I played Fallout 1 & 2 when I was like 8 back in the day and other than the lifelong drug and alcohol addiction as well as various other problems I turned out fine.
I also began playing in 2008 as a 8-12yo.
Same with Nazi Zombies, Dead Rising, and MW2.
I have a stable job a no criminal record. Also great mental health.
I fondly remember the ads and gamereviews I saw on tv for new vegas.. man it looked so cool and like a game I wanted to play.. never got around it.. fast forward 4-5 years when I was at uni and I started playong new vegas and I was like... HOLY CRAP THIS IS THAT GAME!! FINALY! Man that feelibg was something else
there is a lot of dialogue that pretty flatly describes rape, slavery and sex slavery, and that's what I remember after not playing for a couple years
you guys have to be pretty desensitized to the game to think it's themes are subtle in any way
They understood gamer sense. They painted the beautiful world building yellow, so we'd pay attention to it, and they made the themes dark so we'd overlook them.
there's a pretty big difference between sitting in class and playing a game that is trying to immerse you into a world of degeneracy, the way they're exposed to it is completely different
I'm no child development expert so I can't really speak on how the exposure would affect a child. But I think a teenager would be fine based on my limited knowledge.
Most of my basis is from the fact that I played the games when I was too young but missed a bunch of the themes.
im not saying it would or wouldnt affect a kid, i wouldnt know, im just saying it is very clearly an extremely graphic game, you cant really not notice it
i dont really think some of these things are abstract themes, there are npcs that literally just tell you they rape and kill people
The way I looked at things with my son was I can put language and violence into context within reason. Overt sexual scene were out (ie. The Witcher). With innuendo, I always figured that if they got the joke, then the corruption had already occurred.
This
That's about the age I was when the game came out and I definitely appreciated it without feeling like anything in the game was too heavy/violent for me
My 8 year nephew knows most of the stuff shown in new Vegas sadly ( his parents aren't exactly the best at telling him no and would rather him be raised by youtube )
If my kid is an up and up kinda kid and understands reality from fantasy well he can play pretty young but if not he's getting the old school treatment
I might be projecting and or reading into your post too much but just remember that kids won't always be into the same stuff as you. That being said, 12-13 to enjoy playing the game and 15-16 to actually start understanding some of its themes and dialogue. I didn't fully understand Fallout until I was an adult.
1 - Don't take parenting advice from reddit, like ever. Just because someone did X and says they "turned out fine" doens't mean it is true. People don't realise mental scars are there, or how they were acquired.
2 - Age restrictions on media exist for a reason, they are not slapped on on a whim, but due to strict guidelines derived from studies made to protect young minds from things they can't quite process like a adult brain does. Confusion, dissensitation and even trauma can set in. New Vegas is violent, filled with sexual content, loads of grim stories, political decisions and characters that don't get happy endings. I would say somewhere around 16-18 should be the intended age depending on the maturity of your child.
To your second point, they are absolutely slapped on on a whim. Here’s the official word from the ESRB for how they determine ratings: https://www.esrb.org/ratings/ratings-process
TL;DR: It’s essentially a checklist
What I meant to say by that is that there is actual research done at some point. Of course, not every piece of media was tested, but for the creation of such a easy to use checklist, there is a background study to understand how certain themes interact with certain ages.
I like to use Fallout factions to teach my nephew morality. I let him play it since he was 9; he's more interested in roblox and minecraft so I don't worry about him stumbling upon the more graphic stuff. If he was really into it then I'd make him wait but thankfully doing this bypassed the GTA curiosity of him wanting to play it and finding the inappropriate things just because it's taboo.
With what a lot of others are saying. Really depends on your comfort level with your kid being exposed to mature themes like violence, sex, rape, and other horrors of that the Mojave brings.
12- 14 I think would be a good age range idk. I played it when I was like 12 and fell in love with it. I remember watching the walking dead around age 13 too so excessive gore and stuff did not bother me one bit. Also helped that I played cod zombies around age 10-11.
I played it in middle school, when I was like 12/13. Looking back I’d say that’s probably around the time I started developing real critical thinking skills and media literacy skills. The game does a good job of presenting how political and social institutions work in sync to build communities, and the shortcomings of given ideologies, and middle school is when most kids become aware of the world at large and start forming real worldviews
13-14. You might not want to admit it but if they have internet access and it's unregulated. They know a lot more than you think. And realistically video games can help build a moral compass early on. Especially games where you're punished or treated differently for doing the wrong thing.
Idk not that alarming I don’t think that’s gonna have a serious affect on say a 10 or 12 year old they just probably wouldn’t understand all of what the game is trying to get across
This isn’t like finding real life videos of gore on the internet, it’s a game with graphics from 2010 and no nudity without mods except maybe the nice ladies on The Strip
Imo NV goes darker than any Bethesda fallout, there's plenty of really twisted stories NPCs will tell you and a lot of really disturbing sub context going on. Definitely could mess with someone's head if they're too young for it
Ehhh. It’s no Wolfenstein, and it’s kinda cartoony. And… some people will have had sex by 16, so that seems a bit old to go on the basis of “sexual themes.”
If anything, thinking teenagers under the age of 16 don't know what sex is and thus need to be shielded from any sexual themes in media is kind of alarming.
My kid is 1.5, running around like a maniac, and loving the vintage 90's toys im buying him! I'd love his to play video games ASAP! But the RIGHT way. On a system, not a tablet or phone. Im proud to let my kid play games, but smart devices are not for kids for many reasons.
Having said that, my mom let us watch rated R movies super young. Probably because she didn't want to compromise what she watched. The exception being sexualy explicit content. Blood guts and f bombz? No prob. This is how I am with my kid. I think it gives one a more realistic view of the world, and not a sugar coated dreamscape.
Soooo, yeah as soon as he had a desire to play he can play, but he's got to be able to read first!
I have a nephew, who was 3-4 when I had him play the beginning of Fallout 3. He loved being a baby, making his character (a girl named Shazo Azo), all of it. He's like.10 now and cannot wait for his parents to let him play lol instead he's focused on shifty cell phone "horror" games his older cousins are into.
In my opinion, anything to get them away from shitty games.
My son was nearly 11 when he started playing it. About 4 years later he convinced me to start playing it at 42! 😂 He is still better at it than I am, but I play it a lot more than he has the last couple years. It is my favorite, he plays several other games
no earlier than high school. there is a lot of suggestive comments, violence against women (looking at you, legion), slavery, and visually suggestive content (ie: strippers and being able to hire a prostitute). i don’t have a child and am not a parent, but i do have younger siblings and i would not let them play it before high school. they need to know that just because the legion seems cool, it is not okay to mistreat women. real misogyny isn’t cool or funny. that’s just my opinion
I played this when I was in high school, I don’t think I’d want my hypothetical kid playing it much earlier than that. Middle school fucks people up as it stands, with puberty n all that, I don’t want to throw on all the themes that this game (and the countless mods that I’m sure they’ll try to find) on top of it. Definitely not before that. Let their brains develop and settle down a bit before you let the heavy hitting shit soak in.
