Warning Over Smartphone Kids' Apps
Updated: 5:56am UK, Thursday 26 September 2013
By Niall Paterson, Media Correspondent
I've always tended to view video-gaming as something of a solitary pursuit, or at the very least one enjoyed with friends in my bedroom, out of sight of Mum and Dad.
This wasn't always necessarily to do with the violent or graphic content of the titles my parents unwittingly purchased - although if they'd seen the brutality of Speedball 2, the adult content of Leisure Suit Larry, or even the hundreds of mammals sacrificed as I attempted (in vain) to complete Lemmings, I imagine I'd have been shoved outside and back on the Space Hopper quicker than I could say "carpal tunnel syndrome".
But at least the financial costs of my sweaty-palmed play were limited to the cost of the game itself (and, perhaps, the occasional copy of Computer & Video Games magazine).
Not so nowadays.
The Office of Fair Trading's investigation into in-game purchases of bolt-ons and bonus items makes for distressing reading if you've ever handed your iPad to an ankle-biter.
In essence, it concludes children are being encouraged or even made to feel pressurised into paying over and above the cost of the app, even in games which are specifically targeted at kids.
It also finds a blurring of the distinction between real-world and in-game currency; and unfair and aggressive commercial practices "to which children may be particularly susceptible".
There's also prima facie evidence consumer protection laws may already have been broken.
The industry will now mull over the OFT's eight key recommendations. But I imagine some will choose to resist.
After all, given the profusion of free apps and games, many people are increasingly unwilling to pay even a quid for what might, ultimately, only prove to be a couple hours of entertainment.
So, understandably, developers are seeking other revenue streams - and some will argue that encouraging kids to ask their parents for an in-game item is no different to the advertising campaigns that turn kids into pester-factories every Christmas.
And what of the parents in all of this? Isn't this just more evidence that mum and dad need to be a little more aware of what their kids are up to online?
There's a degree of validity in that argument, as there is when the case is made that parents need to educate their kids a lot better about when and where not to click.
But I know as well as any 1980s gamer that they can't always know what we're up to; nor are most sufficiently tech-savvy to educate their kids about the dangers, fiscal or otherwise, of life online.
But let's be clear - those behind these titles are savvy enough for all of us.
And, although not literally coin-operated, clearly many developers are so cash-motivated that they've chosen to turn a blind eye to the dangers of in-game purchasing.
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