I was talking with a coworker about what games my parents allow me to play, and what they let their kids play. My parents were fine with most things bloody things, like Resident Evil 4, Left 4 Dead and Gears of War, mostly because you were fighting like aliens or zombies. They were fine with military shooters too, and got really interested in the Modern Warfare storylines. The game that they really had a problem with was GTA, of course, but later, when my little sister started playing it, they got invested in GTA 5’s story, so eventually we could just play whatever we really wanted. How bout you all? Did your parents have any weird or strict rules in games or movies?
My parents weren’t very restrictive. But one time, to get me to stop asking for a new game, my Dad said I couldn’t get any new ones until I beat the last game I got.
I think about that a lot still. I think it would have been a good rule, outside of some edge cases like games that were endless or too easy.
But it was off the cuff, he didn’t remember saying it. By the time I finished some game and brought it up, I think he said something like “well don’t you have other games you never finished?”
I had a very similar situation with my parents but it was involving computers. I wanted a computer quite badly, and for whatever reason my parents thought it was only to play video games. So they bought me a laptop-shaped educational toy with a bunch of inane mini games and said I could beat all of them, they’d buy me a real laptop. I beat them all and they went back on their promise. Crushed. Just say no, folks, don’t make your kids jump through hoops for nothing. Unless I guess you want them to get a taste of working adult life early?