Should a 9 year old play battlefield 1942?

[HeXploiT]

I'm building a gaming pc for a nine year old kid and all the titles are age appropriate but I'm having a really difficult time deciding whether or not to put on BF1942. There's no "blood & guts" in the game but obviously lots of guns and shooting people. Do you think this game is appropriate for a nine year old?
My instinct tells me no but again...it's just such an amazing title.

 

[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.

 

[BassBomb]

You think shooting games encourage violence?

If your child can distinguish a game from real life, he shouldn't be influenced by a computer game.

 

[Kromis]

Just be wary about the language

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

I think I would skip it. Might be a little early for a game like that. Cartoon violence or blowing up impersonal spaceships is one thing, but making lots of dead bodies might be a little too heavy.

 

[Kromis]

Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor
I think I would skip it. Might be a little early for a game like that. Cartoon violence or blowing up impersonal spaceships is one thing, but making lots of dead bodies might be a little too heavy.

Speaking of cartoon violence...

I think Battlefield Heroes would be more appropriate.

But I say skip 1942 and go for BF2.

 

[slugg]

I don't see a problem with death and blood in movies and video games... Expose him to it earlier in life, then later it's no big deal. I've been killing people in video games my whole life and I turned out okay

I find that it's mainly the kids that are too restricted while growing up that abuse something as soon as they have the chance. I'm not talking about this in a parental perspective - I just know people that grew up with overprotective parents and as soon as they had some freedom (AKA college), they threw their life away.

Think about it this way - if YOU'RE the one exposing him to this stuff, then at least you know where he's getting it from. Then, YOU can influence what he thinks about it. The last thing you want is your son to learn violence in the wrong context from a bad influence.

I know it's not really my place to express my opinion, and it may be rude, but I'm a pretty up-front kind of guy. I apologize if I offended you

 

[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.

 

[lxskllr]

I'm not sure he's ready for the "adult" online experience. I wouldn't have a problem with the game itself, but interacting with others online could be problematic, especially if he gets the wrong impression by the asshats that play the game. MOHAA, or RTCW might be better since they have solid sp missions.

 

[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.

 

[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.

 

[ultra laser]

Children should not be on the internet.

 

[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?

 

[Fenixgoon]

TF2 man, tf2

 

[mrblotto]

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.

this

 

[nova2]

it depends on the kid himself and probably some other factors.

please make sure the kid gets a good share of outside time doing sports or music, or something as well.

 

[HeXploiT]

For the record I never even for a second had the intention of letting this kid play online.
I was speaking solely for the single player game. I tend to agree with the "better to naught" crowd especially since it's not my child.
This was actually my gut instinct it's just that...well this is battlefield 1942!
So...I'll just have to find some other games for him.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: nova2
please make sure the kid gets a good share of outside time doing sports or music, or something as well.

Well, that would run the risk of turning him into a music major or a jock...

 

[Fenixgoon]

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh

Originally posted by: nova2
please make sure the kid gets a good share of outside time doing sports or music, or something as well.

Well, that would run the risk of turning him into a music major or a jock...

depends on his athleticism

i played tons of sports with my brothers and sister, and played soccer and lacrosse in high school.

my innate athletic abilties let me pick up things quickly, but my skill plateaus fairly quickly

 

[Piuc2020]

If he plays with bots then it's fine, I would NOT recommend online for a child ever, there are too many idiots out on the internet out there.

If he isn't traumatized or scared by it then it's okay, he is probably exposed to more violence from TV alone.

Oh and I'm not one to give parenting advice (since I'm not a parent ) but never be restrictive with a child, if you want to protect them, only restrict them on stuff that poses immediate danger for them (like for example walking alone at night or stuff like that), you should only advise them on the rest, often times my friends who were directly forbidden to drink and smoke or stuff like that ended up abusing these stuff the most.

*On a kinda unrelated note, I would never let a child play Spore online, how is EA ever going to control the rampant release of creatures shaped like reproductive parts? Not to mention some of the possible creatures (dismissing the cock monsters) are pretty disturbing, how did EA managed to get an E rating from ESRB is beyond me. Then again, kids watch Invader Zim nowadays so yeah, the cock monsters would probably not even cause an impression on them :roll:

Okay, enough about parenting, back to AT's light-hearted mood

 

[dlock13]

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.

Likewise with about nearly every other videogame out there.

 

[slugg]

If he's 9 and you really want him on kiddie games, scrap the PC and get a Wii for him. Seriously, you've got a TON of Wii games to choose from, plus gamecube games too! There's a very good selection - pretty much anything made by Nintendo is really good.

If you wanna stick to PC, how about you list the games you've picked and maybe we could recommend some more?

 

[dajini92]

I was playing Doom when I was 3. I'm 16 now, haven't killed anyone, have the best morals of all my friends, I've never stolen anything or hurt anyone for no reason, etc etc.. Then again, his parents will know better than us.

 

[jjones]

My daughter's been playing UT2k4 on the home lan with me. She started a little over a year ago when she was 6. Aside from occasional outbursts of "headshot!" and a few complaints about her wall dodging in school, she's pretty normal.

 

[JRich]

Please, keep the kids off the servers. Thank you.