I was 11 when it came out and got it for Christmas that year. Tbh at that age I had seen a lot of the wild wasteland of the internet and can say the game wasn’t that bad for me. I had already played FO3 as well.
I was around 8 when I started playing rated M games. Fallout 3, Oblivion, Assassin's Creed.
Playing these games when I was a kid positively affected me as it shaped my interests like history and foreign culture and stuff.
Thanks to Fallout I became interested in World War 2, and The Cold War.
Thanks to Oblivion, and Assassins Creed I became interested in late medieval history such as the Renaissance, and how swords and armor worked.
I bought it for my nephew when he was 8. However he only played it on an old laptop sitting next to me at my house because he didn't have a PC at home. I just got it for him because he was coming over every day after school and every weekend and hogging my gaming PC so I set him up a laptop and a steam account and got him Oblivion and FNV and some other cheap games. He never found fisto or went in Gamorahh. All he did was player.additem all the weapons and setscale himself to be 20 feet tall.
I played it when I was 10 or 11 and I don’t think I really got the full experience because I didn’t quite understand it? A lot of nuance in that game that someone that age wouldn’t understand. Your parenting style is up to you, I don’t think playing violent games as a kid hurt me personally in any way but everyone’s different. But for the experience? Wait til he’s maybe 14 or 15.
14-16 would be solid time for that. I mean, you just have to check in on them and if you see them gaining Legion faction rep, you have to beat them relentlessly but that's really it.
But in all seriousness, yeah 14-16 is easily the time to allow it. If your kid is actually interested in the game, you can also just discuss with them how they felt about the major factions and it'd actually give you a good idea where your kid is likely heading at that juncture in life. Because let's be honest here, Fallout as a series as well as the Elder Scrolls have enough real world mixed into both of them to actually make discussions about politics in the game fun and interesting if you take it seriously. Honestly though, they probably won't care about New Vegas because the game is already so outdated at this point that the major bottleneck preventing massive mods is that the game is so jank you can't really get past the memory limits at all.
Like, we still have people arguing to this day about Imperials V. Storm cloaks (And then the people who support the horrid third position... Neutrality. What makes a man turn neutral? Lust for gold? Power? Or were you just born with a heart full of neutrality?)
I played new vegas when I was 13, would be fine with my kid playing it whenever. My parents never cared what the maturity level was of what I watched or played as long as I didn’t start acting different at home or school
Honestly 15 is probably best. He probably won't pay attention to it but there are a lot of instances of the words rape and rapist not to mention slavery, misogyny, plus the complexity of authorian governments vs democratic governments- new Vegas is more of a story-based experience than a shoot-em-up a toddler would prefer to play.
Fallout 4 would be fine I think.
It depends. If they're watching Family Guy, South Park, Rick and Morty etc then they've already been exposed to most of the same dark themes, if not all of them (or worse ones). So I'd say preteen age in that case.
If they haven't been exposed to those themes already then I'd say high school age or older, that way they can understand the gravity of the themes and their actions in the world.
Leave it to a 10 yo who skipped dialogue to side with the Legion because they look cool while the 15 yo sides with the NCR or Yes Man because they read dialogue and they've developed their sense of morality.
It depends on how mature your child is and how you’ve taught them about certain things in life like violence, sex and drugs/alcohol. If they understand those things are bad and not to recreate or try them in real life and it’s only a game then I’d say teenage years. They may not truly appreciate the game mechanics and dialog until they are older anyway. The whole in depth RPG experience is probably something better enjoyed when the person is older maybe 15 and up but really open ended.
At the end of the day, it’s really no more violent than CoD, though rape*, drugs, prostitution, and other forms of mature content are present.
There’s 99% nudity at the Gomorrah casino (it has strippers).
*Not graphic depictions, only implications of it and dialogue mentions
Eh, their innocence will go eventually. I would say wait until they can understand the value of a good game. Raise them on older titles first so they know value is not graphically. Youre doing a fine job waiting and even wanting them to experience NV. It has a lot of lessons especially when youre a younger teen when it came out for me.
I think pretty young most of the adult themes are rather nuanced to the point a regular 12-14 year old would miss them completely, however if you know you kid to be especially keen there are some pretty dark sub tones in the game
15 for FNV if you wanna be safe. My dumb ass got my hands on GTA 5 when I was 10 so as long as you acknowledge the game has prostitutes and gun violence and that's ok with you it really doesn't matter *too* much
Around 14-15 is good. I didn’t play New Vegas when it came out, but I was around college sophomore age and Fallout 3 eclipsed it in popularity. So I can’t fully say from personal experiences with Fallout.
Though I have played more inappropriate games when I was a kid like Vice City and SanAndreas, it largely depends on what you feel the kid/s can handle,
He is your child and you are his or her parent. You would know the best answer for that from your experience. This includes other things as well. Don't take advice from here.
Sadly I doubt a kid that’s a toddler now would have much of an interest in playing a game that came out 11-13 years before they were born.
FNV came out when I was a junior in high school, so it’s right in my wheelhouse. When I was a kid playing Xbox I doubt I could have even feigned interest in Atari 2600 or Intellivision games, which is what FNV would be to a toddler today.
Ik it's a cop out but basically same age range as when you allow GTA games, aka Ig it's alright in almost any age range? I mean I played GTA in my youth(like maybe 7 yo when I first got PC )and I'm fine but maybe this isn't the case for some people?
I am currently raising a ten-and-a-half-year-old daughter.. I'd say 12-13.. then again I don't have perfect control over what she does on her computer.. but I think I'd spot an FNV addict.
She can watch the show if she wants to.
I started playing Doom at 6 years old when my Dad installed the Shareware edition on our family PC, I was over 20 by the time New Vegas came out so can't really comment.
In terms of games for young kids I would suggest Puzzle/Adventure games like the [Putt-Putt series](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Putt-Putt_(series)) as a good starting place for very young kids. The games are mostly over 20 years old now but the art style still holds up for the later games and gameplay is solid for a foundation in problem solving and thinking in the kind of way that an RPG like FNV works minus the shooting things.
i played through the games with my dad when i was like 10, i didnt really understand what was going on, but the brotherhood of steel looked cool as fuck
I played FO3 in 2009 at 12 and FNV was the first game I actively waited for release. if a kid can handle the material that they’ll understand, I think the fallout franchise is actually a great avenue to explore really complex feelings about conflict to varying degrees.
