Every now and then a JB Hi-Fi review hits the nail on the head. This is one of those times.
This game is not kids! Don’t believe their filthy little lies. It is not for them. Major props to whatever JB Hi-Fi reviewer who wrote this.
JB Hi-Fi has a history of amazing video game reviews. This might still be my favourite…
Thanks Scree!
Comments
60 responses to “This JB Hi-Fi Review Of Grand Theft Auto V Is Perfect”
I went out for dinner with my parents last night. Was told my cousin has bought GTA V for her kids aged 11 and 9…. And they just sit there playing it…
I could only say one thing “She’s an idiot”.
Thats when you tell your cousin “GTA V? Love that! Have your kids done the bit where you go and do *insert not-very-child-friendly act*? Totally awesome that bit…”
I don’t talk to her anyway…
Told my parents to buy the kids a case of beer and a carton of smokes next Christmas.
Yeah, people don’t seem to realise that they are buying something that is meant for a person who can legally smoke, drink beer and drive a car
But it’s only a video game? How could it be only for people that can actually join the army to kill people for real?
Can’t legally do them at the same time though! But with grand theft auto you can!
You should still be over 18 though
No need, the cops in GTA don’t check licences, they just shoot you in the face!
I was at a JB before Christmas and there was this very tired and angry looking father just trying to finish his shopping. His daughter who would have been about 11-12 years old runs over (while already at the checkout) and asks her dad to also by a DVD.
He goes “what’s that”
She says “oh just a TV show, all my friends at school are watching it”
Dad “ok fine”
That show was 2 Broke Girls. I know everyone hates on it (I like it, sue me) but it’s most definitely not for kids. Checkout person didn’t bat an eyelid.
According to IMDB, it has a PG or M rating (In Australia), depending on the episode. So, again according to that rating, it’d be acceptable for a 12 year old. At least that’s how a cashier with no knowledge of the show would see it.
Based on the reviews though, I do agree with you about it being inappropriate for children… but the cashier, even though she/he would have overheard the girl talking to her dad, has no way to know that… and truth be told, M isn’t enforced anyway. I believe only R is strictly enforced by law.
Which does suck.
MA15+ and R18+ are both restricted by law, M isn’t, you’re right. It’s like when qantas showing episodes of big bang theory on the plane with kids watching it, show is full of sexual references/puns and like 9/10 year olds sit there watching it with their parents next to them.
What’s a joke City Beach in perth city has GTAV on Xbox 360 upstairs right near the kids section for them to play… it’s actually pretty fucked up someone honestly should report them…
And all I have to say your an idiot. Gta 5 is only bad if you make it bad simple as that. I say why should kids be shaded from the world when they are gonna be growing up in it
I agree with you. You know not many people thinks this.
Perhaps, but the game steers you towards being bad. The campaign missions are not about assisting little old ladies across the road.
There was an “Elders React” on GTAV not long ago. All of them wound up on shooting sprees.
As for why kids should be shielded… there’s some fairly solid research that kids younger than a certain age (between 3 and 10; kids vary) have difficulty distinguishing fantasy from reality. It’s one thing if you’re closely supervising their play and saying “by the way, don’t do that in real life” but it’s quite another if you just let them loose in a simulation closely resembling reality where doing bad things has trivial consequences.
It’s called “Grand Theft Auto V”, not “20 years in prison V”.
Do you really want your kids learning their value system from a video game?
The issue is not, fundamentally, about access to such games. It’s about unsupervised access and malleable value systems. If kids could be counted on to have fully formed value systems, signing of contracts by minors would be binding (which is frequently isn’t.)
(This is not to say that GTAV can’t be handled well by some children; as I said, kids vary. But most of the parents buying it for nagging children are not going through that thought process. They’re saying: popular video game, games are for kids, OK to buy.)
Ahh, reverse psychology eh?
It’s just so darned hard to understand the ratings system these days!
Back in my day the government told us what to do. Good times, good times.
Quadruple negative! That must mean it *is* for kids! Or at least that’s the logic I’d use as a child.
Someone needs to start a site that chronicles JB HiFi Reviews, it really is the most trustworthy review source
I remember browsing through JB Parramatta and overhearing a young kid telling (nay, convincing) his Dad that GTAV was basically the same Need for Speed. The trendy staff dude then set the record straight and the kid walked out empty handed. My heart was crushed for the kid (I would have done the same thing) but as a Dad myself … I had to high five the JB staffer.
Learning how to lie is a fundamental part of growing up. If the kid REALLY wants it, he’ll work on it.
‘At first I was worred about this kid, but then when the staff member opened his mouth? I wanted to high five him’
I never understood why more parents aren’t pro active and don’t do their own research before buying their kids games. In this day and age where everyone has internet on their phones it’s easy enough to just youtube\google the game and see how it looks before buying it for their child. If you are going to ignore the rating system or the majority of bad games it wouldn’t take long to scan through a few youtube videos and realise it isn’t for children.
Because some people who create children should not be doing so because they will be negligent parents.
Or just don’t give a shit. “Gubbermnt can’t tell me what ta do!”
