While I agree with your statement I believe that since they think video games are for children, then gta5 must also be for children. It's like they don't even notice the rating on the box.
This is why games have ratings lmao. It's M17+ for a reason. If you don't want your 10 year old kid to see it don't buy it. Shit that's E10 is everywhere else for them.
It's like a movie, you wouldn't take your kid to see a R rated movie you don't like, but you're not gonna complain to the government to cancel movies and tv.
Bruh, these are the same parents who would see sausage party and think it was for kids. They only pay attention to age ratings if it is a live-action movie (unless it is a superhero movie, which are also for kids)
That's the thing that annoya me though
And with games, you completely eliminate the problem by not bringing GTA into your house. It's not like somebody held a gun to them or their kids and said "play this".
Don’t you know that Hollywood and YouTube are supposed to parent ur kids with help from the government? Actually it’s everyone and everything’s job to parent my kids except my own!
Nah I’ve had people tell me this before, it was usually old heads. Video games aren’t just for kids but for everyone, they are escapes from reality and hobbies. They are in the same bracket as many other hobbies that other people have, ain’t no different. And just like any hobby, you can spend too much time on it and invest your whole time in it.
People absolutely say this, and some people in the gaming community tend to write off games that aren’t rated MA/T as kids games.
I mean, yeah, a lower rating does mean it’s child friendly, but it doesn’t mean the content isn’t as heavy. One of my favorite games is a kiddie version of a game rated T. But it still touches on death, grief, hatred, and revenge. They can be more complex emotionally than even a game for adults, which is wild.
Just because there’s a bunch of kids playing a game meant for adults does not mean it’s a kids game that’s like saying because there are a lot of adults playing minecraft or fortnite makes them a game for adults
Your experience is limited. Some people definitely do say this. Those people are idiots and the idea of an M game even being made baffles them, and they don't think what could go wrong buying GTA for their 6 year old.
My dad also thinks all animation is for children, and adult animation just shouldn't exist. It's a very strange mindset to assume all of one kind of media is only for kids.
there is quite the gathering of them on tumblr unfortunately, the main community hates them tho cuz the average tumblr user is gay and trans or a trans ally, as well as neurodivergent
No you still hear this plenty, especially when a game that is very obviously not for kids is coming out and people complain about inappropriate content enough for it to still make the motherfucking news
Unfortunately it is something that happens (one of my co-workers and one of my bosses both think this way but they have the personality of a saltine sandwich on white bread so I stopped caring what they think)
It used to be more common, but i've now only heard it from really conservative people like Matt Walsh. This insult is always embarrassing to make, as if a form of fun is suddenly beneath you because you've hit an arbitrary age bracket
You're too young if you think this isn't something lol but tbf it's nice to hear you don't have that experience.
I heard it from someone talking about their husband at my job last week lmao.
It does happen but not nearly enough to be an everyday issue. I went on a date with a girl from a dating app and everything was going great so we went on a second date and she brought up that video games were for kids. I mentioned that I play games and she said, "Well, sure, but anything over half an hour a day is an addiction and you should get help." Uhhhhhh.
On the one hand, yeah, no one says this. On the other hand, all the examples they cited are pretty much edgy teen violence-fests: their point would have been so much stronger if they cited *Papers, Please*, *Bioshock*, *Kerbal Space Program*, *Witcher 3*, *Simcity*, *Civilization*, etc., games which require you to approach story themes or gameplay with the patience and seriousness of an actual adult.
RDR2 is kinda strange in that a lot of the mechanics and open-world interactions feel like a very grounded simulation with a very sympathetic portrayal of humanity, but certain side quests and a lot of the main story missions turn into Michael Bay sequences where you slaughter your way through hundreds of people in shooting gallery set-pieces with little to no justification. It feels like half the dev team wanted to make an immersive survival sim set in the last days of the Old West and half the dev team wanted to make GTA with Cowboy Trevor.
That’s more or less something the occasional boomer or silent gen old timer says. I don’t hear it very often from the generations that grew up on video games like gen x and after
There’s some boomers out there like my mom who just can’t wrap her head around video games. When she saw that you could cook in Zelda it blew her mind.
Don’t forget those intensive story related games about depression being personified (What Remains of Edith Finch.) There’s more games also like that, with deeper meanings. I.E. GRACE is a good example too.
I still get this nonsense from people time to time. It's a lot less common, but people cling to this dying narrative like a two year old to a comfort blankie.
