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Parenting

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Original poster

X BOX and other Games Consoles

10 replies

trixibellefifi · 24/09/2009 20:30

Please help! My 11 year old boy wants to 'be the same as all his friends' and be allowed to play 15, 16+ and 18 games on his X Box. He also wants to join X Box Live and play older games with other boys his age. According to my Son all his friends are allowed on older games bt we've limited him to 12 ones.
One half of me wants him to be the same as his friends but...............

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heverhoney1 · 24/09/2009 21:57

I suppose it depends what stance you take on films? Also how responsible he is. I am guessing by the mere fact you are even worrying means he has a responsible mother who has taught him the difference between fact and fiction.

floatyjosmum · 25/09/2009 00:42

could you get someone you know who is older to test them out first rather than give him free range on them!
know some of the games ive seen are awful and not quite sure why an adult whould want to play it never mind a child!

MrsMagnolia · 25/09/2009 10:24

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ChopsTheDuck · 25/09/2009 10:28

I agree with Mrs Magnolia and think the magazines is a good idea.
I wouldn't have an issue with a little bit of abstract violence, such as in Halo, but things like GTA and Hitman would def be out of the question.

inthesticks · 25/09/2009 13:48

My boys bought an x box this year by pooling their birthday money. They are 11 and 13.
I have to say I would not have agreed to it 2 years ago when DS1 was 11, but it's usually true that the second child gets things younger.
The x box seems to be more "adult" than PS3 and they play Call of Duty which is 16/18. It's basically a war/ shoot@em game and the on line play is a major enhancement.They have games with all their friends and also play with people from all over the world.

I don't really like it that my boys enjoy this but I've become more pragmatic about these things as I've got older. (This is the mother who would not allow gun shaped water pistols at one time.

The fact is that they are well balenced none aggressive and none violent boys who are not going to become gun toting maniacs by playing this game.
Agree about GTA though because of the sex/ attitude to women.
DH plays it as much as the boys and he is retired.

trellism · 25/09/2009 13:59

I play 18 rated games on my xbox - I would not let an 11 year old play them, particularly unsupervised. The age ratings are there for a reason, although they are barely enforced.

The trouble is that games where the violence is plot-driven and less realistic tend to be more complex and difficult to play, and so they are less appealing to a young teenager. I'm thinking about something like Fallout 3.

You can see footage from the games on YouTube - players often post stuff there as guides for others - if you want to check the content.

Of course, you won't be able to stop him going round and playing at his friends' houses, but I suppose you have to choose your battles.

theselegswermad · 26/09/2009 01:28

I have just asked my husband this question, he owns a Xbox and is in the games industry( senior character modeller) and works on the kind of games your son wants to play 15 +...
We also have 2 sons although not quite that age yet 8yr & 2yr, and they will never play games like mentioned until they are 16+ with our knowledge.

He has said no way to xbox live as you get alot of swearing and complete W*kers sending messages back and forth.
Halo is a really bad game on line for swearing and profanity, loads of under age children playing it.

Games have a rating for a reason,he see's alot of things at work that would be distrubing to an 11yr old.

One thing to do could be to view games online before thinking of buying www.gametrailers.com
At least then you can judge if you want your 11yr old playing those kind of games.
I think only you can decide if your son is mature enough and responsible not to take the games literaly

ChopsTheDuck · 27/09/2009 07:21

I've never actually played xbox live, so that is handy to know.

malovitt · 27/09/2009 07:37

My son who is 12 plays Xbox live and has completed all the Halo games - you can set parental controls if you want and only let your child play with people he knows - schoolfriends and the like.

I have watched him playing them and I consider them to be fine. As long as he is playing with people of a similar age, a bit of swearing is no biggie to me.

trellism · 27/09/2009 10:52

I second the disturbing. Whilst it is fun to kill a splicer, set them on fire and then hurl the flaming body towards the approaching Big Daddy in Bioshock, I did end up getting nightmares and flashbacks.

After one all-day session with the curtains closed, DH took me to dinner and asked me why I was so twitchy. A young girl was sitting on the table behind me and her voice sounded so similar to a game character that I kept trying to prepare my Incinerate 3 plasmid.

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