The new “forbidden fruit”?

Research carried out in Denmark has shown that children are more likely to play   games with higher ratings; the rating system PEGI has been shown only to encourage the purchase.

The original study warned parents of the so-called “forbidden fruit effect” which makes games with restrictions on purchase, more desirable.

One of the games we found pupils were more likely to want to play.

  The study was carried out on three hundred and ten Dutch Youths. Who, “read fictitious videogame descriptions and rated how much they wanted to play each game.” The results shown  mainly approved of the more mature games, with more of the mature content.

We conducted our own research on information we got from pupils of different ages and backgrounds what they would buy. The overwhelming majority would buy a 18+ game instead of one with a lower rating. One pupil mentioned, “I enjoy games much more when they’re violent. It really gets the anger out of you!” and, “I enjoy 18 games much more because they’re more fun and I like the blood and gore featured in these games.” While many people may have suspected this for quite some time, the results we got were very surprising, as we were not expecting quite as many results in favor.

From what we asked people would enjoy games with more gore, violence, strong language, and sexual context.

The main games we found that were approved was the GTA series, which is renowned for its high violent content and strong language. The series has been mired in controversy since its release.

Will this mean the end of game ratings, or will it merely toughen up rules? Will this make our future adults more violent? Or is it all just a game?

Daniel and Daniel

Back to main page link