over anything and obviously because he had something that's more fun than he is usually used to he through a fit when he couldn't play anymore. Everything just needs to be in moderation and if he is going to throw tantrums when its time to stop playing obviously he is not old enough yet.
When I was six I made forts out of boxes and did forward roll's.
Let him play to the end:
I would but only if I thought the kid could handle the themes in place. I don't think the violence or brief-ass nudity would scar him for life, but realizations about things mentioned, like necrophilia, could have a deeper problem, just because it would be such a shocking thing, even if he DID know about sex.
I would hope that my child would be well-adjusted enough to not go on a killing spree immediately. Unless I can convince him to only examine and explore the surroundings in the game, no, I wouldn't let my child play RDR.
Unless, y'know, they really wanted to.
I subscribe to the theory that your behavior in open world games is a reflection of your personality and not the game influencing you. When I play Grand Theft Auto or Read Dead Redemption I stick to the story and don't shoot anyone who doesn't take a shot at me first. Many other people simply want to ride around killing everyone in site and buying hookers. This says more about them than the game.
As for the situation with the six year old I think his behavior at the end is very telling. The fact that he threw an ungodly fit when he was told it was time to turn the game off and leave says a lot.
" You mean without any supervision or context informing him on what's going down? No. "Without context, he'll have no clue what's going on, or what any of it means. Leaving him ignorant to all the topics mentioned.
I'd love to take the high ground here, but I can't. My friend and I were playing games like that at about that age (we played Rune: Viking Warlord and he played a lot of Resident Evil). We're both fine. The adults in our lives made it clear that we could play the games as long as we didn't try to repeat anything contained within them. And we haven't, so we're fine. Literally, there is nothing wrong with us as a result of playing mature games.
So while my gut reaction is that he shouldn't be playing them, I'd have to say that it's not all that important to prevent it.
Also, the temper tantrum is coincidental. If he's allowed to be out of control, there are more issues with his upbringing than seeing boobies.
I hate to tell you, but there are tons of PG-rated movies from the 40s, 50s, and 60s that have extremely mature themes discussed. I watched many like that when I was a kid, and it all went right over my head. It's not like just because the rating isn't mature the movie is okay to watch with kids, or the game is okay to play. Ratings are stupid, because they only address the explicit (not as in graphic, as in blatantly defined) instances of mature content, but completely ignore the fact that mature themes can get through by being presented in an implicit manner.
" Let him play to the end:This.
"And say it's his fault that John died. Guilt him for life!
I would not let a six year old play any of the story missions or go into any of the towns. I might let him run around and explore on the horse. Maybe let him hunt a deer or two. I wouldn't let him skin the dear or anything.
Let him play to the end:I was expecting a joke spoiler, not a game spoiler...
And say it's his fault that John died. Guilt him for life!
My neighbor let his seven year old son watch once while he played Resident Evil 4. But then he said his wife came home and was super pissed. Once when they were visiting I let him play a little Vanquish, which is M rated but is really no more violent than Transformers except for a couple cutscenes, he thought it looked awesome but couldn't get a grip on the right stick aiming.
I... Don't think I would, no.
... With supervision, though, yeah, maybe. Just maybe. But there are just so many alternatives to consider to begin with.
I dunno, I was playing games with violence in them at about that age.... so probably not? Srsly though, I think how mindless it is is a bigger deal than the fact it has violence in it. At least back in the day if you were playing something like Pirates! or Syndicate or whatever then you'd be getting a mental workout at the same time.
The least you could do for him is turn auto-aim off so he doesn't grow up to be a ham-fisted pussy.
Yeah. My cousin was the same and is now kind of the same, just playing Saints Row destroying everything in sight at age 13. Total spastic.
I definitely wasn't playing games that violent when I was 6. Maybe some at 7, though.
Anyways, I let my little sister of 6 years old play GTA IV just because she enjoys driving around or flying in a helicopter. I don't show her how to go on killing sprees (or how to kill people at all) or bring Niko to a strip club while she's playing. These mature games, especially open world ones, have plenty of things for the player to do that are not composed of violence or sex.
" @Abyssfull...Well it obviously was going to refer to something during the end, and it's still behind a spoiler tag, no matter what the info in there was going to be; so if I spoiled it for you, it's your own fault.Let him play to the end:I was expecting a joke spoiler, not a game spoiler... "
And say it's his fault that John died. Guilt him for life!
On one hand your gut tells you it's weird. On the other hand, when I was 6 I would have been pretty boring if I wasn't constantly training to be a ninja-cowboy between Double Dragon and Contra marathons.
" Let's hope nobody gives him a lasso for his birthday. "Let's be honest, it's GONNA happen. 6 year old boys are the prime target for lasso sales right now.
Yeah this is dumb, a 6 year old shouldn't even be interested in Rockstar games. He's obviously not interested in the life and times of John Marston.
i dont think it would be a good idea to let a kid play this game. i personally wouldnt hand a controller to a kid. although the shooting wont affect him too much (if the kid's playing video games during this day and age, i would guess he already has a taste for fps') there are various elements that wouldnt be appropriate for him
" I let my young cousins play RDR, GTAIV and so on when they visit. But then again I sit with them and make sure they understand that they play a game and understand the seriousness of the "play" they are doing. Like I do when they play war in the backyard. It's no difference. Whatever happens to the nephew relies on his parents and your friend. Not the game. Personal involvement and responsibility all the way. "This.
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