130°

Are age restrictions even relevant today?

MWEB GameZone writer, James Wernich writes about whether age restrictions are relevant today when the youth are already so exposed to violence and sex in games and movies.

HanCilliers3954d ago

Age restrictions are not only relevant today, IMHO it is a crucial requirement. For example, mys is doesn't know a thing abt gaming, the ONLY guide she goes on for her fanatic gamer kid, is the parental guidance.

Also just cause we see violence & sex everywhere doesn't mean we now have to throw the baby out with the bathwater and call free season to all explicit material, right.

GabeSA3954d ago

I agree, we should take back the idea that sex and violence is the norm, and be responsible when we have kids that can become exposed to it. I am not saying lets restrict sex and violence, but rather manage who sees it - and that being our kids not having access to it.

plut0nash3954d ago

TBH it's the devaluation of sex and violence. As adults we always want to put value on sexual relations, which defines the difference between love making and sex. As for violence, it can be necessary but rarely so. When we start taking it for granted then something wrong.

HanCilliers3954d ago

The problem comes when parents ignore those restrictions (as you've explained), then they dare blame the industry!

iamnsuperman3954d ago

I don't think we should go back on sex and violence being the norm (I do have an issue though with over sexualising children) but these age restrictions need to stay. I met a child whose parents had bought him COD (he was 9). Now it didn't do any harm to him except make him a creternus social hermit. He didn't go to the school disco with his classmates (everyone else did) he instead told me he was going to go and play COD all night. I was shocked.

This highlights bad parenting when it comes to videogames which makes the argument to get rid of the age restrictions. However, this child shouldn't be able to go into a shop and get it himself. It should be the parents responsibility and if the child does turn out weird the blame is solely on the parents and not anything else for not teaching him proper values and social norms.

plut0nash3954d ago

Agree with this, but I have to say that people ignore age restrictions because they choose not to be informed. Not all parents know enough about what their kids play in order to make accurate assessments on this. I've seen my little nephews playing God of War and getting excessively aggressive (perhaps more because they're boys) but also calming down after not playing it. So it's a tough one to call.

GabeSA3954d ago

That's why I say we cant blame parents only - but in the same token - ignorance is NOT bliss

plut0nash3954d ago

Heh, trouble is we have to take responsibility for own ignorance. Not how many people are comfortable with that :)

schmoe3954d ago

nah sorry, I am ALL for adult content in games, but being a father, i also think that those restrictions on CERTAIN games are there for a VERY valid reason. Granted on some titles the lines get blurry but lets not just chuck the baby out with the bathwater mkay

HanCilliers3954d ago

So where do you draw the line and WHO decides that?

plut0nash3954d ago

It's the parent who decides not the publisher. Ultimately parents show their kids what they want to show them. I remember being naughty as a kid and watching the late night adult movies on MNet, and doing that myself out of curiousity. So both kid and parent need to be aware :)

Choc_Salties3954d ago

Age restriction is one thing, having it contextualized by a parent or other suitable guardian is crucial. Not only that, it makes it more of a bonding experience between parent and child. Extra Credits over at Penny Arcade TV did a great piece on this a couple of weeks back, and i would really encourage people to watch it, as it does give some great tips on how to make this a fun and enjoyable experience, regardless of the content of the game itself.

Linky to the extra credits episode - http://youtu.be/ddZfCMRx47Q

plut0nash3954d ago

I love the ideas here. I'll be teaching my son forza then :D

Choc_Salties3954d ago

lol, love the part where the schoolteacher plays GTA with his kid to teach him colours and about cars, while obeying normal traffic conditions :)

GabeSA3954d ago

Like I say, it comes down to responsible adults inherently taking the said responsibility and teaching kids about the good and bad of what they watch or play. I am not talking censorship, I am talking restrictions so what you stated here makes a boat load of sense, and the video is great in outlining how gaming and videos can be positive.

lord zaid3954d ago

Age restrictions are informative, if not vital. Even putting aside the whole parental angle, being able to get a general idea of what type of content is in a game is very useful for any purchaser. There are adult gamers who also aren't interested in violence, sex, whatever.

GabeSA3954d ago

Very well put, and I agree. However, where content is inappropriate for the youth of today, I think we should consider them being vital rather than just informative. I don't think there is a grey area, but rather a clear one - we either use age restrictions to "prevent" exposure, or we ignore them. But yes, there are games that don't have sex and violence, but there aren't that many.

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100°

Former Dragon Age lead writer David Gaider pours scorn on EA's AI dreams.

"They want you to believe the devs under them are super stoked to work generative AI into their processes," continued Gaider, "but I assure you what they took as excitement was really a veiled wail of despair not unlike the time that team was informed of their new 'really cool' live service mandate.".

LordoftheCritics1d 22h ago

Publishers see gaming as another stock market.

isarai1d 20h ago

I think anyone with some common sense knew this, im glad i don't support their games anymore, what a sh!t company.

Psychonaut851d 5h ago

Friends don’t let friends buy EA or Ubisoft.

Chocoburger1d 4h ago

I said this yesterday. AI isn't what we want when it comes to crafting artistry. Alas, these soulless corporate morons don't care about their work, only about cutting corners as much as possible.

120°

Phil Spencer and the Battle for Xbox’s Soul

Has the rapid growth of Xbox made the ship too heavy? Following the closures of Tango Gameworks, Arkane Austin, and Roundhouse, we explore what the future of Xbox could look like.

LG_Fox_Brazil2d ago

This ship was never meant to sail, this ship was made from the get go to sink as fast as possible. It almost feels that they want to lower the standards of quality in the industry so that they can fit in

rlow11d 8h ago

I disagree, Xbox from the get go innovated and changed the industry. They did a lot of firsts and standardized a lot of others. It wasn’t till the beginning of the Xbox1 era that things started to go south.