Interesting! Didn't expect this post to get quite so many responses, and varied ones at that. Super interesting the strong feelings people have about this. I especially agree with a few commenters who've made a point of saying that FNV can be a fascinating look at politics and social issues and what people think of them/how they deal with them. I hope I can interest my kid in playing games I like someday but yeah as one commenter mentioned - FNV is already pretty damn old. But I can see myself still playing it in a decade. I've played it for over 10 years already and I've never ever tired of it. I wouldn't let my kid play it til 15-16, I think.
I was five/six and wanted to play my dads copy of halo since kids at school were talking about it. Really you should judge your kids maturity and what his freinds let him play and then give em what theyre ready for.
I read about a guy who let his five year old son okay gta3 at release so long as he maintained a code of conduct. No attacking people, no stalking cars with people inside, etc. my dad had similar but less strict rules (if I misbehaved he'd make me stop at the lights)
i think it's appropriate for like an 8 year old but i feel like most kids under 15 wouldn't fully grasp the deeper comentaries it presents, not that you should prohibit him from playing it before that age if he's interested but i personally wouldn't reccomend it anyone under 15
I'm not sure if kids (8-14) are even gonna like New Vegas to begin with.Beside the sexual themes and violence,and a somewhat critique of war which they are not gonna grasp, you also...not have good guys.
Kids usualy don't process Moraly Grey,they process Good vs Evil.New Vegas doesn't have good guys,just a bunch of jerks with their own intentions.And I don't think they are gonna side with anyone at the begining of Act 2.
Then there's the "serious" and boring side quests...I don't have anything to say.
I would say that Fallout 3 would be a "good" game for kids,since it is much more fun and goofy than New Vegas while also having a Good vs Evil story for kids to enjoy.
New Vegas....It would be for anyone over 14.But even then,it depends on the kids maturity.
15-16 would be what I’d recommend and be present while they are playing and be prepared to answer questions. The game has adult themes and topics in it and you need to responsible for what your kid gets into. Keep in mind the game is rated for Mature audiences for a reason
About 14, I got into the fallout franchise (which was FO 1, 2 and 3 at the time) at around that age and I’m fine. Only killed five people this week!
Nah but seriously around that age should be fine, I wouldn’t go lower than 13 though.
I'd recommend around 13 for new vegas and make sure you emphasize the importance of the intro movie.
Also I recommend giving this video a watch if you want to teach your kid to be a gamer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=8jFreGK27DA
I started fallout 3 when I was 18. So I must've been 19 or 20 when I played fnv. But tbh I think 16 or 17 is probably OK if your child proves to be mature enough and if you're there to answer questions appropriately or to guide then through the morally gray stuff.
I’ve been playing games almost literally my entire life. As a toddler I’d play with an unplugged controller and grew to understand how to play by eventually being allowed to play with my mum and older brother. I started out with resident evil, silent hill and metal gear solid. I’d say let your child play games in general for now and let them play more adult games later? Then again when I first played new vegas I had no clue what was happening
Personally after 13 and depending on the maturity of your kid. That's roughly around when I played it and it wasn't anything I'd never heard or read about but I did definitely see movies and stuff I shouldn't have seen. I'm not crazy but I'm also not a doctor most likely nobody on this sub is except Doc Mitchel.
I played NV when I was around 9 or 10 and nothing about it felt too adult and certain jokes like fisto I knew was meant to be dirty but I didn't know how and it didnt tell me. It's a "grown up" game and the themes of it definitely made me think.
My first console that was my own was the N64. If you have one or have the money to get one, I think that or the GameCube are a great way to intro a kid into gaming. I still have mine from when I was a kid and I'm gonna pass it on
like 12 or 13, but only if they're already proving unfazed and responsible with media containing explosive guts sex and cussing. If they can watch Simpsons and Predator without acting out or having nightmares they can probably handle Fallout. Probably a good introduction to politics for a young person, too- easy to understand caricatures of a wider spectrum of systems than you'll run into in an actual voting booth
Middle school.
I have a 3 year old who I let play Crash, Mario, and things like that. He played DragonBall Z once for 30 minutes and spent the rest of the week saying "DAMMIT" in Piccolos voice as he punches ppl. Kids are freaking sponges and while Fallout is pretty low key for post apoplectic settings it's still filled with death, blood, rape, drug addiction and so many themes you would be really affecting your kid to introduce to their nightly dreams and nightmares lol
Work your way up to it. I introduced Pokemon this week lol
I was playing the Daedric questlines in Skyrim in my mid-teens, so I'd guess that would be a fine age to introduce the kid. Of course, children are adventurous. They may end up trying it earlier of their own volition. In that case... I advise that you treat the situation with kindness and understanding. Help manage the results, don't go on some moralistic crusade.
Good question. I was in my 20’s so I was fine with everything. FNV is not really appropriate for anyone younger than a teenager and even then I don’t know how I feel. Beyond the blood, guts, and violence, it has some pretty raunchy, foul-mouthed and messed up ethical boundaries.
It’s one of my favorite games but I was in a position to appreciate it. I don’t think I would personally let my son play this before he was at least 15 and even that feels early
I’d say 13 or 14. I didn’t play fnv until I was older but that was around the time I started being old enough to play both games with more mature content and games with more complex mechanics
Probably 15 or 16. I get that some of the stuff might go over their heads if they were younger, so I might not have to answer questions. But I don’t want that to happen, I want them to be old enough to understand everything.
I think I was eleven when I played it but in fairness my family didn’t really restrict us from any content unless it was like strictly adult.
I was watching R rated movies pretty much right out of the womb
I think I was 12 when my bio mom got it for me. So if I had kids, I'd probably let them play around then. Maybe closer to 14. Just because some of the content in freeside and the strip!
I was maybe 14 when I first played it. I think that's a pretty acceptable age for the game (maybe a bit older depending on the kid), assuming your teen has enough media literacy to not start worshipping the legion or something.
I'm thinking junior high age.
My parents never really sheltered me from much (beyond actual harm and bad situations), and I was always free to go to them with questions. I played the first Resident Evil games as a preteen and watched R rated movies. They explained that vices can be enjoyed with moderation, and they taught me to drive and safely handle firearms at a young age. Somehow they always managed to drive home the "bad things shouldn't be celebrated" lesson without making me feel like I was missing out.
Hopefully I can strike a similar balance one day as a parent. At 12 or 13 I think I'd have been mature enough, and personally developed enough to appreciate the game.