Here I was thinking the R18+ would have been enough but nope…
The problem with the R18+ is that they throw it out their arbitrarily these days, some R18+ stuff (while not suitable for young children) isn’t really that hardcore and for most kids who are 15+ and have a good understanding of things is probably ok. Which then leads parents to think maybe this one is ok too if that’s what their kid tells them. It’s an inconsistent system. But yeah for young children the R18+ should be enough to stop parents buying it.
This, I remember watching ‘The Warriors’ (1979) with an R 18+ rating with some dark themes, but none more so than stuff we watch today with a M 15+ classification.
I agree though @browny09!!
“The Warriors” game is awesome too . . and not for kids . . “The Good The Bad and The Ugly” film was rated initially . .
I remember Atelier Totori Plus (a pretty mild JRPG) was briefly Refused Classification because of DLC with a virtual swimsuit competition in which some of the women were obviously uncomfortable participating. Somehow this was marked as “Sexualised violence” (possibly because the girls beat up the guy who organised the competition afterwards.)
If it wasn’t for parents breaking the rules all kids would be playing Nintendo and sports games until their 15, that just feels wrong… its true kids shouldn’t play GTA 5 but something needs to be done about our crazy classification system.
Perhaps this suggests there is a problem with the content being created, more so than our classification system…
Considering a game like Atlier Meruru: Plus can get a R18+, our classification system is definitely flawed, but you also have a very solid point as well.
At least it got rated. I think anything involving anime characters who look young and show any amount of skin would have a tough time of it with our conservative establishment. That’s why Idea Factory didn’t even bother submitting the censored version to the classification board here despite the game getting an M from the ESRB and a 12+ from PEGI.
My mum didn’t let me watch the simpsons till about that age. She just didn’t agree with the content.
Same here, yet oddly I was watching Robocop and Mad Max far earlier than that. What was with that?
LoL yeah.. I was a friends place the first time I watched Terminator 2….. I can truly say, I was way too young for that.
Oddly enough, same for me. And I never realised it until now. Younger brothers were allowed to watch as much as they wanted though…
The classification guide system is broken so as parents We have to vet everything the kids watch or play. When I was a kid I duped my parents into letting me watch lots of things I shouldn’t have….like the toxic advenger with the boobs, the drugs and all the violence a ten year old boy could ever dream off……
Instructions unclear, bought it for my kids.
Love that JB review 🙂
When I get a primary school aged child walk up to the counter with their parent/grandparent and GTA V in their hand, I take great delight in explaining, in detail, all of the adult activities in this game. The look of shock on the parent/gramps face, and the look of extreme hatred on child’s face, is purely joyous and a highlight of my day.
I am also shocked at the amount of parents who don’t care.
I recently went into a GameTraders (SHOCK HORROR) and there was a woman there yelling at the staff saying they sold her son (11 Year Old) GTA 5. The staff were like “no we didn’t” but this woman was going nuts.
On further listening, she was only using that as a side story to get a refund because she got a PS4 version instead of a PS3 one.
TL:DR – Parent bought the wrong one, used her son’s age to try and get a refund.
Ha ha, sometimes parents try to be sneakier than kids. She sounds like a right little scamp 🙂
Just because it’s not a kids game doesn’t mean it deserves 0 stars
some parents are dumn. i remember when i was around 10, my aunty recorded Ninja Scroll the movie off SBS for me coz i tv couldnt get SBS, and she even questioned my mum if it was ok. My mum had no idea and just said yeah, its fine. so, rape, murder, drugs, swearing and gore for me as a 10 year old. my kid is gonna have a tough time trying to pass one by me and my wife.
why don’t we introduce the secondary supply rules that we currently have for alcohol, for games?
Because the kid will only shit himself from being scared, not from being totally fucked.
I thought they exist – maybe someone can clarify for me but I thought it was illegal for you to exhibit R rated material to a minor in your home
I remember talking to the staff at EB Games Swanston St one time and a father walked up with his 7 year old son and said “I want to buy this game… What is it son? Call of Duty?” to which I mentioned that the game might not be suitable for someone of his son’s age group due to extreme violence and a scene where you walk through an airport mowing down civilians (I knew you could get through the level without firing a shot, but I wasn’t going to tell him that). The father just shot me a death stare and said “Who the fuck do you think you fucking are telling me what my son can fucking play?” to which I responded that I was making him aware of the Government standards that are applied to video games and that he might want to look into them and find things that are more age appropriate. I was given the “Go fuck yourself you fucking loser” argument. Luckily he was doing all this in front of the counter staff and didn’t see the store manager behind him while all this went on. The store manager shook his head and motioned to get the father out of the store. The counter staff said they won’t sell. Of course this is met with the “I want to see the manager”… The store manager tapped him on the shoulder and said “leave”. Father left with unhappy son ranting and raving about how he’ll never shop there again, etc.
So the problem isn’t so much us now having an R18+ rating, but more about stupid parents who don’t give a shit about the classification system or want to educated themselves on anything.
Jesus christ. That poor kid. What chance does he have?
