[Talanta]

I get the feeling I'm one of the older people here. I started playing the original Sims when I was 18 and I'm now 20. I don't see anything dangerous about the game, just seems like sugar-coated fluff to me, perfectly innocent. Maybe for very young children its a bit beyond them, but I don't see anything wrong with children aged 9/10/11 playing it and seeing two sims who are not related kissing.

If there were to be such a big issue over content, I really can't see any reason why EA can't release a base game for all, that way they don't lose their market (one of the arguments against them upping the rating is that they don't want to lose the kid market or stop kids from playing it) and then releasing an expansion pack with all the adult stuff in it, slap an 18+ rating on that, then kids can still play the game and adults can get at the more adult content. I don't know why EA haven't done that, it seems a viable plan to me.

As to whether its suitable for age I think its always best to go on the maturity of the individual rather than by judging them by chronological age. Some people will be able to understand and handle maturely a game/film/programme that is rated a couple of years above their actual age, some people still have difficulties even when they're above the set age.