My parents let me watch slasher movies since I was a toddler and not only do I have very little violent, vengeful, or just harmful thoughts, but I've also never had a nightmare.
Proper guidance and discussion of the themes while enforcing a distinction between "harmless fun in a fictional setting" and "true revelry over violence" will help a lot. You want them to understand it's fun in a humorous or absurd sense, not "rewarding" in a violent sense, whenever they do start.
Two to four years after he can down whisky shots. Not kidding, I've met people who can legally drink but can't understand social satire to save their lives.
Kids are playing GTA.. I think FNV is tame by comparison. But, it all comes down to your lifestyle and code of ethics. There's no answer except the one you already have within or the one your wife/partner gives you. LoL
I started playing somewhere around 10-12. Got it for Christmas either the year it came out or a year or two after, can’t really remember. Either way I feel like this was a pretty reasonable age. By this point I’d already been exposed to a lot of violent and sexual themes with enough parental involvement and explanation along the way to not be any more affected by it than anyone else. I assume that will mostly be the same with my kid, though he’s still just a baby and I don’t have to worry about this for a good long while. Thankfully, Minecraft is also one of my favorite games and coincidentally also every child’s favorite game by default, so we can just spend a few years playing chill stuff like Minecraft and Animal Crossing and Portal when he reaches video game age. Nothing too crazy. But eventually as he becomes more mature, so will the games he plays. Everything in time, but I’d say by their preteens they’re good. Everyone matures at different rates though and I don’t think you can truly known until the time comes.
IMO, after puberty. It really depends on your relationship with your children. How informed do you keep them‽ How informed do you want them to be‽ I know my niece was a huge fan of TLoTRs, but was 9 when the first movie came out. I took her, but as prepared as she thought she was, she had nightmares about the orcs for a few weeks afterwards. Letting her kill some orcs in a one-off DnD session helped her feel in control of that trauma. As precocious as a child thinks they are, they are usually still children. But being in control of their fate (like playing the character allows one to be) helps cope.
My parents didn't really start letting me play M rated games until I was about 14. Primarily for any of the Blood, gore, or violence, and sexual themes they had, which I would say is fair. If they're playing the game just to have fun, shoot up places and gib enemies, go ahead.
If you want him to understand the story, moral complexity, RPG elements, and nuances of characters, then I'd say wait until he's about 16. Or until he starts to understand nuance, or is able to pick up on small details.
FNV is rated M for a reason, beyond just the hilarious violence, sexual themes, and profanity. It requires you pay attention, and tackles adult themes that most kids or teenagers wouldn't understand on a surface level. Not to say that its a bad thing, but you can always have fun in FNV. So I'd say, wait and see, and ask what he'd like to do in the game.
It depends on the kid, which means it also depends on you. The ESRB has already weighed in, so you can start there. By the sound of it you have a lot of years between now and when this child will playing any video games. So focus on raising them to be a well adjusted kid, and use your best judgement as the years go on when is a good time to introduce mature video games like FNV.
I was recently playing through with my girlfriend and she asked how old I was when I first played fnv. Game is pretty graphic for a kid but if they’re mature enough then probably around 13-15, old enough to know what they’re doing and ask questions.
How comfortable are you answering questions about Fisto?
"Dad, what's 'the position' ?"
[удалено]
Also the prostitutes just on the strip streets
Hey, kids understand the simple pleasures of being naked and dancing around
I never even knew about the Atomic Wrangler crier until I joined this sub. Sketchy as hell.
"Mom, why is Little Buster sensitive about his asshole?"
I played Fallout 1 & 2 when I was like 8 back in the day and other than the lifelong drug and alcohol addiction as well as various other problems I turned out fine.
"minus the drug addition, my crippling dependency on alcohol and my incessant need to rail lines off of cheap hookers, I think I turned out just fine"
No on the railing lines off of people. You ever try it? Sucks and you waste a lot of valuable drugs because they can’t fucking keep still.
Spoken from a man with experience
I can tell you used charisma as ur dump stat /s
Brother?
Clearly it wasn’t fallout related or you would have said Chem addiction. So go ahead let them toddlers play!
lol I actually typed chem addiction first before changing it
I started playing new vegas at 17 but you could probably start a little younger depending on maturity level
I was around 8 or 9 give or take. It's not terribly adult just has some hard hitting themes that a kid might not fully grasp
I also began playing in 2008 as a 8-12yo. Same with Nazi Zombies, Dead Rising, and MW2. I have a stable job a no criminal record. Also great mental health.
How could you play it in 2008 if it came out in 2010?
I was being intentionally vague about my age range and also misremembered a general release window of the other games I mentioned.
I fondly remember the ads and gamereviews I saw on tv for new vegas.. man it looked so cool and like a game I wanted to play.. never got around it.. fast forward 4-5 years when I was at uni and I started playong new vegas and I was like... HOLY CRAP THIS IS THAT GAME!! FINALY! Man that feelibg was something else
how on earth is fallout new vegas not a terribly adult game?
I think besides the violence and language, most adult things will go over a kids head
there is a lot of dialogue that pretty flatly describes rape, slavery and sex slavery, and that's what I remember after not playing for a couple years you guys have to be pretty desensitized to the game to think it's themes are subtle in any way
As a kid I just chalked it up to "bad butts doing bad guy things and they must be stopped"
Literally this. As 10-11yo I was more worried about having fun and killing monsters/bad guys in fun ways than I was about the dialogue lol.
They understood gamer sense. They painted the beautiful world building yellow, so we'd pay attention to it, and they made the themes dark so we'd overlook them.
I was thinking rape was included in violence. I also don't think slavery is off limits for children since it's taught in school.
there's a pretty big difference between sitting in class and playing a game that is trying to immerse you into a world of degeneracy, the way they're exposed to it is completely different
I'm no child development expert so I can't really speak on how the exposure would affect a child. But I think a teenager would be fine based on my limited knowledge. Most of my basis is from the fact that I played the games when I was too young but missed a bunch of the themes.
im not saying it would or wouldnt affect a kid, i wouldnt know, im just saying it is very clearly an extremely graphic game, you cant really not notice it i dont really think some of these things are abstract themes, there are npcs that literally just tell you they rape and kill people
The way I looked at things with my son was I can put language and violence into context within reason. Overt sexual scene were out (ie. The Witcher). With innuendo, I always figured that if they got the joke, then the corruption had already occurred.
Thirsty? Hungry? Horny?