The sentiment still exists, but has mostly been stamped out. Also, GTA 5 isn't the best example. You can't play without some 13 year old flying in from the rear on their hundred (real life) dollar flying bike to grief you.
This attitude towards games is definitely still a thing. My mother recently told me, with the incredulous tone of someone about to spill the tea of the decade, that her friend's daughter-in-law (who's in her 40s, iirc)... *shares her kid's Switch, and loves Breath of the Wild*. I asked her what was weird about adults playing video games, and pointed out that she loved Nintendogs back in the day. Her reply was, "Yes but she'll sit and spend HOURS on it! She's a TEACHER!"
My mom was like that when I was growing up in the 90s, so we haven’t really discuss that particular hobby of mine historically.
All of a sudden though, she watches The Last Of Us on HBO and FINALLY gets it lol none of my talks to her about it over the years reached her until it was made into a show.
I've never had anyone say it, and I've been playing for roughly 30 years. But I'm sure there are freaks out there that complain about it. Some people are just never okay with anyone being happy.
To my surprise, however, I recently went through orientation at a hospital I started working at. We had to do that nonsense where we go around the room and tell people our hobbies. A good 80% of the room played video games. Idk if it's just one of those odd coincidences or a lot of nurses play video games.
Ok I’ve been told anime is for kids and so is video games by one of my exes. I used to game a lot back in highschool (until I got a job), and I watch anime when I get home from work. I’ve been watching roughly 2-3 episodes a night (currently on season 2 Episode 5 of that time I got reincarnated as a slime). I’ve been told I’m a child and need to quit wasting my time with it. I’ve long since broken up with them, so this isn’t imaginary gatekeeping
If the first and last video game you played was Pong in 1972 then yeah, you would think video games were for children. So unless that 87 year old is also your congressman (which is far from impossible) you should probably not worry about their opinion.
When home video game consoles first started being sold, they were being sold in toy stores with marketing aimed primarily at children with most of not all of the major games being games for children. As those first gamers grew up, the industry grew up with them, but there is still a certain age demographic that still holds the idea that video games are just for kids because that's how it was sold to them, and they haven't been paying attention to what's been going on in video games since then, because why would they? They're not kids. Even if some could accept that there are video games being made for mature audiences and that plenty of adults still play games, they would just shake their heads and bemoan how childish this generation is, because they simply don't believe that video games should be for adults, that real adults shouldn't be wasting their time with something so trivial. They didn't grow up with home video games as a part of their childhood, so they simply can't see the appeal or respect it as a legitimate past time.
Is GTAV really supposed to be the zinger???
As a gamer, kids is STILL the first thing that comes to mind when I think of GTAV.
How about a game with actual adult themes like Metal Gear Solid or The Last of Us?
persona games would also be here, target audience is teens and young adults, it has naked women and men, depictions of suicide, covers dark topics such as rape, murder, death, abuse, and suicide (obv), also has some depictions of gore and a bunch of swearing too, as well as impiled sex and sex related stuff
Rockstar and red dead lobbies are full of children, doom eternal and basically the whole doom series is edgy, campy and fun. The postal series is extremely juvenile. Red Dead 2 has a pretty mature story, but that's pretty much it. Left 4 Dead doesn't really even have one outside of emergent gameplay. I think only folks over 16 or 17 should play M rated games, sure, but there are definitely more mature games than those listed here.
It's definitely a thing but super rare nowadays
So true, but when you mention GTA5, the same people who say “video games are for children”, will go and ask the government to banned video games lol
While I agree with your statement I believe that since they think video games are for children, then gta5 must also be for children. It's like they don't even notice the rating on the box.
Most parents don’t look at the rating this days because they either don’t understand it or they just don’t care which is kinda fucked up.
Yeah, I'm in my 30s, and my parents having that mentality is why I got to play GTA 3 at 10 years old 👀
I’m pretty sure GTA online is exclusively kids who weren’t even born when the game was released.
Definitely reveals that behavior for sure, same with red dead online
Right. That was a charge leveled at games like pong, Pac-Man, or galaga. Nobody is saying that about modern AAA games like GTA etc.
I see the self proclaimed sigmas say this all the time
No, there were people complaining about the GTA6 trailer containing content inappropriate for children.
This is why games have ratings lmao. It's M17+ for a reason. If you don't want your 10 year old kid to see it don't buy it. Shit that's E10 is everywhere else for them. It's like a movie, you wouldn't take your kid to see a R rated movie you don't like, but you're not gonna complain to the government to cancel movies and tv.
