[Kayelle]

We think that young people play the game because they do play it. A lot of my friends have little brothers and sisters who play it, one even going to the extent of waiting until his sister had left the house and playing it to avoid getting caught (I was taking old Barbie dolls around for one of them and caught him).

When I was ten I started playing the original The Sims games, and at the time I was the eldest of my group of friends and we all played it. My parents were hesitant to let me buy the Hot Date expansion pack but eventually gave in after seeing that an image used to advertise the game didn't actually reflect the content.

People will always ignore the recommended age, and those who have been playing The Sims games for years will buy TS3 whatever the rating for it is because they've played the previous games (for example, a lot of children bought the Play Station versions of the games before moving onto PC) and know that nothing adult or sensitive would be included in them.

It's not a matter of thinking young people play them, it's actually knowing from being a child who played the game or knowing a child who does play it. I know plenty, and they're all eagerly waiting the release of The Sims 3.