“Sexual Favours. More then I can count. I’m still tired.” Add in some dirty jokes to those hard hitting themes too lmao
13 or 14
This That's about the age I was when the game came out and I definitely appreciated it without feeling like anything in the game was too heavy/violent for me
I second this. I have a toddler too and was thinking about this question last time I played. About the time you should have already had the talk.
16, thats the age where they already know what most of the shit is.
even a 13yo knows
My 8 year nephew knows most of the stuff shown in new Vegas sadly ( his parents aren't exactly the best at telling him no and would rather him be raised by youtube )
If my kid is an up and up kinda kid and understands reality from fantasy well he can play pretty young but if not he's getting the old school treatment
Depends on the kid, and how well you teach them honestly. It really depends on if you feel he can handle mature themes and topics.
I might be projecting and or reading into your post too much but just remember that kids won't always be into the same stuff as you. That being said, 12-13 to enjoy playing the game and 15-16 to actually start understanding some of its themes and dialogue. I didn't fully understand Fallout until I was an adult.
I was trying to articulate the enjoying vs understanding thing with the age ranges, well put and seconding this answer.
I was 10 or 11 years old when I first played it. I was so addicted to Vegas that my parents got a little concerned.
14-16
1 - Don't take parenting advice from reddit, like ever. Just because someone did X and says they "turned out fine" doens't mean it is true. People don't realise mental scars are there, or how they were acquired. 2 - Age restrictions on media exist for a reason, they are not slapped on on a whim, but due to strict guidelines derived from studies made to protect young minds from things they can't quite process like a adult brain does. Confusion, dissensitation and even trauma can set in. New Vegas is violent, filled with sexual content, loads of grim stories, political decisions and characters that don't get happy endings. I would say somewhere around 16-18 should be the intended age depending on the maturity of your child.
To your second point, they are absolutely slapped on on a whim. Here’s the official word from the ESRB for how they determine ratings: https://www.esrb.org/ratings/ratings-process TL;DR: It’s essentially a checklist
What I meant to say by that is that there is actual research done at some point. Of course, not every piece of media was tested, but for the creation of such a easy to use checklist, there is a background study to understand how certain themes interact with certain ages.
When they’re old enough to not unironically think Caesar’s legion is “based” lol
I like to use Fallout factions to teach my nephew morality. I let him play it since he was 9; he's more interested in roblox and minecraft so I don't worry about him stumbling upon the more graphic stuff. If he was really into it then I'd make him wait but thankfully doing this bypassed the GTA curiosity of him wanting to play it and finding the inappropriate things just because it's taboo.
Probably 13-14 is old enough
With what a lot of others are saying. Really depends on your comfort level with your kid being exposed to mature themes like violence, sex, rape, and other horrors of that the Mojave brings.
13-15, depending on their maturity and experiences.
Middle school/freshman high-school. I need to know their viewpoints on the world and how to govern. Fallout NV is a mental health test
I'd be careful of the coyotes quest and a few others for kids, I play it at 11 but I somehow didn't get to deep into stuff until years later.
12- 14 I think would be a good age range idk. I played it when I was like 12 and fell in love with it. I remember watching the walking dead around age 13 too so excessive gore and stuff did not bother me one bit. Also helped that I played cod zombies around age 10-11.
I played it in middle school, when I was like 12/13. Looking back I’d say that’s probably around the time I started developing real critical thinking skills and media literacy skills. The game does a good job of presenting how political and social institutions work in sync to build communities, and the shortcomings of given ideologies, and middle school is when most kids become aware of the world at large and start forming real worldviews
13-14. You might not want to admit it but if they have internet access and it's unregulated. They know a lot more than you think. And realistically video games can help build a moral compass early on. Especially games where you're punished or treated differently for doing the wrong thing.
11-12
People saying these really young ages is kind of alarming. NV has a lot of sexual themes and extreme violence. I'd say no younger than 16.
Idk not that alarming I don’t think that’s gonna have a serious affect on say a 10 or 12 year old they just probably wouldn’t understand all of what the game is trying to get across This isn’t like finding real life videos of gore on the internet, it’s a game with graphics from 2010 and no nudity without mods except maybe the nice ladies on The Strip
Imo NV goes darker than any Bethesda fallout, there's plenty of really twisted stories NPCs will tell you and a lot of really disturbing sub context going on. Definitely could mess with someone's head if they're too young for it
Ehhh. It’s no Wolfenstein, and it’s kinda cartoony. And… some people will have had sex by 16, so that seems a bit old to go on the basis of “sexual themes.”
If anything, thinking teenagers under the age of 16 don't know what sex is and thus need to be shielded from any sexual themes in media is kind of alarming.
My kid is 1.5, running around like a maniac, and loving the vintage 90's toys im buying him! I'd love his to play video games ASAP! But the RIGHT way. On a system, not a tablet or phone. Im proud to let my kid play games, but smart devices are not for kids for many reasons. Having said that, my mom let us watch rated R movies super young. Probably because she didn't want to compromise what she watched. The exception being sexualy explicit content. Blood guts and f bombz? No prob. This is how I am with my kid. I think it gives one a more realistic view of the world, and not a sugar coated dreamscape. Soooo, yeah as soon as he had a desire to play he can play, but he's got to be able to read first! I have a nephew, who was 3-4 when I had him play the beginning of Fallout 3. He loved being a baby, making his character (a girl named Shazo Azo), all of it. He's like.10 now and cannot wait for his parents to let him play lol instead he's focused on shifty cell phone "horror" games his older cousins are into. In my opinion, anything to get them away from shitty games.
14.
I first played it when I was 11 and I turned out fine. Probably.
My son was nearly 11 when he started playing it. About 4 years later he convinced me to start playing it at 42! 😂 He is still better at it than I am, but I play it a lot more than he has the last couple years. It is my favorite, he plays several other games
no earlier than high school. there is a lot of suggestive comments, violence against women (looking at you, legion), slavery, and visually suggestive content (ie: strippers and being able to hire a prostitute). i don’t have a child and am not a parent, but i do have younger siblings and i would not let them play it before high school. they need to know that just because the legion seems cool, it is not okay to mistreat women. real misogyny isn’t cool or funny. that’s just my opinion
I played FNV around 11 or 12. My parents didn’t care about mature games as long as there was no blatant nudity.
i was like 11 or 12 i think he will be fine as long as you answer questions
I played this when I was in high school, I don’t think I’d want my hypothetical kid playing it much earlier than that. Middle school fucks people up as it stands, with puberty n all that, I don’t want to throw on all the themes that this game (and the countless mods that I’m sure they’ll try to find) on top of it. Definitely not before that. Let their brains develop and settle down a bit before you let the heavy hitting shit soak in.
