I recently went to a Gamestop store at my local mall and was interested in purchasing a GTA tripack with all three GTA3 games. I walk up to the counter and ask if I am allowed to purchase it if I am 17 years old. I am declined and told I have to be 18, when the website for the software rating board says specifically "Titles rated M (Mature) have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older. Titles in this category may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language." Am I right to be allowed to buy that game if I am 17, or is there a new law by the corps that makes them not allow under 18 gamers to buy games that say is allowable if they are 17?
I am pretty sure the law is still 17 and over. I havent heard anything about it being bumped up to 18, maybe the guy at the store just didnt want to take a chance and get in trouble.
It's at the discretion of the store. ESRB cannot enforce their ratings in stores, it's up to the retailer. So that particular store you went to may require consumers to be 18 or older to buy M-rated titles.
its 17 to buy you just have to present some form of id stating your 17 or older. i dont think they can decline service based on age once your at/ past the age.
Actually, :Illuminati:. is correct. By law, you must be 17 in order to purchase M rated products; however, because a business has the right to refuse service to anyone, it is at their discretion as to if they want to sell it to you at 17 or 18. Some stores will allow you to buy it at 17, others require you to be 18.
The U.S. its illegal to to refuse services based on "Direct discrimination involves treating someone less favorably because of their possession of an attribute (e.g., sex, age, race, religion, family status, national origin, military status, disability)"
Yes, and there's a sign on most stores that says something to the effect of "we reserve the right to refuse service to any customer." Now, if they sold it to 17 year old A but not 17 year old B, there would be a problem.
Now if a store refused to sell to a person that is 17, wouldn't that be discrimination against 17 year olds?
the right to refuse service is with the person in charge or the owner. *edit* also ive never seen a gamestop with the sign in the window if they do have one its hidden behind 50,000 ads on their front windows
i wanted to wait one more post but. as i posted above if they did not sell the game to a 17 year old on bases of not being mature in their eyes means they are picking an attribute which would be discrimination and yes we all know that everything said here wont help you because they can make up 1000's of bs reasons not to sell to you
If you're referring to them targeting one specific person who is 17 and refusing to sell, then yes, that would be discrimination. But if it's a universal policy, encompassing all 17 year olds, then that's a different story and there's nothing that can be done about that. The store has every right to make their own policies, enforce them, and protect themselves from potential lawsuits, etc.