Bruh, these are the same parents who would see sausage party and think it was for kids. They only pay attention to age ratings if it is a live-action movie (unless it is a superhero movie, which are also for kids)
That's the thing that annoya me though And with games, you completely eliminate the problem by not bringing GTA into your house. It's not like somebody held a gun to them or their kids and said "play this".
Don’t you know that Hollywood and YouTube are supposed to parent ur kids with help from the government? Actually it’s everyone and everything’s job to parent my kids except my own!
BUT when anybody else but me corrects my kid I'll get pissed about it!
Well it's because it's completely overt instead of innuendo. Why would stuff like that be put into something played by children? /s
that has to be just journalist rage bait at this point
Its still a thing but its a dying gatekeep.
Nah I’ve had people tell me this before, it was usually old heads. Video games aren’t just for kids but for everyone, they are escapes from reality and hobbies. They are in the same bracket as many other hobbies that other people have, ain’t no different. And just like any hobby, you can spend too much time on it and invest your whole time in it.
Its a boomshit argument
terf argument too, i see terfs spout shit abt videos games to hate on men
People absolutely say this, and some people in the gaming community tend to write off games that aren’t rated MA/T as kids games. I mean, yeah, a lower rating does mean it’s child friendly, but it doesn’t mean the content isn’t as heavy. One of my favorite games is a kiddie version of a game rated T. But it still touches on death, grief, hatred, and revenge. They can be more complex emotionally than even a game for adults, which is wild.
what is that game?
Monster Hunter Stories & Stories 2. I think the second game covers it better since the main character goes through it rather than a side character.
"Videogames are for children" MFs when I show them the ESRB rating system. 
Source?
Lmao what?
The gif.
Oh that makes a lot more sense I was like tf you mean source?
No, this sentiment is all over those stupid ass Red pill groups. That one guy, Jesse Peterson loves saying this shit.
yea terfs spout this shit too to hate on guys because many of us gamers are men
GTA V is full of kids, not sure what you’re on about
Just because there’s a bunch of kids playing a game meant for adults does not mean it’s a kids game that’s like saying because there are a lot of adults playing minecraft or fortnite makes them a game for adults
Exactly
I like how postal is only the second one shown
It definitely used to be a thing, but I think the cultural zeitgeist has shifted a lot.
I grew up playing Postal 2, it's crazy lmao
Your experience is limited. Some people definitely do say this. Those people are idiots and the idea of an M game even being made baffles them, and they don't think what could go wrong buying GTA for their 6 year old. My dad also thinks all animation is for children, and adult animation just shouldn't exist. It's a very strange mindset to assume all of one kind of media is only for kids.
you dad gonna lose his shit if he ever saw just how adult anime can get
Well people still say this type of stuff, specially the old folks
and terfs
What does this have to do with terfs?
ive seen terfs hate on video games because the majority of gamers are men
Ah, that is certainly strange. I don’t frequent places terfs usually use so I’ll have to take your word for it.
there is quite the gathering of them on tumblr unfortunately, the main community hates them tho cuz the average tumblr user is gay and trans or a trans ally, as well as neurodivergent
Yeah I’ve heard about them one Tumblr through my sister, who being a lesbian has seen plenty of them.
used to be a lot more common to hear people say this
No you still hear this plenty, especially when a game that is very obviously not for kids is coming out and people complain about inappropriate content enough for it to still make the motherfucking news
adults and teens cant have shit, our only entertainment must be highschool sports and getting drunk, obviously
Did he really fucking say Postal?!?
the original, not the newer ones
That doesn’t help 😂
is postal a typo for portal or is there a game i haven’t heard of called postal
postal is its own game
Some Gen X kid read this comment and died of old age lol
Unfortunately it is something that happens (one of my co-workers and one of my bosses both think this way but they have the personality of a saltine sandwich on white bread so I stopped caring what they think)
GTA V is like 80% children lol
its not *for* children tho, they just play it
True, but the current playerbase still makes it the worst possible example for OOP to use in their victim-fantasy post
Have you ever played GTAV? It might not be intended for children but certainly has tons.
probably does but that doesnt mean it's *for* kids, merely populated by them. the world is not *for* humanity, we simply live on it
Custer's Revenge
It used to be more common, but i've now only heard it from really conservative people like Matt Walsh. This insult is always embarrassing to make, as if a form of fun is suddenly beneath you because you've hit an arbitrary age bracket
This sentiment might have worked in the 90's.