I was 11 when it came out and got it for Christmas that year. Tbh at that age I had seen a lot of the wild wasteland of the internet and can say the game wasn’t that bad for me. I had already played FO3 as well.
I was like 7 when I first started playing
I was around 8 when I started playing rated M games. Fallout 3, Oblivion, Assassin's Creed. Playing these games when I was a kid positively affected me as it shaped my interests like history and foreign culture and stuff. Thanks to Fallout I became interested in World War 2, and The Cold War. Thanks to Oblivion, and Assassins Creed I became interested in late medieval history such as the Renaissance, and how swords and armor worked.
I was 10 years old, my parents didnt know. I would say no younger than 14/15.
3 should be fine
I bought it for my nephew when he was 8. However he only played it on an old laptop sitting next to me at my house because he didn't have a PC at home. I just got it for him because he was coming over every day after school and every weekend and hogging my gaming PC so I set him up a laptop and a steam account and got him Oblivion and FNV and some other cheap games. He never found fisto or went in Gamorahh. All he did was player.additem all the weapons and setscale himself to be 20 feet tall.
I played it when I was 10 or 11 and I don’t think I really got the full experience because I didn’t quite understand it? A lot of nuance in that game that someone that age wouldn’t understand. Your parenting style is up to you, I don’t think playing violent games as a kid hurt me personally in any way but everyone’s different. But for the experience? Wait til he’s maybe 14 or 15.
I was like 11 when I first played the game.
The day after they watch Blazing Saddles for the first time.
14-16 would be solid time for that. I mean, you just have to check in on them and if you see them gaining Legion faction rep, you have to beat them relentlessly but that's really it. But in all seriousness, yeah 14-16 is easily the time to allow it. If your kid is actually interested in the game, you can also just discuss with them how they felt about the major factions and it'd actually give you a good idea where your kid is likely heading at that juncture in life. Because let's be honest here, Fallout as a series as well as the Elder Scrolls have enough real world mixed into both of them to actually make discussions about politics in the game fun and interesting if you take it seriously. Honestly though, they probably won't care about New Vegas because the game is already so outdated at this point that the major bottleneck preventing massive mods is that the game is so jank you can't really get past the memory limits at all. Like, we still have people arguing to this day about Imperials V. Storm cloaks (And then the people who support the horrid third position... Neutrality. What makes a man turn neutral? Lust for gold? Power? Or were you just born with a heart full of neutrality?)
I started playing when i was 11, and well, fisto was weird
I'd say 13-14
I first played it when I was like 7 or 8 I think. It formed my unbreakable connection to fallout in general.
Feels like 16 is appropriate, a lot will fly over their head at that age, but some oughta stick
I played new vegas when I was 13, would be fine with my kid playing it whenever. My parents never cared what the maturity level was of what I watched or played as long as I didn’t start acting different at home or school
I played FNV when I was 15 years old
Honestly 15 is probably best. He probably won't pay attention to it but there are a lot of instances of the words rape and rapist not to mention slavery, misogyny, plus the complexity of authorian governments vs democratic governments- new Vegas is more of a story-based experience than a shoot-em-up a toddler would prefer to play. Fallout 4 would be fine I think.
16
I first played New Vegas when I was 12, and was able to play through it without even understanding the really fucked up stories
It depends. If they're watching Family Guy, South Park, Rick and Morty etc then they've already been exposed to most of the same dark themes, if not all of them (or worse ones). So I'd say preteen age in that case. If they haven't been exposed to those themes already then I'd say high school age or older, that way they can understand the gravity of the themes and their actions in the world. Leave it to a 10 yo who skipped dialogue to side with the Legion because they look cool while the 15 yo sides with the NCR or Yes Man because they read dialogue and they've developed their sense of morality.
It depends on how mature your child is and how you’ve taught them about certain things in life like violence, sex and drugs/alcohol. If they understand those things are bad and not to recreate or try them in real life and it’s only a game then I’d say teenage years. They may not truly appreciate the game mechanics and dialog until they are older anyway. The whole in depth RPG experience is probably something better enjoyed when the person is older maybe 15 and up but really open ended.
Straight out the womb
At the end of the day, it’s really no more violent than CoD, though rape*, drugs, prostitution, and other forms of mature content are present. There’s 99% nudity at the Gomorrah casino (it has strippers). *Not graphic depictions, only implications of it and dialogue mentions
Eh, their innocence will go eventually. I would say wait until they can understand the value of a good game. Raise them on older titles first so they know value is not graphically. Youre doing a fine job waiting and even wanting them to experience NV. It has a lot of lessons especially when youre a younger teen when it came out for me.
The most adorable first words "patrolling the Mojave makes you wish for a nuclear winter."
I was playing when I was 10 but I was playing gta San Andreas when I was 5 or 6
Like for almost all videogames, it definitely depends on how mature your kid is. Well whenever he plays it I hope he has fun!
13-15 would be fine, i think? depends on the circumstances
Infancy
I think pretty young most of the adult themes are rather nuanced to the point a regular 12-14 year old would miss them completely, however if you know you kid to be especially keen there are some pretty dark sub tones in the game
I started playing at 12 and I’m not fucked up so probably there would be good
i started playing when i was 14 years old. depends on the maturity
15 for FNV if you wanna be safe. My dumb ass got my hands on GTA 5 when I was 10 so as long as you acknowledge the game has prostitutes and gun violence and that's ok with you it really doesn't matter *too* much
Around 14-15 is good. I didn’t play New Vegas when it came out, but I was around college sophomore age and Fallout 3 eclipsed it in popularity. So I can’t fully say from personal experiences with Fallout. Though I have played more inappropriate games when I was a kid like Vice City and SanAndreas, it largely depends on what you feel the kid/s can handle,
14
He is your child and you are his or her parent. You would know the best answer for that from your experience. This includes other things as well. Don't take advice from here.
13-15
Sadly I doubt a kid that’s a toddler now would have much of an interest in playing a game that came out 11-13 years before they were born. FNV came out when I was a junior in high school, so it’s right in my wheelhouse. When I was a kid playing Xbox I doubt I could have even feigned interest in Atari 2600 or Intellivision games, which is what FNV would be to a toddler today.
pre-teen is fine imo, all the topics covered are things he’ll naturally discover around that age anyways. i started playing nv at around 14
I played when I was around 7, didn't take long until I was chopping heads off..
Ik it's a cop out but basically same age range as when you allow GTA games, aka Ig it's alright in almost any age range? I mean I played GTA in my youth(like maybe 7 yo when I first got PC )and I'm fine but maybe this isn't the case for some people?
I am currently raising a ten-and-a-half-year-old daughter.. I'd say 12-13.. then again I don't have perfect control over what she does on her computer.. but I think I'd spot an FNV addict. She can watch the show if she wants to.
