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?

The halo games are not in the same league as COD and i would let a 12 year old play them.

My 13 yo DS plays it.

I wouldn't let him have CoD (any of them) Far Cry or Grand Theft Auto.

He plays in the next room, doors are always open so I know roughly what he's up to without being in his face .

The Halo franchise does not warrant the 15 certificate at all, no gore or swearing. I wouldn't have a problem with a 12yo playing it.

The female characters in Halo are pretty damn fabulous too, which sets it apart from almost every other xbox game around (Apart from Mass Effect, and Dragon Age, and possibly Skyrim) Okay so maybe not every other xbox game but certainly a lot of them

Personally I wouldn't have a problem with a 12 year old playing Halo

but...

if you want a better argument than just 'no'

how about 'its illegal for me to buy you that game'

It could potentially land both you and the person who sells you the game in hot water and seriously out of pocket.

Halo 3 has a BBFC rating while some of the others have a PEGI rating but that's irrelevant really as the PEGI ones are also legally enforceable now.

Sounds silly, but i've had to turn away many a parent who i've suspected is buying for their kids as I really cant afford the 5k fine and losing my job.

Don't flame me as on a personal level I don't have a problem with people watching what they want - hell I watched loads of films I wasn't "old enough' for but while at work I have to follow the law to the letter. (And we have had people prosecuted for underage selling of both alcohol and films)

To be honest it IS quite a fun game and a blanket '15' is really simplistic. There are 16 and 17 years olds who are not ready for games like that but there ARE younger kids who are fine with them.

I have nephews in their early teens, one I wouldn't allow to play this sort of game (neither do his parents) and the other has been out shooting real guns with me (closely supervised of course). There is only a couple of moths between them but in terms of maturity you'd think there was a couple of years.

It depends on his level of maturity and whether he appreciates that it's just a game. Have you tried playing it yourself to see what it's like rather than just relying on the sticker on the box?

I am very twitchy about games and what ds(11.5) plays and we have the old Halos and I am fine with them. Much prefer the fantasy element and shooting aliens than something like COD which is incredibly graphic. I can't comment on Halo 4 as we haven't got it.

Halo is fun and the series has a good story line and there are tie in books and great atmospheric soundtracks so I would have no problems with it.

However, as the parent the decision is yours and if you don't want him to watch or play things rated higher than his age then that's your reason.

I'd let him have it.

I've got three teen boys , the youngest being 13 and they've all played these games for a few years with no ill effect on them, they know it's a fantasy game.

if he's unlikely to use violence in real life then I see no harm in him playing it

its a bit out of date now tbh, try halo4

i have a 10 yr old (also 7 yr old) who is desperate to play older games like his friends who have been playing cod for a few years. sure he would enjoy halo, is it better to start with the first and follow the story then? he has avatar, skyrim and now thor and battleship. i really struggle with this.

GTA & COD are in a different league to Halo, I would however always have a look at an age rated game myself & decide if it was appropriate, could either you or DH play it to see what you think?

Games shops can not put Halo on for you due to the age rating. Any shop that does that is risking getting in a lot of trouble if they got caught doing it. Shops have preciously got got caught and have previously got in trouble (job losses and everything). So I'm bemused that they'd take that risk!

You don't need any better reason that no. It's a 16, he isn't old enough, so no. End of.

However...as others have said its shooting aliens. The deaths are not as graphic as say, Call of Duty, Dishonoured or even Skyrim.

However...unless you're not online with you 360 I wouldn't consider it in a million years. Online play with other people is so bad, language wise, if it were subject to ratings it wouldn't even get one and would be banned. Not something I would be interested in exposing my 12 year old to.

Online play with others can (and should) be controlled by the parent though Stunt. XBOX live has brilliant parental controls that can be adjusted and customised. If you're hearing people swearing over your child's Xbox this is a great place to start.

DS plays online, he cannot hear other players, speak to them, receive messages or friend requests. Any emails from or through Xbox come to my account. I have complete control. It doesn't have to be reason not to play, all he gets from online play is a team who aren't AI which adds a lot to team games IMHO.

H is a huge gamer, he doesnt drink, smoke or shoot people in the street.

H and DS have been playing Halo 4 since christmas (DS is 8), DS sees it a bit like Ben 10 -fighting the alien bad guys. The guns are all a bit space age and the landscapes are far away worlds, DS has devloped a keen interest in Space and Pyhsics since he started playing Halo so its some consolation.

Well to be fair ALL of it should be controlled by the parent Cortana, online or not. Your average parent doesn't bother with parental controls.

Halo is pretty tame compared to others, DS plays it as well as Assassins Creed. When he had a PS2 he played a few of the Medal of Honour games, mainly the DDay landings one which was very good and based on accounts from WW2 veterans.
some idiot a family member bought him COD for Christmas and tbh I did let him have a go but he soon got bored with the fact that there was no real story to it, just shooting and swearing! He prefers Fifa, he is the Alex Ferguson of the X Box...

Yeah I'm just about ok with Assasins creed ( I turned off the blood)

The Portal games are fab for problem solving with a great big gun that shoots holes and makes portals to pass through!

www.amazon.co.uk/Electronic-Arts-Portal-Xbox-360/dp/B004IEA4QE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1360667552&sr=8-2

Portal is fantastic, challenging, clever and really funny. I had to pause and drag DH through when I found a BSOD in the game the other day.

Totally Kumquat - the best way to know what your kids are up to is to pick up a controller and play it yourself, research. At least that's what I tell myself when I spend hours playing Skyrim instead of doing housework. My wee house outside Dawnstar is tidier than my real one

My DS's (12 and 9) play Halo. They're not allowed to play online. They also love Portal, although it does my head in. I am rubbish at computer games and end up ricocheting between rooms while they point and laugh.