Family Run Gaming Cafe in New Jersey Imposes Age Limit on M Rated Games

How agonizing to be sixteen and not be able to play against your friends in a local Gears of War tournament. You would have to have some pretty lame parents if that were the case, though.

There is a quaint story in the local paper of Woodbridge, New Jersey, about a family run gaming cafe in the nearby town of Fords, who have fostered a larger community of gamers in the New Jersey area. Apart from the “down home” feel of the story, I came across an interesting tidbit: they don’t allow kids to play the ‘M’ rated games if they’re under 17.

The reality of the situation is that it’s a great sign the self-imposed rating system the ESRB has in place is actually working. This community feel which the article mentions might mean the restrictions will actually get back to the parents, and will actually allow them a bit of control over what their children are exposed to outside of their house. It’s really annoying to get those frantic mothers calling their congressperson whining about kids being exposed to violent video games for any number of reasons, and if this gives them one less reason to call it’s a step in the right direction.

Hopefully, though, parents will get that by the time a kid is fifteen or so, he or she will have the mind to decide what is real and what isn’t. It is of this author’s opinion that if you’re in high school, you can handle violent video games. You learn about a lot worse about our history in school.

Source: Woodbridge Sentinel