So Wrong
I went down to Gamestop the other day. I wanted to trade in some crappy old games that I never play for some other crappy game I will most likely beat and never play again. I traded in my games, talked briefly with the cashier (”So, gonna buy Metal Gear Solid 4?” “Sure, when the PS3 has more than four games.”), and turned around to go find a new game.
That’s when I saw them. I saw, in front of me, everything that is wrong with society personified.
They were two little boys, probably 5 and 7. They each probably weighed 100 pounds. They were going around the XBox section, pointing at games, which their mother (also very large) would pick up and add to their pile. I shuddered in horror and went to pick out a game.
I got up to the counter at roughly the same time they did. The boys had gone off to play at a demo station until their mom had finished checking out. I’m really glad that they had two cashiers on duty, because I would have been stuck behind super mom and her 14 games for ages.
14 games. 14 brand new XBox 360 games. That would have cost her between $400 and $800. That’s not the worst part though. As she piled them on the counter, I stole a glance at what titles her kids had picked out: Madden, ok. Baseball something or other, that’s fine. Grand Theft Auto, Gears of War, Murder Blood Guy Killer 37?! Those kids were YOUNG. Those games were rated M.
Now, I’m not a fan of video game censorship. If I was a parent, I’d probably let my teenager play M rated games (the law says you can’t sell them to anyone under 17). I don’t see anything wrong with a 14 year old playing Halo. A 7 year old, on the other hand, should not be playing a game where you can beat cops to death, steal their car, and run over whores. Children just shouldn’t play games like that. I cringe every time I hear a young child playing Team Fortress 2 online (and I usually tell them “Go tell your parents that they’ve failed”).
So basically, you’ve got a woman who:
- Is spoiling her kids (I want that one! And that one!).
- Letting them become obese.
- Giving them incredibly violent games at a young age.
She’s promoting poor health and encouraging the indoor, shut-in, video game playing lifestyle that I sincerely thank my parents for forcing me out of. Those poor kids. Their mother should have her ovaries removed.
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Ugh- I agree with you on all counts. No parent should be buying a kid 14 games- games are expensive! And no kid needs that many games, especially for no reason at all.
And, like you said, they definitely don’t need to be such mature games. I don’t believe in the government or anyone else censoring video games- except for parents. Take some responsibility, and look at the game before you let your kid play it.
It’s so cute when Alex cares about the kiddies…
At least they didn’t pick out WoW. If I had a kid he could have two dozen copies of Murder Blood Guy Killer 37 before he could have one MMORPG.