Ds wants Halo 3 for his 12th birthday next month

[MaryMotherOfCheeses]

It's a game apparently.

Its also a 15.

I have said no and he thinks IBU.

Am I?

[JambalayaCodfishPie]

YANBU.

[gymboywalton]

no
they re a 15 for a reason

[MaryMotherOfCheeses]

He says its just shooting zombies (or is that a different one?)

And that the 15 rating is purely based on the amount of blood... And he's fine with blood he's not squeamish. :hmm:



I promised to come up with a better argument than just no.

[chocoluvva]

Yanbu. It's a horrible game.

My DS is almost 14 and he's not allowed 15s yet either - though he probably will when he's 14and a half.

[MaryMotherOfCheeses]

What does it involve?

[MaryMotherOfCheeses]

Not helped by the fact that dh has been letting him watch 15 films. Grrrrr.

I've said thats different because he watches them with an adult and not on his own playing over and over again.

[chocoluvva]

Running around shooting spacemen/aliens who die graphically and doing 'well' in the game by being ruthless.

[chocoluvva]

I think there is a difference between that and watching a 15 film with an adult too.

[atacareercrossroads]

Halo 3 does not warrant a 15 cert imo. It's aliens and a bit of a shoot em up. Nothing in the least bit graphic in it afaics and I've played it to death. I wouldn't have a prob with a 13 yo playing it

[chocoluvva]

Maybe I'm thinking of something else .

[atacareercrossroads]

also I think only a fool puts any trust in the ratings given on games and films.

Ghostbusters is a PG, as is Gremlins and some if the Indiana Jones films, but I wouldn't really want my 4 yo to watch them even with my parental guidance. Proof that ratings are a load of rubbish IMO. Use your own judgement OP (although I wouddl be a bit if a 12 yo watched Saw for eg.)

Halo 3 is quite an old game though, Id say about 5 years old, are you sure you're not getting mixed up?

[InsertCleverNameChangeHere]

Halo 4 isn't long out.

I'm another one who would probably be ok with it, so I can't help with reasons why he shouldn't get it, sorry

[Cortana]

DP and I have played this.

It's a first person shooter against the covenant (aliens). In our humble opinion it's a 15 due to the potential to play online with others in an open environment if you don't have the child friendly settings.

HALO is different from the whole COD series in that it's not graphic or gratuitous violence, it's story based and there is an option to pay team on team online.

It's up to what is suitable for your son. If he was 16 and you didn't want him to have it then YWNBU to refuse to buy it. FWIW Halo has an amazing story line and I cried at the end of Halo 4.

Halo 3 will be around £5 now second hand. Could you maybe buy it and try it yourself? There's only so much information a rating can give and they don't take into account that every child is different.

[atacareercrossroads]

Yea Cortana (like Halo much? ) I reckon its only a 15 because of the online element aswell.

Im usually a PS3 girl but an dying to dust off my XBox to play Halo 4. I reckon it could only end one way, am I right? (something to do with your username??)

[MissyMooandherBeaverofSteel]

If you go into one of the games shops they should be able to put it on for you so you can see what its like for yourself. I've done this before now. The WWE games are also rated as 15 and they are fine imo so I don't really go with ratings.

[Cortana]

It's so much deeper Ata, we put off playing it for a while as we thought we knew what was coming and we were scared 363 would ruin Bungie's hard work. Not so, best of the lot in terms of story line.

Loads of R vs B easter eggs too.

I may be setting myself up for a flaming here but DS is 9 and he has played them all after we'd played through. We don't allow COD, films rated 12 or higher unless we've screened them and are usually considered rather strict.

[atacareercrossroads]

Ive never trusted ratings since I watched Watership Down as a 10 year old and had recurring nightmares that were so horrific I still remember how I felt. I was shocked when I found out a few years ago that its only a U. If I let my DS (4) watch that he'd be clinging on to me screaming the place down.

[MissyMooandherBeaverofSteel]

They put Watership Down on for my 8yo when they were stuck inside at playtimes. I was not amused.

[atacareercrossroads]

Missy - thats what I mean! On the face of it, and if you trust the ratings blindly like so many people strangely do, thats a perfectly reasonable choice of viewing for an 8 year old. Id be furious if my DS watched that without me to immediately take his mind off it with Spiderman or Transformers weird child

[theboob]

my ds (12) has the halo games , imo they are ok .....however i'm the worst mother ever for not allowing cod games !
he insists that playing it will not make him a killer
we have had to put time limits on the xbox as to not rot his brain hahaha
ds2(6) is now becoming sucked into the xbox world to my horror !

[determinedma]

DS plays Halo 4 on his Xbox. He is 11 and hates any scary films. He doesn't find it upsetting or gory.its just a shoot em up. Think you are being a bit overprotective if your Ds is 13

[photographerlady]

Halo 3 really isn't that bad. It's the people thinking Call of Duty is ever acceptable is beyond me.

[determinedma]

DS says it is Call of Duty that is the bad one - its the one he doesn't have and won't be getting by the sound of it.

[RightsaidFreud]

Halo is just shooting alien bad guys. It's awesome. And I think ok for a 12 year old.