Stevonidas1d 4h ago

Yep, although I’d argue it started going to shit when they tried to hock Kinect on their audience instead of continuing to invest in their studios and IPs. 2001-2010 Xbox was peak gaming, though.

rlow11d 2h ago

@Stevonidas
I agree they never should have focused on it after the 360 era. But you do have to remember they were faked out by the huge volumes of Kinects sold. To quote info on Wikipedia, “Project Natal, It was first released on November 4, 2010, and would go on to sell eight million units in its first 60 days of availability.” So if your Xbox and see these huge sales on a peripheral where are you going to put some money? Criticism in hindsight is worthless…..if only we could all see our future. In other wards they had no way of knowing. Plus they had engagement numbers and a lot of signs pointed to people wanting it.

Their biggest mistake wasn’t the Kinect, but unlike Sony after the PS3 debacle. They didn’t double on down on exclusive good games. The other huge mistake was letting Call of Duty go to Sony.

Hedstrom1d 11h ago

Phil wants Xbox to be as soulless as him!

Tacoboto1d 10h ago (Edited 1d 10h ago )

Xbox has no soul and Phil has no confidence, and it's impossible to say either do when they killed Tango and Arkane Austin.

Everything they've said since has only made them look worse to a point that they're actually less competent than Embracer.

Markdn1d 10h ago (Edited 1d 10h ago )

Whe you release something like the series S and expect it not to hurt your business model, and developers have to have parity with games. Then you know Microsoft don't care. Series s is the final nail that broke developers,

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360°

Sarah Bond dodges questions on Xbox studio closures

While on stage with Dina Bass at The Bloomberg Technology Summit the President of Xbox, Sarah Bond, was asked about the Xbox studio closures of Arkane Austin, Tango Gameworks, Alpha Dog, and Roundhouse Studios

2d ago
ApocalypseShadow2d ago

Of course she did. She's part of the problem and will just tow the company line.

VenomUK2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

Bloomberg’s Dina Bass could barely read her scripted question without looking at her notes, whilst Sarah Bond who WAS expecting the question spoke without saying anything of substance or answering the question in any meaningful way. Clearly she’s had the same expert PR training as Phil, but this avoidance was disrespectful. In time the short-sighted decision to shut down Tango Gameworks will be seen as of the most notorious examples why Phil Spencer messed up his tenure in charge of Xbox. That’s a fully built out talented team that could’ve been put to work on any project.

Additionally, Phil Spencer should not be using Sarah Bond as a patsy for his mistakes- he should be answering that question.

gleepot2d ago

I think you are all really overselling Tangos value. Hi-Fi rush was a lot of fun. Ghostwire was incredibly dull. Evil within 1 and 2 were just okay.

lucasnooker2d ago

Evil within 2 was incredibly under rated. I thought that game was surprisingly good

NotoriousWhiz2d ago

Someone else said it best. I don't think it was a Phil decision. It was most likely a Satya decision. I think Microsoft is done giving out free money to Xbox.

Cacabunga2d ago

people please boycott Activision Bethesda next release and support Hellblade.
these people mus understand that they cannot treat their fans and employees that way.
scumbags.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 2d ago
XiNatsuDragnel2d ago

Yikes you don't help Sarah 😬 making a problem worse

Christopher2d ago

She's playing her role. There's absolutely nothing any of them can say other than the truth, this is about profit margins and not quality, so they just don't answer anything and wait for gamers to forget.

shinoff21832d ago

I think news is coming of more ps5 release but they gotta be careful cause Xbox is still sitting on store shelves. They can't get left holding all that stock

Lightning772d ago

Come next month they'll flash nice looking games in our faces and expecting us to forget.

The only thing that'll be going through my mind at their showcase is how many of those studios will get shut down after release.

I'm not joking around either. MS probably expects every game to be like COD and do COD numbers. What a way to destroy gaming for the entire industry because they're dumb af at being realistic in what success means for each game.

-Foxtrot2d ago

Always feels she was brought in / promoted for this. Happened just before things started to be out in motion.

Phil and co have someone to throw under the bus and share the blame with

zaanan2d ago

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss

darthv721d 20h ago

....won't get fooled again

Hofstaderman2d ago

Like a deer caught in the headlights.....

notachance2d ago

I always wondered why xbox had multiple leaders with similar titles like Phil Spencer, Matt Booty, and Sarah Bond, like, how many heads do you actually need?

Seems to me it would be more cost efficient to cut 2 of them instead of all those studios.

DarXyde2d ago

Frankly, I suspect she is the most competent of them. I don't mean that I like her more, I mean that she's the best at articulating herself and giving the talking points MS wants to give. The others are starting to sound more like her than her sounding like any of them.

Are any of these people "responsible" for what's happening? No. This reeks of Nadella. But that being said, I don't see any of the Xbox heads stepping down in protest.

"Don't shoot the messenger", sure, but at the same time, the messengers don't seem to take umbrage with the message. Not enough to remove themselves from it, anyway.

CS72d ago

I disagree. Nadella is looking for profit as a CEO should in my opinion.

The problem is Dr. Phil & Co. had 10 years to bring Xbox back on track and have been failing woefully.

Phil needs to sell to Nadella that if we are to make a profit, we need to make great games. And to do that we need employees here for the long haul and the freedom to work on creative projects.

But as Phil said himself he doesn’t believe great games sell consoles.

RpgSama2d ago

Dude, 100%, forgot Major Nelson and Aaron Greenberg, like what is the point for all these suits? They have more C-level executives than games released in a generation.

This is just so they can all pass along the hot potato one at a time and in between all of them can say a lot without actually saying anything, misinformation at its finest.

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