I actually don’t have a problem with parents buying games for their kids rated above their age bracket. As long as they parent is aware what they are buying and are confident the kid can contextualise it properly and can distinguish fantasy from reality.
However he is still a dick for jumping down someones through for making sure they are aware what the game they are buying contains.
Personally, I think Call of Duty is okay for SOME kids to play. I wouldn’t go as far as 7… Maybe 10-12, but it really depends on how they can handle violent content. Are they psychologically affected by it? Are they going to repeat what they do ingame in the real world? Or can they tell the difference between fantasy and reality? That when the computer/Xbox/PS goes off, they know that that’s that.
However, Grand Theft Auto 5, like the rest of the GTA series, goes way beyond extreme violence and dirty language. That is why Call of Duty is MA but GTA is R rated.
Honestly, if that father had been an adult instead of a child throwing a temper tantrum, he could have explained to you that he was okay with extreme violence and that his kid can handle it (At 7 years old?!). But since the father acted that way towards you, I hate to imagine how the child would have handled an extreme violence video game. I really hope he wasn’t able to get the game somewhere else.
While the guy overreacted you still should have minded your business imo, if he wants to allow his child to play it then that’s up to him and not you.
I almost lost my job at a video store because I would also explain to the parents what GTAV contained, and they complained that they were telling me ‘unnecessary information’ while they were obviously hiring this R18 game out to someone who can’t see over the counter yet!
Goddamn parents. I won’t even let my 12 year old sister have Facebook, let alone GTA.
R16 games are laughable though, beyond shoot-em-ups. Did you know that The Sims for Xbox was R16? No wonder the parents stopped listening.
It’s ludicrous.
It was that dirty dirty sim sex. Can’t have children having any idea how babies are made. The world as we now it would collapse in on itself. That’s why I’m petitioning to have children banned from the country where they might see animals doing it. Or school. No school as long as they have pesky classes like science or biology.
I’ve even heard that some schools have such a thing as sexual education classes. It’s amazing we aren’t all swimming in hellfire already.
It is time people learned that not all video games are suitable for children…
This game is designed for adults. It is very inappropriate for children. Please stop buying it for them.
Has anyone ever considered thinking outside the box here?
There actually isn’t any objective scientific evidence to support the notion that games/films even have a negative affect on adults OR kids. Therefore I am of the opinion that it is up to parents to decide what is or isn’t suitable their kids, not the government or the public. It is actually not illegal to buy R18+ entertainment for a child, unlike alcohol or smokes. Nicotine and alcohol are drugs, which are actually dangerous for kids. Big difference.
Random people are not in any position to lecture a parent about their purchasing decisions for the their kid in regards to entertainment. Whoever got told to F off for doing so got what they deserved.
IMO we shouldn’t have a legally bound rating system anyway – a self regulatory industry body should be doing it. We are bound by too many “government” regulatory systems as it is, reducing redtape and letting people make their OWN decisions is a far better way of doing things in a supposedly “free” society.
I’m only 25 years old, but it seems to me that the government introduces more and more redtape every other day. Paranoia, ignorance, dogmatic beliefs and the god complex seem to be deeply rooted in this countries governments (by 1st world standards that is).
Just as a sarcastic counterpoint:
There are most definitely negative effects from selling GTA to kids. Them screaming (with their horrible high pitched skin crawlable voices) at people through game chat. If I wanted to hear that, id go visit relatives or friends that have kids.
Of course they are there in every game rated below R18, but it would be nice to have one refuge…
/s
Not really true to say there’s no objective evidence:
http://public.psych.iastate.edu/caa/abstracts/2010-2014/12AW.pdf
Check the summary of the state of research around pages 73-74.
The situation you describe is effectively what we already have. When did you last hear about somebody being prosecuted for selling an R18 game (or video) to a minor? It really just doesn’t happen.
There’s no doubt that some under-18s can handle R18 material. I more or less agree that kids should be able to play such games if they’re mentally competent to do so. The problem is that some aren’t capable of handling them properly, and many parents can’t be bothered to supervise what their kids are getting into. In other words, they’re not making an informed decision on what’s suitable for their kids – they’re letting the kids decide.
Do you let your kids decide what to buy when you go shopping? I remember as a kid I was looking forward to being an adult so I could have ice cream every day.
If you’re not comfortable having your kids make decisions that affect you, why are you OK with them making decisions that could have a long-term effect on themselves? Whose life do you value more highly?
You know it’s not about what the government thinks or what you think is suitable for children. It’s the parents choice.
My brothers sons can’t be disturbed by anything after we went hunting in Nymagee two years ago. We shot a goat with a big calibre bullet(we legally own guns and have hunting licenses) and the bullet ripped a hole in it and there was blood everywhere. They were a bit disgusted but they got over it. And I know what some of you are going to ask: they know what they can and can’t do with guns, the wouldn’t kill anyone, and don’t copy video games. They’re smart kids and know what is right and wrong
Yet, just this weekend I saw a kid of about 10-12 insist his mother buy this game for him.
🙁