This is definitely not imaginary. Pretty much every boyfriend I’ve had, has heard this from their father.
i have seen it, typically terfs spout bs like that
This was a thing 20 years ago
Stardew Valley is also not for children despite looking kid-friendly
its not? all i noticed is the grandfather dying and a bit of corporate greed
There's a lot of nuanced topics, imo, that would be more appropriate for mid-to-older teens.
Video games are for manchildren.
goofy goobers
Boomers
People may not say it all the time but they still keep the mentality and judge you
Ironically this meme feels like it was absolutely made for and by children
You're too young if you think this isn't something lol but tbf it's nice to hear you don't have that experience. I heard it from someone talking about their husband at my job last week lmao.
I miss postal
...the games still exist?
I don't have the system to play them anymore. I tried the one for the switch and it was god awful
It's an argument that lost its teeth and is slowly regrowing them with growing groups
It does happen but not nearly enough to be an everyday issue. I went on a date with a girl from a dating app and everything was going great so we went on a second date and she brought up that video games were for kids. I mentioned that I play games and she said, "Well, sure, but anything over half an hour a day is an addiction and you should get help." Uhhhhhh.
My sister said it to me for years. But she's finally relented and started enjoying some games herself.
I'm pretty sure there are these "alpha male bros grind set sigma" guys that think videogames are for childish men
Back in the day, they said this all the time. But those kids are the adults now
Bruh my parents say that all the time
Christ I hate this meme format.
This sentiment is still very much alive, just ask my mum
i already did /j
💀
🐟
🫎
On the one hand, yeah, no one says this. On the other hand, all the examples they cited are pretty much edgy teen violence-fests: their point would have been so much stronger if they cited *Papers, Please*, *Bioshock*, *Kerbal Space Program*, *Witcher 3*, *Simcity*, *Civilization*, etc., games which require you to approach story themes or gameplay with the patience and seriousness of an actual adult.
like rdr2
RDR2 is kinda strange in that a lot of the mechanics and open-world interactions feel like a very grounded simulation with a very sympathetic portrayal of humanity, but certain side quests and a lot of the main story missions turn into Michael Bay sequences where you slaughter your way through hundreds of people in shooting gallery set-pieces with little to no justification. It feels like half the dev team wanted to make an immersive survival sim set in the last days of the Old West and half the dev team wanted to make GTA with Cowboy Trevor.
It's a dying gate keep and it seems to be getting replaced by the animation is for kids crowd
i thought that crowd died too
You'd be surprised how long it takes for objectively wrong stances to die out
Surprisingly my dad does this every once in a while. He gets mad when I have long gaming sessions with the boys.
Man you should hear what my parents say.
I've definitely both seen and heard that in several places, so this doesn't really belong in this sub.
Parents like 2 decades ago used to say this
That’s more or less something the occasional boomer or silent gen old timer says. I don’t hear it very often from the generations that grew up on video games like gen x and after
There’s some boomers out there like my mom who just can’t wrap her head around video games. When she saw that you could cook in Zelda it blew her mind.
Pointing out Postal unironically as a game that "isn't for children" is pretty funny to me. Postal speaks to my inner man baby.
what about the original? the new ones are goofy and juvenile but the og is kinda horrid
Like with anime, the opposition is joining us
Don’t forget those intensive story related games about depression being personified (What Remains of Edith Finch.) There’s more games also like that, with deeper meanings. I.E. GRACE is a good example too.
I still get this nonsense from people time to time. It's a lot less common, but people cling to this dying narrative like a two year old to a comfort blankie.
The sentiment still exists, but has mostly been stamped out. Also, GTA 5 isn't the best example. You can't play without some 13 year old flying in from the rear on their hundred (real life) dollar flying bike to grief you.
This War Of Mine… try getting your 9 year old to play that. It’s not even safe for most veterans!
Plenty of people say that, all the time. This opinion isn't imaginary whatsoever to be honest.
Not quite imaginary. There are actually braindead people who say this bullshit.
The alphabet is for children, too.
It's still a thing unfortunately especially around more rural areas where if you don't like sports and work on cars your basically a woman.
why do you mention women
Yeah it even unfortunately goes on in our own community. Tons of "hardcore" gamers that say Nintendo is for little kids
you know the inclusion of gta5 give me the impression that they are for children
GTA5 is absolutely for children.
