What YOU should know

Here is another post by our Guest writer “Ahmed Al-Musallem”

Hello everyone.
In this post, I will not be talking about video games, but about what you as a parent, or an older brother/sister, or even a friend, should know before purchasing one.

Sadly, many people still think that video games are things you only get for boys, or kids, let me tell you this.. The video games industry is now a whole field of entertainment by itself. It is not just for boys anymore, and it is not just for kids anymore.

Whenever I go to a video games store, I end up seeing parents buying games for their kids, 10-12 years old, without even looking at the cover. What those parents don’t know, is that there are some games that actually are R Rated, which means 18+ and they would actually contain sexual content, or violent scenes.

One of the most popular games AMONG KIDS here in Kuwait is the Grand Theft Auto franchise. Not only is that franchise too violent, but it contains a whole lot of sexual content! And I am not exaggerating, this game in particular is owned by 80% of gamers who are younger than 15 years old!

Now let’s see where the problem is..
The ministry is actually doing a good job by banning such games, and closing stores who they catch selling it and making them pay a huge fine. But some people, only caring about making more money, actually find a way to get the games in, and sell them secretly. Another bad thing is the conscious of the people working in the store, since all they want to do is sell, they wont mind selling an adults only game to a kid! Even if they’ve even seen what’s inside that game, they’d welcome the kid and sell it to him! Third and worse thing is the mentality of us, the customers.

Most people consider games like toys, something for kids to enjoy. But that’s not the case, just like movies, games are catagorized! There are games that are good for kids, or everyone. There are games who require parents to be around their kids when they play the game (PG15..etc) and there are games that are for mature gamers (Rated M) or even Adults Only (R, or AO) which may contain lots of violence and sexual contents. Each game has its rating on the cover so, please, parents, when you buy a game for your kid make sure you’re getting them what’s appropriate.

TV, Cartoons, Babysitters, are not a substitute to parents, or older siblings. Spend sometime with your child.

I hope this message reaches everyone out there who is unaware of this.