Quote:i was playing games like Blood II at 12, and i've turned out perfectly ok (FWIBBLE!). so dont worry about it, 12 year olds can cope with quite a lot. hey, at least hes playing a Decent videogame and not the usual racist us army propoganda that most 12 year olds play these days, so he shows taste! even if he did play it completely wrong. how many times do i have to say this to people. always read the (digital) manual before playing, so you know how to play the game properly.
I don't doubt kids' abilities to cope with horror themes. Humans are able to cope with a lot in general.
I do doubt that the motives behind them playing a (good) horror game are always as noble as you say.
I want to rephrase what I said in an above post because I think I can make my point even more clear: the fact that horror is more stimulating than other genres makes it a more likely target for problematic kids seeking escape from social/psychological problems (as an example), as well as more addictive. This is why, when I hear about kids who play horror all the time, I can't help but wonder just how much benefit they are gaining from it, and how much of it is "good taste". ^^