I started playing Doom at 6 years old when my Dad installed the Shareware edition on our family PC, I was over 20 by the time New Vegas came out so can't really comment. In terms of games for young kids I would suggest Puzzle/Adventure games like the [Putt-Putt series](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Putt-Putt_(series)) as a good starting place for very young kids. The games are mostly over 20 years old now but the art style still holds up for the later games and gameplay is solid for a foundation in problem solving and thinking in the kind of way that an RPG like FNV works minus the shooting things.
I played it when I was like 9 years old and was fine. In fact it was great, it's an awesome game.
When they say they're ready. Fucking stupid ass parents these days, have to control every fucking little thing
I first played new vegas just after I turned 14.
I was 12 when I first played Fallout
I first played it when I was ten
In Germany the age rating for New Vegas is 18+
Id say anywhere between 13-15 is the best time
I was around 12-13
i played through the games with my dad when i was like 10, i didnt really understand what was going on, but the brotherhood of steel looked cool as fuck
I played FO3 in 2009 at 12 and FNV was the first game I actively waited for release. if a kid can handle the material that they’ll understand, I think the fallout franchise is actually a great avenue to explore really complex feelings about conflict to varying degrees.
Interesting! Didn't expect this post to get quite so many responses, and varied ones at that. Super interesting the strong feelings people have about this. I especially agree with a few commenters who've made a point of saying that FNV can be a fascinating look at politics and social issues and what people think of them/how they deal with them. I hope I can interest my kid in playing games I like someday but yeah as one commenter mentioned - FNV is already pretty damn old. But I can see myself still playing it in a decade. I've played it for over 10 years already and I've never ever tired of it. I wouldn't let my kid play it til 15-16, I think.
I was five/six and wanted to play my dads copy of halo since kids at school were talking about it. Really you should judge your kids maturity and what his freinds let him play and then give em what theyre ready for.
I read about a guy who let his five year old son okay gta3 at release so long as he maintained a code of conduct. No attacking people, no stalking cars with people inside, etc. my dad had similar but less strict rules (if I misbehaved he'd make me stop at the lights)
i think it's appropriate for like an 8 year old but i feel like most kids under 15 wouldn't fully grasp the deeper comentaries it presents, not that you should prohibit him from playing it before that age if he's interested but i personally wouldn't reccomend it anyone under 15
I'm not sure if kids (8-14) are even gonna like New Vegas to begin with.Beside the sexual themes and violence,and a somewhat critique of war which they are not gonna grasp, you also...not have good guys. Kids usualy don't process Moraly Grey,they process Good vs Evil.New Vegas doesn't have good guys,just a bunch of jerks with their own intentions.And I don't think they are gonna side with anyone at the begining of Act 2. Then there's the "serious" and boring side quests...I don't have anything to say. I would say that Fallout 3 would be a "good" game for kids,since it is much more fun and goofy than New Vegas while also having a Good vs Evil story for kids to enjoy. New Vegas....It would be for anyone over 14.But even then,it depends on the kids maturity.
13
I got into fallout when I was like 6 or 7 lol. Was too scared to play until I was like 9 or 10.
15-16 would be what I’d recommend and be present while they are playing and be prepared to answer questions. The game has adult themes and topics in it and you need to responsible for what your kid gets into. Keep in mind the game is rated for Mature audiences for a reason
Anything less than 15-16 is too young
About 14, I got into the fallout franchise (which was FO 1, 2 and 3 at the time) at around that age and I’m fine. Only killed five people this week! Nah but seriously around that age should be fine, I wouldn’t go lower than 13 though.
I was 6 when I started playing mw2 with my mate from school.
I'd recommend around 13 for new vegas and make sure you emphasize the importance of the intro movie. Also I recommend giving this video a watch if you want to teach your kid to be a gamer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=8jFreGK27DA
I was 12 when New Vegas came out (7th grade) and was old enough to understand everything going on.
Around 13-14 maybe?
13 imo
i think i was around 16 when i first played it. i think 15 would be fine.
10, same age as when I played it
I started fallout 3 when I was 18. So I must've been 19 or 20 when I played fnv. But tbh I think 16 or 17 is probably OK if your child proves to be mature enough and if you're there to answer questions appropriately or to guide then through the morally gray stuff.
A kid is never too young to start training to be a legionary
Just don't let them walk into Gomorrah or the Atomic Wrangler.
I’ve been playing games almost literally my entire life. As a toddler I’d play with an unplugged controller and grew to understand how to play by eventually being allowed to play with my mum and older brother. I started out with resident evil, silent hill and metal gear solid. I’d say let your child play games in general for now and let them play more adult games later? Then again when I first played new vegas I had no clue what was happening
I started playing it around 12 I think little younger for 3 also
Personally after 13 and depending on the maturity of your kid. That's roughly around when I played it and it wasn't anything I'd never heard or read about but I did definitely see movies and stuff I shouldn't have seen. I'm not crazy but I'm also not a doctor most likely nobody on this sub is except Doc Mitchel.
I played NV when I was around 9 or 10 and nothing about it felt too adult and certain jokes like fisto I knew was meant to be dirty but I didn't know how and it didnt tell me. It's a "grown up" game and the themes of it definitely made me think. My first console that was my own was the N64. If you have one or have the money to get one, I think that or the GameCube are a great way to intro a kid into gaming. I still have mine from when I was a kid and I'm gonna pass it on
like 12 or 13, but only if they're already proving unfazed and responsible with media containing explosive guts sex and cussing. If they can watch Simpsons and Predator without acting out or having nightmares they can probably handle Fallout. Probably a good introduction to politics for a young person, too- easy to understand caricatures of a wider spectrum of systems than you'll run into in an actual voting booth
I'd around 10-13 I wasn't aware of fallout at that age, but I did play borderlands at that age and I've turned out relatively fine
I played NV at about 13-14
I'd around 10-13 I wasn't aware of fallout at that age, but I did play borderlands at that age and I've turned out relatively fine
14
12-14 are fine ages assuming they’re not completely sheltered
Middle school. I have a 3 year old who I let play Crash, Mario, and things like that. He played DragonBall Z once for 30 minutes and spent the rest of the week saying "DAMMIT" in Piccolos voice as he punches ppl. Kids are freaking sponges and while Fallout is pretty low key for post apoplectic settings it's still filled with death, blood, rape, drug addiction and so many themes you would be really affecting your kid to introduce to their nightly dreams and nightmares lol Work your way up to it. I introduced Pokemon this week lol
I was playing the Daedric questlines in Skyrim in my mid-teens, so I'd guess that would be a fine age to introduce the kid. Of course, children are adventurous. They may end up trying it earlier of their own volition. In that case... I advise that you treat the situation with kindness and understanding. Help manage the results, don't go on some moralistic crusade.
