should a mature 13 year old be allowed to play gta 4?

Of course he should its just as bad a watching a movie or even the news for that matter. The ratings on games is just like ratings for movies which is just a suggestion of what is appropriate for different ages. It is only a game anyways, far as bad language in the game it is no worse then what you would hear on the streets or on TV or even at his school. So that should not be a factor in not playing it.

If he can play gears of war then he should certainly be able to play grand theft auto 4. The gore is no where near as bad as Gears of war and should be fine.

As long as you tell him that he should never do stuff in the game and it's just a game he should be fine. I'm 14 and got the game when i was 13. I enjoy the game and understand what is right and wrong. If you're son is as mature as you state there's no worries.

of course! your depriving your child my sons play it and they're 14 and 12

its actually not as bad as you think as long as he knows not to kill people or do drugs its fine but there's nothing to be worried about he probably hears worse language in school and the violence isn't that bad the games he has are much worse, the language is no big deal like i said earlier, the drug use shows him why he shouldn't use drugs cause the characters end up having bad effects in the game, and the sex is avoidable and you don't even see anything because the screen goes blank. lighten up

of course i started playing gta 4 when i was 13 kids these days play violent videogames all the time if he can play all those M rated games i say gta is no different as long as he dosent go out shooting people and taking the game seriously i say let him play it

Yes, there are worse things in the world than a videogame. I refuse to believe that some computer animations will drive a person to murder another human being, become a pervert or anything like that.

i think it will be okay for him to play the games.if you trust him and thinks hes mature, then i would think it'll be okay.if you don't want him to, you should at least make him a schedule for him to play the games like only about 1 hour a day. i hope this helped : )

dude, if he plays GOW and Farcry2, he should be able to play GTAIV, i mean, i know it says you have to be 17 to play them, but the ESRB ratings are bull and need to be changed, but yeah i think he would be fine playing GTAIV, but the only bad thing a 13 yr old shouldn't be seeing is the um, hookers and you can get drunk,(but that's funny)

Watch the recent Pen & Teller: Bullsh!t episode, they tackle this very issue.

I played GTA when I was 13, I'm 18 now and I do not steal cars nor kill hookers...

As long as you're sure that he knows that grand theft auto, and shooting police officers and stuff is NOT OK IN REAL LIFE then it should be fine =)