“The Games People Play”Video Games and the Family

David Smailes

NO:JudgementsIncriminationOver-reactionHyperbole

“Some laboratory based research shows short-term increases in aggression after playing violent video-games.”

Byron Review 2008

“There is also some evidence of a correlation between playing violent video games andaggressive behaviour/personality in the real world, but this does not prove that onecauses the other.”

Byron Review 2008

“There is no clear evidence of desensitisation in children”

Byron Review 2008

“Context and what the child brings are what really matters”

Byron Review 2008

PEGI Ratings

Age

PEGI Ratings

Violence

PEGI Ratings

Swearing

PEGI Ratings

Fear

PEGI Ratings

Sex / Nudity

PEGI Ratings

Drugs

PEGI Ratings

Discrimination

PEGI Ratings

Gambling

PEGI Ratings

Online Interaction

BBFC Ratings

Collateral damage includes sprays of red blood when enemies are shot; maimed appendages from explosions; and flailing and screaming when enemies are set on fire. Cutscenes and historical footage can contain graphic depictions of prisoner/POW executions. Strong profanity can be heard during gameplay (e.g., "f*ck" and "sh*t").

Call of Duty: World at War is a first-person shooter in which players assume the role of Allied soldiers in both the European and Pacific Fronts during World War II. Combat can be intense with extensive use of camera effects (e.g., slow-motion, blurring, and screen shakes) and realistic sound effects to highlight the tense and frenetic nature of each battle. Fighting is fast-paced with players using a large array of military weapons (guns, grenades, and flamethrowers).

Collateral damage includes sprays of red blood when enemies are shot; maimed appendages from explosions; and flailing and screaming when enemies are set on fire. Cutscenes and historical footage can contain graphic depictions of prisoner/POW executions. Strong profanity can be heard during gameplay (e.g., "f*ck" and "sh*t").

Call of Duty: World at War is a first-person shooter in which players assume the role of Allied soldiers in both the European and Pacific Fronts during World War II. Combat can be intense with extensive use of camera effects (e.g., slow-motion, blurring, and screen shakes) and realistic sound effects to highlight the tense and frenetic nature of each battle. Fighting is fast-paced with players using a large array of military weapons (guns, grenades, and flamethrowers).

'Gears Of War 2' is a third person perspective shoot 'em up game for the Xbox 360 console.  The game contains strong bloody violence.  It also contains strong language. The violence and associated gore occurs throughout the game and is the aim of much of the gameplay.  Moreover, throughout the game there is a clear dwelling on the infliction of bloody injury.  Shooting adversaries often produces large blood spurts and heads can be blown off.  The player also has the option of cutting opponents in half or impaling them on the blade of the chain-saw attachment of the standard-issue assault rifle.  In such cases blood appears to splatter onto the television screen.  The player is also able to punch fallen enemy soldiers, stomp on their heads or smash their heads with a long-barrelled weapon.  In what is probably the bloodiest sequence in the game, the player-character and his colleagues escape from the stomach of a giant monster by cutting through its stomach wall with their chain-saws.  They emerge, literally, into a sea of blood.

'Gears Of War 2' is a third person perspective shoot 'em up game for the Xbox 360 console.  The game contains strong bloody violence.  It also contains strong language. The violence and associated gore occurs throughout the game and is the aim of much of the gameplay.  Moreover, throughout the game there is a clear dwelling on the infliction of bloody injury.  Shooting adversaries often produces large blood spurts and heads can be blown off.  The player also has the option of cutting opponents in half or impaling them on the blade of the chain-saw attachment of the standard-issue assault rifle.  In such cases blood appears to splatter onto the television screen.  The player is also able to punch fallen enemy soldiers, stomp on their heads or smash their heads with a long-barrelled weapon.  In what is probably the bloodiest sequence in the game, the player-character and his colleagues escape from the stomach of a giant monster by cutting through its stomach wall with their chain-saws.  They emerge, literally, into a sea of blood.

My advice?

Check the rating

Play the game yourself

Discuss the content

http://www.esrb.org/about/resources.jsp

http://www.pegi.info/en/index/

http://www.bbfc.co.uk/