to think my mum should buy me CoD Black Ops

[FoundWanting]

...for my 12th birthday.

All of my friends are going to get it.

All my friends had the last Call of Duty game, which I wasn't allowed, and I'm fed up with being left out.

Does anyone on Mumsnet know why the latest game has been given an 18 rating?

And do any of you have any good arguments that I can use to convince DPs that they should let me have this game?

TIA LittleWanting

YABU

No on so many levels until someone close and responsible has completed it and can verify the complete content to be appropriate for you as an individual

YABVU. Get WoW like all decent gamers. It's approved for 12+. Not too much realistic blood and no sex (except in the elf starting areas on RP realms).

However, DS4 (13) says all his mates play CoD, so you could be right (I tend to be very suspicious of claims that "all" someone's classmates have something as some kind of reason why they should). He says it's practically all they talk about. Which is why the awkward blighter has no interest in it!

The 18 rating is probably because the latest version has stepped up the gore to a whole new level and the parents don't want to be woken up when you have screaming nightmares (as if!) On the other hand, if they don't want you to play it because it's not "suitable for little girls", the only possible option is to divorce your parents immediately.

YABU! If all of your friends were jumping off cliffs... etc..

Okay, gamer geek that I am, I did try to get some more detailed info for you re: the level of violence in the new CoD. Unfortunately, I couldn't find much out there, as it's not been released yet. I could only find reviews here and there from official sources.

CoD Black Ops has recieved the 18 rating from the UK, Japan, and North America (well, 17 there, but it's the same level of rating). The rating for the same game in Europe and Australia is 15, so a bit more lenient. What little I've learned about the violence came from what Japan required before they would even release the game at an 18 rating: there can be images of people having their limbs blown off, and the language is evidently very strong. The blood and gore is very realistic.

Hopefully you can find someone who has played the game and can help you with this decision!

OH is a game developer so I'm used to seeing allsorts... COD is grim, seriously. If I were you I'd tell your friends that you don't agree with murder and genocide and so you don't really need to see the stupid game.

So yeah, if you want to advocate murder and violence go ahead but I would wait till you're a bit older tbh. The game is even more awful having some knowledge of historical events.
My ex was in the army and he said COD was for sad dweebs at home trying to feel bigger than they are.Taking a life is not a great thing to live through so pretending to take a life is a bit sick.

For what its worth- if you're a serious gamer - Portal is awwwwesome and RedDeadRedemption.

Happy Gaming

Thanks for replying to the little pest everyone. He is really going on and on about this game. Apparently he will never ask for anything again ever, and he doesn't want anything else for his birthday.

cakewench Thanks for checking out the rating. Some of the games' ratings seem a bit randomly assigned. If it was just the language, we would perhaps have considered letting him have a look. He's a bright lad who knows the difference between acceptable/unacceptable vocabulary, but IME these games are visually quite horrific.

I know that we are quite old-fashioned parents, and the 'all my friends' line never cut it with my mum, but I remember what it was like to be the only one in my class who was not allowed to see Grease.

deathjeff I thought RedDeadRedemption was supposed to be just as bad as the CoD games in terms of blood and gore. Not true?

Anyway, looks like we are sticking to our guns on this one.

DH (35) is a serious gamer, CoD being one of his favourites (clan etc). He says the language is very strong. He wouldn't let our 12 year old play it, mainly because of the swearing and violence; and the blood and guts are very graphic, along with the recreation of true stories.

Personally, I'd be a bit that all your friends have over 18 games - perhaps it would be more accurate to say that their parents have them but they've managed to sneak a go, maybe even supervised?!? Kids do tend to exaggerate, I know DS (now 16) did! I wouldn't let him play GTA when he was younger (11/12) as I thought it highly inappropriate for his age. Thing is, that made him want to play it more unfortunately, so he'd sneak playing it at his dads or friends with more lenient parents. It's soooo difficult to get the right balance - go easy on your parents!

COD is quite grim, and really is very graphic, but I wouldn't be suprised if most of the class has got it and played on it TBH. Me and my friends used to play on GTA at about that age (it was before the visuals got good though) and I didn't know anyone who wasn't allowed on it. A lot of people don't pay attention to ratings on video games IME (rightly or wrongly).

FoundWanting -RedDeadRedemption is made by the same folk as Grand Theft Auto. It's a Wild Western theme and you have to ride around on horses shooting bad guys and saving damsels in distress. There is blood and whatnot but none of the close up, live action shots of COD.
It's so far removed from reality because it is like a Western that it's more like a cartoon ifyswim

I get loads of crap in my stockings too. I feel your pain. Father Christmas hates me. He's in league with my form teacher and The Witch my mum.

Evil-mother-from-hell is now talking about bloody Meccano. How sad is that?

BBFC website will give information about why ratings were assigned. I'm desensitised as I have to watch a lot of game trailers at work, so I'd just think 'Not as bad as Dead Space then'.

As a gamer for over 28 years and a professional games tester (or QA and Functionality Technician to give it it's proper term) for 4 years my answer is this.

No you are not old enough age ratings are there for a reason.

everyone at school may very well have nits as well do you want that as well?.

Why do you want to be a sheep and get the same thing everyone else does, why are you not buying games based on critical reviews and if the game appeals to you instead of being a sheep and falling for the hype machine (you do know Black Ops is one of the lesser titles don't you? it's not part of the award winning Modern Warfare line, Infinity Ward are not the devs, and they are not who they used to be now half the staff have walked out anyway).

go outside and climb some trees kiddo.