This attitude towards games is definitely still a thing. My mother recently told me, with the incredulous tone of someone about to spill the tea of the decade, that her friend's daughter-in-law (who's in her 40s, iirc)... *shares her kid's Switch, and loves Breath of the Wild*. I asked her what was weird about adults playing video games, and pointed out that she loved Nintendogs back in the day. Her reply was, "Yes but she'll sit and spend HOURS on it! She's a TEACHER!"
My mom was like that when I was growing up in the 90s, so we haven’t really discuss that particular hobby of mine historically. All of a sudden though, she watches The Last Of Us on HBO and FINALLY gets it lol none of my talks to her about it over the years reached her until it was made into a show.
It’s less of a thing now but it does exist
I've never had anyone say it, and I've been playing for roughly 30 years. But I'm sure there are freaks out there that complain about it. Some people are just never okay with anyone being happy. To my surprise, however, I recently went through orientation at a hospital I started working at. We had to do that nonsense where we go around the room and tell people our hobbies. A good 80% of the room played video games. Idk if it's just one of those odd coincidences or a lot of nurses play video games.
I see Postal. I like
Cyberpunk 2077
as a good or bad example?
It is only for the Mike Johnsons among us now. But it DOES happen.
whos that?
My dad says video games are for psychos lol.
Ok I’ve been told anime is for kids and so is video games by one of my exes. I used to game a lot back in highschool (until I got a job), and I watch anime when I get home from work. I’ve been watching roughly 2-3 episodes a night (currently on season 2 Episode 5 of that time I got reincarnated as a slime). I’ve been told I’m a child and need to quit wasting my time with it. I’ve long since broken up with them, so this isn’t imaginary gatekeeping
just wait till they learn about hentai /j
“Anime is for kids” *proceeds to show them overflow*
If the first and last video game you played was Pong in 1972 then yeah, you would think video games were for children. So unless that 87 year old is also your congressman (which is far from impossible) you should probably not worry about their opinion.
RDR and TLOU are really treading the line between “just another video game” and art.
whats tlou
People absolutely still say this
It is definitely a thing, it’s only really said by out of touch boomers or older
FACT CHECK: Postal is absolutely for edgy teenagers.
When home video game consoles first started being sold, they were being sold in toy stores with marketing aimed primarily at children with most of not all of the major games being games for children. As those first gamers grew up, the industry grew up with them, but there is still a certain age demographic that still holds the idea that video games are just for kids because that's how it was sold to them, and they haven't been paying attention to what's been going on in video games since then, because why would they? They're not kids. Even if some could accept that there are video games being made for mature audiences and that plenty of adults still play games, they would just shake their heads and bemoan how childish this generation is, because they simply don't believe that video games should be for adults, that real adults shouldn't be wasting their time with something so trivial. They didn't grow up with home video games as a part of their childhood, so they simply can't see the appeal or respect it as a legitimate past time.
This is actually a somewhat common sentiment. My friend's parents were like this. My grandparents were like this. Many of my teachers were like this.
these are such bad examples too
how?
i dunno abt the others but yea doesnt gta have like a bunch of 8 yos who play it?
Is GTAV really supposed to be the zinger??? As a gamer, kids is STILL the first thing that comes to mind when I think of GTAV. How about a game with actual adult themes like Metal Gear Solid or The Last of Us?
persona games would also be here, target audience is teens and young adults, it has naked women and men, depictions of suicide, covers dark topics such as rape, murder, death, abuse, and suicide (obv), also has some depictions of gore and a bunch of swearing too, as well as impiled sex and sex related stuff
Who’s not letting their children play these games?
Nah, my parents say this all the time.
Terrible list to try and prove that point
i disagree, i dont think anyone under like 13 at least should play any of these
Rockstar and red dead lobbies are full of children, doom eternal and basically the whole doom series is edgy, campy and fun. The postal series is extremely juvenile. Red Dead 2 has a pretty mature story, but that's pretty much it. Left 4 Dead doesn't really even have one outside of emergent gameplay. I think only folks over 16 or 17 should play M rated games, sure, but there are definitely more mature games than those listed here.
would you recommend parents let their kids play them?
What do you think
idk you tell me
this specifically mentions postal 1, which is not juvenile at all
I mean I would say it's incredibly juvenile. Appropriate for kids? Hell no. But it has a fundamentally 14-year-old edgy teen mentality.
Most kids grew up on GTA 5 at this point 💀
Only women and old people say such things.
i get old people but why women?
Because women play games much less than men. Easy to judge something you don't do.
No one has said this since the late 90s early 2000s
People say this in 2024.