Re: Calls to jail parents that give kids adult games
I let my daughters play Fable 2, they already kind of understand the whole making babies biz, so they just think it's funny. they have no interest in the violent bits. my oldest girl has also played GTASA, but she tries as hard as possible to not break the law, which is obviously the total opposite of what it's really about. she just thinks it's a more realistic version of Simpsons hit and run, which if you've played it, is just a kids version of GTA anyway. other than that, they're more than content with their my little pony and bratz games.
the whole thing about the ratings system that sucks in australia is that we have no 18+ rating for video games, and because of this, we get these crappy edited versions of games like Haze, due to it's "Drug References" where those drugs don't actually exist, and we have to wait longer than the rest of the world for it, whereas GTA has much more realistic drug references & more graphic violence, but apparently it's OK for 15yo's.
the whole ratings thing sucks, but it is necessary and should be overhauled to make it more relevant to the subject matter. it should be up to the parents whether or not the game is suitable for their children. if my kids are upset, scared or offended, they'll stop playing it. if we think it's not suitable, then we keep it out of reach, or atleast inform them about what is actually happening, ask their opinions on the matter, then come to the conclusion of whether they should play it or not.
to sum it up, imprisonment or fining is a bit too extreme. it should be controlled more at point of sale, and if the parents are buying for their underage kids, then it's at their disgretion, and they should really look into what the game entails before making that decision to buy it for them
