Should a 9 year old play battlefield 1942?

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Chosonman

Golden Member
Jan 24, 2005
1,136
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As long as they have good parental supervision and you don't let them play on public servers.
 

ConstipatedVigilante

Diamond Member
Feb 22, 2006
7,670
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Originally posted by: Throckmorton
I say no. Kids' brains are still developing and everything will affect the way they turn out. Remember, these aren't the goofy cartoon throw-a-banana-at-a-gorilla games we grew up with. None of us are psychologists, so none of us is qualified to say for sure what will or will not have an impact on a child's psyche.

I grew up playing Quake and Carmageddon. I think I'm okay...
 

Linflas

Lifer
Jan 30, 2001
15,395
78
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Originally posted by: ConstipatedVigilante
Originally posted by: Throckmorton
I say no. Kids' brains are still developing and everything will affect the way they turn out. Remember, these aren't the goofy cartoon throw-a-banana-at-a-gorilla games we grew up with. None of us are psychologists, so none of us is qualified to say for sure what will or will not have an impact on a child's psyche.

I grew up playing Quake and Carmageddon. I think I'm okay...

I grew pre video games and we played war with toy guns, pop guns, and cap guns and have not killed anyone yet. I don't really see the difference other than the lack of sunlight and exercise which would worry me more than the game itself.
 

ShawnD1

Lifer
May 24, 2003
15,987
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Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor
Originally posted by: Throckmorton
I say no. Kids' brains are still developing and everything will affect the way they turn out. Remember, these aren't the goofy cartoon throw-a-banana-at-a-gorilla games we grew up with. None of us are psychologists, so none of us is qualified to say for sure what will or will not have an impact on a child's psyche.

Who need a psychology degree when I have personal anecdotes?

Anecdotes go the other way as well. I purchased Wolfenstein when I was 8 years old :)

edit: The online experience is way worse than the game itself. If your kid is sent home from school because "he called suzie a ***** when she wouldn't pass him the ball", you'll know exactly why.
 

VashHT

Diamond Member
Feb 1, 2007
3,351
1,431
136
Since you plan on keeping him offline I think it would be fine. Personally I would be more worried about my kid picking up habits from assholes online more than fake violence.
 

Xavier434

Lifer
Oct 14, 2002
10,373
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9 is perfectly fine. My 5 year old plays select FPS games and he is not turning into a violent person at all. It all boils down to the parents. If you raise your kids in a way where they can separate fiction from reality and how one should react when being exposed to either then you are ok. Of course, such lessons can be more difficult to teach depending on the game and the level of the child.
 

linkgoron

Platinum Member
Mar 9, 2005
2,598
1,238
136
I've been playing FPSs from the age of 6 (Wolf3d and Doom) and I'm not a violent person at all.Quite the opposite. Just keep the mic away.
 

alkemyst

No Lifer
Feb 13, 2001
83,769
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Originally posted by: badkarma1399
Originally posted by: Born2bwire
On behalf of anyone that might still be playing BF1942, I'm sure they could do without another 9 year old on their servers.

QFT.

No offense or anything...but please...just don't.

QFT...I don't know how BF1942 plays out, but in WoW and the rest nothing sucks more than a parent working with you to an end game area only to turn over the controls to his pre-teen kid that gets the whole party wiped.
 

Throckmorton

Lifer
Aug 23, 2007
16,829
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Originally posted by: Xavier434
9 is perfectly fine. My 5 year old plays select FPS games and he is not turning into a violent person at all. It all boils down to the parents. If you raise your kids in a way where they can separate fiction from reality and how one should react when being exposed to either then you are ok. Of course, such lessons can be more difficult to teach depending on the game and the level of the child.

It's not a question of whether they know what's real and what's not. Any kid knows that a video game is not real life. The issue is how it's affecting the kid's psychological development
 

irishScott

Lifer
Oct 10, 2006
21,562
3
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Show him Saving Private Ryan. He'll have no trouble differentiating between real killing and video-game killing. That's what my dad did, although admittedly I was 13.

That said, I started playing starcraft in 6th grade.
 

JBT

Lifer
Nov 28, 2001
12,094
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Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
I was playing Wolf3D around that age and I am not a violent person (I have yet to be in a true physical fight and I am 20+ years old). As a matter of fact, I spent a significant portion of my childhood playing FPS / fighting games with / against my friends and even my father.

ditto.
 

TridenT

Lifer
Sep 4, 2006
16,800
45
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Originally posted by: ultra laser
Children should not be on the internet.

QFT... I got exposed to goatse at too young of an age. :( X_X All those shock sites, oh yeah... I was gullible. (Hey, check out this cool site! *link* *click* *Brain fried*)
 

spittledip

Diamond Member
Apr 23, 2005
4,480
1
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Originally posted by: Born2bwire
On behalf of anyone that might still be playing BF1942, I'm sure they could do without another 9 year old on their servers.

hahahahaha... so true!!!