Were you allowed to play M rated games growing up?

[lestagio]

The whole age rating debacle has been around since the dawn of man (August 8th, 1992). Mortal Kombat was one of the biggest offenders due to its graphic and seemingly realistic violence at the time. The satanic panic and the trend of blaming DND and music was in full swing and video games certainly got hit with it, thus the introduction of age ratings.

I always thought that age ratings have been pretty arbitrary, especially as games became more widespread— Extreme violence? Eh, that's a T rating. 3 seconds of nudity? M RATING!!! They also are honestly irrelevant to some extent because it seems that a lot of parents would buy games for their kids without a care in the world, and then they would complain that the game literally titled "Grand Theft Auto", complete with bikinis, men with guns, and graphic details on the back wasn't suitable for little Timmy.

My father was pretty nerdy, one of the few adults in the 80s/90s who actually played video games seriously, and he was up to date on a lot of the games of the time, so I was... moderated. I was stuck with a lot of Nintendo until my teenage years, when more of the graphic stuff was coming around. Things opened up a bit more for me, being allowed to play Doom into my teenage years, and by the time I was 15 or so, my dad didn't seem to care what movies I watched and what games I played. Occasionally he'd make a remark of "Maybe you shouldn't be watching this" but he didn't really care that much. My mother cared a little more, but I just hid Doom from her (and later on, GTA and such, although I was nearly in college at that point).

She got pretty mad when I was 13 and found me listening to Rage Against the Machine. Apparently she didn't want her son hearing the lyrics "Fuck you I won't do what you tell me!"

So, growing up, did your parents allow M rated games and R rated movies?

 

[SamanthaSamantha's icon]

No, but we did it anyway.

Once, my older sister and I were looking for "treasure" (i.e shiny trinkets to fight over) and found a stack of adult games on a drawer, including Leisure Suit Larry 7: Love For Sail and some poker porn game.

Keep in mind that we were nine and seven when I tell you that we installed them, played them... and found them hilarious.

We sucked at Larry 7 but thought it was amazingly charming (especially the part when you stick your card on a statue's ass), but it was the poker game we loved.

We got... really good at it, and even had little tournaments while our baby sister crawled around, obliviously playing with her Fisher Price toys and crayons.

At one point, we even pretended to be the women we played against.

It was as fucked up as it was awesome... and, remarkably, we never got busted for it.

 

[ArchienineZXAdventArchienineZXAdvent's icon]

I played mostly hided so i think that they weren't aware

 

[LiberoVulpesLiberoVulpes's icon]

Before I learned to "acquire" games from the internet, I just played whatever my parents got for me, since, a game is a game, and I wasn't one to ask them to buy me specific games, since I have similar taste in games as my mom (my parents are gamers btw), it was never a problem.

My first exposure was sex games on newgrounds, and my parents didn't give a shit about that, "Kid had to learn at some point" they said. Even after I managed to scrounge the really fuck up stuff from the internet (Demonophobia, Maggot Baits, Subahibi, etc.), they kinda didn't care about it.

I turned out alright, could be better, but definitely could have been worse.

 

[Amphineura]

No

My friends were all playing GTA San Andreas and watching MTV in their bedrooms, while I only had access to the family TV and even swears were STRICT no-no's. My parents weren't even religious at all, they just loved being prudish for the love of the game.

 

[lestagio]

No

My friends were all playing GTA San Andreas and watching MTV in their bedrooms, while I only had access to the family TV and even swears were STRICT no-no's. My parents weren't even religious at all, they just loved being prudish for the love of the game.

You had to find a friend with the laid-back parents who didn't care what the hell you did. I believe that was the first time I saw Wolfenstein 3D.

 

[TruxtonTatsujin]

No, it's a big reason why I have no nostalgia or real interest in Grand Theft Auto. Around high school was when my parents started easing up on the no M-rated games rule, but by then my tastes had evolved to the point where I really didn't care anymore. I do remember what the first M-rated game I got was, though, and it was even one of my Christmas gifts; the God of War HD Collection on PS3.

 

[ArchienineZXAdventArchienineZXAdvent's icon]

No

My friends were all playing GTA San Andreas and watching MTV in their bedrooms, while I only had access to the family TV and even swears were STRICT no-no's. My parents weren't even religious at all, they just loved being prudish for the love of the game.

 

[SamanthaSamantha's icon]

No

My friends were all playing GTA San Andreas and watching MTV in their bedrooms, while I only had access to the family TV and even swears were STRICT no-no's. My parents weren't even religious at all, they just loved being prudish for the love of the game.

I could have used an upbringing like that, honestly.

You'll soon learn that I swear A LOT on these forums — it was the way we rolled in my home.

 

[Amphineura]

I could have used an upbringing like that, honestly.

You'll soon learn that I swear A LOT on these forums — it was the way we rolled in my home.

Oh that doesn't mean it worked at all. Despite their best efforts, I don't tuck my shirt in, I have long hair, and I swear like a sailor too . Ironically though, I do err more on the Nintendo side of things today

 

[lestagio]

I could have used an upbringing like that, honestly.

You'll soon learn that I swear A LOT on these forums — it was the way we rolled in my home.

Yeah, I fucking swear all the fucking time too goddammit, holy shit!