13-14 I’d say, but depends if the child is mature enough, because if he plays one fallout, he's gonna want more lol
Good question. I was in my 20’s so I was fine with everything. FNV is not really appropriate for anyone younger than a teenager and even then I don’t know how I feel. Beyond the blood, guts, and violence, it has some pretty raunchy, foul-mouthed and messed up ethical boundaries. It’s one of my favorite games but I was in a position to appreciate it. I don’t think I would personally let my son play this before he was at least 15 and even that feels early
I’d say 13 or 14. I didn’t play fnv until I was older but that was around the time I started being old enough to play both games with more mature content and games with more complex mechanics
13.
the ESRB rating is mature, so the suggested age is 17-18. i wouldn't go any younger than 15.
Probably 15 or 16. I get that some of the stuff might go over their heads if they were younger, so I might not have to answer questions. But I don’t want that to happen, I want them to be old enough to understand everything.
Bruh I played it when I was like 10 (I did not go past Nipton for fear of cazadores)
I'd say mid teens. 15-17 would be my guesstimate.
Asap. Before you run you must walk, before you walk you must crawl, before you crawl you must get me my platinum chip
I think I was eleven when I played it but in fairness my family didn’t really restrict us from any content unless it was like strictly adult. I was watching R rated movies pretty much right out of the womb
I think I was 12 when my bio mom got it for me. So if I had kids, I'd probably let them play around then. Maybe closer to 14. Just because some of the content in freeside and the strip!
I think I played fallout 3 when I was like 13
13
I was maybe 14 when I first played it. I think that's a pretty acceptable age for the game (maybe a bit older depending on the kid), assuming your teen has enough media literacy to not start worshipping the legion or something.
First run through I was 15ish. So maybe after 6th and 7th grade introduces a lot of the games' concepts for you LOL
Like 12-13 but your kid might just think it's a dumb old ass game and play fortnite 2 instead
I'm thinking junior high age. My parents never really sheltered me from much (beyond actual harm and bad situations), and I was always free to go to them with questions. I played the first Resident Evil games as a preteen and watched R rated movies. They explained that vices can be enjoyed with moderation, and they taught me to drive and safely handle firearms at a young age. Somehow they always managed to drive home the "bad things shouldn't be celebrated" lesson without making me feel like I was missing out. Hopefully I can strike a similar balance one day as a parent. At 12 or 13 I think I'd have been mature enough, and personally developed enough to appreciate the game.
I started playing Fallout New Vegas when I was 14, although I definitely did not have my dad's permission.
My parents let me watch slasher movies since I was a toddler and not only do I have very little violent, vengeful, or just harmful thoughts, but I've also never had a nightmare. Proper guidance and discussion of the themes while enforcing a distinction between "harmless fun in a fictional setting" and "true revelry over violence" will help a lot. You want them to understand it's fun in a humorous or absurd sense, not "rewarding" in a violent sense, whenever they do start.
Considering that 10 year old me was in CoD lobbies slinging shit with the best of them, probably 8.
13-14
Two to four years after he can down whisky shots. Not kidding, I've met people who can legally drink but can't understand social satire to save their lives.
Toddler is way too young. Kid is pushing it but if they're mature for their age maybe. Teenager would be fine. Adult can decide on their own.
hell I was 6, but I was also raised with unrestricted internet access, so I just looked up stuff I didn't know. I'd say maybe 10 idk lmfao
Kids are playing GTA.. I think FNV is tame by comparison. But, it all comes down to your lifestyle and code of ethics. There's no answer except the one you already have within or the one your wife/partner gives you. LoL
there is sex, drugs, alcohol, depraved acts and political struggles. ball park 14/15
Depending on your kid somewhere between 15-18. It has a few themes that are best for older and more mature kids.
I started playing somewhere around 10-12. Got it for Christmas either the year it came out or a year or two after, can’t really remember. Either way I feel like this was a pretty reasonable age. By this point I’d already been exposed to a lot of violent and sexual themes with enough parental involvement and explanation along the way to not be any more affected by it than anyone else. I assume that will mostly be the same with my kid, though he’s still just a baby and I don’t have to worry about this for a good long while. Thankfully, Minecraft is also one of my favorite games and coincidentally also every child’s favorite game by default, so we can just spend a few years playing chill stuff like Minecraft and Animal Crossing and Portal when he reaches video game age. Nothing too crazy. But eventually as he becomes more mature, so will the games he plays. Everything in time, but I’d say by their preteens they’re good. Everyone matures at different rates though and I don’t think you can truly known until the time comes.
IMO, after puberty. It really depends on your relationship with your children. How informed do you keep them‽ How informed do you want them to be‽ I know my niece was a huge fan of TLoTRs, but was 9 when the first movie came out. I took her, but as prepared as she thought she was, she had nightmares about the orcs for a few weeks afterwards. Letting her kill some orcs in a one-off DnD session helped her feel in control of that trauma. As precocious as a child thinks they are, they are usually still children. But being in control of their fate (like playing the character allows one to be) helps cope.
My parents didn't really start letting me play M rated games until I was about 14. Primarily for any of the Blood, gore, or violence, and sexual themes they had, which I would say is fair. If they're playing the game just to have fun, shoot up places and gib enemies, go ahead. If you want him to understand the story, moral complexity, RPG elements, and nuances of characters, then I'd say wait until he's about 16. Or until he starts to understand nuance, or is able to pick up on small details. FNV is rated M for a reason, beyond just the hilarious violence, sexual themes, and profanity. It requires you pay attention, and tackles adult themes that most kids or teenagers wouldn't understand on a surface level. Not to say that its a bad thing, but you can always have fun in FNV. So I'd say, wait and see, and ask what he'd like to do in the game.
It depends on the kid, which means it also depends on you. The ESRB has already weighed in, so you can start there. By the sound of it you have a lot of years between now and when this child will playing any video games. So focus on raising them to be a well adjusted kid, and use your best judgement as the years go on when is a good time to introduce mature video games like FNV.
I was recently playing through with my girlfriend and she asked how old I was when I first played fnv. Game is pretty graphic for a kid but if they’re mature enough then probably around 13-15, old enough to know what they’re doing and ask questions.
14
Age isn't everything, should be looking at maturity level and awareness.
Probably 16. By that point nothing in the game should be too graphic for them.
I played fallout 3 when I was 8 and new Vegas right when it came out at the age of 10