keepithowitis
Rookie
Really. There's really no arguing it. All over the place now, there are kids playing games they, legally, shouldn't be playing. There's no doubt about it there are thousands of kids still in elementary school that are playing Halo and Call Of Duty regularly, hell, there are probably a bunch on right now. Just yesterday I saw a Walmart commercial of a couple kids (I'm guessing ages 6 and 8) playing Guitar Hero, which, although this isn't much of a stretch, rated T. That's not too bad. But then there's the other kids, also that age, that are in playing things like CoD and even Gears of War and Fallout 3 regularly. I was helping out at my sister's birthday party last year, around the holiday video game season when Fallout, Gears 2, and CoD 5 were coming out, and I was sitting talking with some of the guys there, mind you, they're in 4th grade. Every single one has Call of Duty on their Xbox, and three of 'em had Gears 2.
What I'm saying here is that the ESRB is becoming defunct. To get a game, all it really takes is a trip to Gamestop with your parents, or if that doesn't work, enough money to buy a copy from a friend whose parents already got it for 'em. After that, all it takes is an Internet connection and a deceptively aged Live account, and you're good to go. And it's become pretty obvious that game companies are giving up trying to stop them. I remember a poster De-Ting (i think) posted a while back about a Call of Duty tournament. He noted that the minimum age to enter was 13, whereas the game itself is rated M. If this is happening to the point that the ESRB doesn't even care anymore, then why does it still exist? Should they just give up altogether, or try and alter their plan so it'll actually keep kids away from this stuff? Is it too late already?
What I'm saying here is that the ESRB is becoming defunct. To get a game, all it really takes is a trip to Gamestop with your parents, or if that doesn't work, enough money to buy a copy from a friend whose parents already got it for 'em. After that, all it takes is an Internet connection and a deceptively aged Live account, and you're good to go. And it's become pretty obvious that game companies are giving up trying to stop them. I remember a poster De-Ting (i think) posted a while back about a Call of Duty tournament. He noted that the minimum age to enter was 13, whereas the game itself is rated M. If this is happening to the point that the ESRB doesn't even care anymore, then why does it still exist? Should they just give up altogether, or try and alter their plan so it'll actually keep kids away from this stuff? Is it too late already?