But seriously, my whole family and extended family swore all the time too— I like to think I had a decent upbringing, but no one really cared about language. I also developed a habit of that on the internet a bit more because I (especially in the IRC chatroom days) felt that I could convey emotions and thoughts more clearly, and it just stuck with me.

 

[ArchienineZXAdventArchienineZXAdvent's icon]

Yeah, I fucking swear all the fucking time too goddammit, holy shit!

But seriously, my whole family and extended family swore all the time too— I like to think I had a decent upbringing, but no one really cared about language. I also developed a habit of that on the internet a bit more because I (especially in the IRC chatroom days) felt that I could convey emotions and thoughts more clearly, and it just stuck with me.

My mother swears a lot lol.
I use a more calm and tame language than most of my family since i'm not a big fan of swearing.

 

[TruxtonTatsujin]

yeah despite being strict my parents swore in front of me all the time too.

 

[ArchienineZXAdventArchienineZXAdvent's icon]

yeah despite being strict my parents swore in front of me all the time too.

The world is pretty... interesting

 

[4C374552A1CA2638]

yeah despite being strict my parents swore in front of me all the time too.

"Do as I say, not as I do. ...Wait, maybe not everything I say."

---

I was allowed, and I was even able to buy them without ID because I got lucky enough to pass for older at the time. Did anyone seriously get carded for M-rated games, though?

Nobody really knew what I played, but at the same time, I didn't really seek out the forbidden fruits all that often. I remember playing Dad's copy of Wolfenstein 3D on SNES, and I played Diablo in middle school, too.

 

[Nuxx.exe]

Yes, provided we never repeated those things out of the house. Hell when South Park started we gathered around the tv on Wednesdays to watch the new episodes

 

[extermist]

They just loved being prudish for the love of the game.

 

[Kovlak]

Yes. Played Wolfenstein 3D, Duke Nukem 3D, Rise of the Triad, Mortal Kombat 1 and 2 and others as a kid.

 

[Onicat]

So, growing up, did your parents allow M rated games and R rated movies?

I grew up in a concentration camp that was politically correctly called the Soviet Union, so the only thing my parents worried about while I was growing up was that I wouldn’t get killed or kidnapped on the street :) When the Iron Curtain started to crack at the seams, a flood of previously banned content poured in. In terms of movies, these were everything we love action films, scifi, horror movies, erotic films and even porn. And we, the kids back then, of course, spent almost all our pocket money on “video halls” (small, illegal private movie theaters in basements, libraries, abandoned warehouses etc). Kids were kicked out of screenings of erotic films (they wouldn’t even sell you a ticket), but no one cared about the rest. Predator, Alien, Reanimator, The Thing, From Beyond, The Kindred, Dirty Harry, Robocop, Best of the Best - we saw it all. And we didn’t turn out to be the worst people on Earth :)

As for video games, well, the most graphically advanced games of that era looked something like this at best:

To be honest, this isn't the kind of thing that would get some lunatic fanatic from the PTA excited.

 

[Shihainin]

I never did personally, but I remember my older siblings telling me about how our mother got them Conkers Bad Fur Day because she thought it was a silly squirrel platformer, despite the fact I think it had a warning label at the bottom of the box? I dont think she ever really knew since they mostly played it when she wasnt home.
If it counts I remember playing some of the mini games with them when I was younger. My favorite was the bank heist one lol.

 

[PSVitaForever]

Guess I'm the only one who didn't want to play M rated games before the right age; I was quite a scaredy cat, didn't like blood/gore/violence, so I never wished (and asked for) that kind of games.
Only later, MUCH beyond the 18+, I've played "Killzone Mercenary" on Vita and "Assassin's Creed Chronicles" (even if in the beginning I felt bad goosebumps when it showed the character breaking someone's neck). Now I can play more violent games, but when I say this I probably mean games that many of you have played as children lol

 

[Zerpina]

Pffffff.... My Bro didn't care what I played....

Mind you, he wasn't going to stand by and let me play porn games or the like, but stuff like Mortal Kombat, things with blood and gore....he didn't mind. Hell, Most of the horror movies and games I watched/played he rented when I was way too young to be watching them, according to stuffy no fun adults at that time.

So yeah, I more or less had a "you're 14 but play the 18+ fighting games anyway" pass.

 

[Boo Man]

Pffffff.... My Bro didn't care what I played....

Mind you, he wasn't going to stand by and let me play porn games or the like, but stuff like Mortal Kombat, things with blood and gore....he didn't mind. Hell, Most of the horror movies and games I watched/played he rented when I was way too young to be watching them, according to stuffy no fun adults at that time.

So yeah, I more or less had a "you're 14 but play the 18+ fighting games anyway" pass.
View attachment 210685

HA i was typing out basically the same comment
i actually traumatized myself by watching horror movies at such a young age
but violent video games were always great fun

 

[bratish]

mom cared, dad didnt. i would just have to start playing them when she wasnt home so if she got back i could use the excuse of dad letting me to continue playing. she did not like them jiggle physics in doa

 

[Zerpina]

HA i was typing out basically the same comment
i actually traumatized myself by watching horror movies at such a young age
but violent video games were always great fun

Well, I was reading your mind, after all...
With my Evil gothy witch powers..... >:D

Never traumatized myself. Even as a kid.... I found the then uber realistic gore movies kind of comical. I was kind of strange then anyway (and it only got worse as I got older)