Kara Petrich of Spanaway, WA, accidently purchashed a mislabeled video game for her 9-year-old daughter last week. Petrich was under the impression that she had purchased a video game from the "Petz" series, which is a virtual pet-caring video game. However, inside the box was a copy of "Sprung", a sims type game designed to be a dating simulator for teens. Petrich was shocked when her 9-year-old daughter encountered suggestive dialogue that included statements like, "make sure you bring your life jackets, condoms" and "You wanna rock my mountains, don't you?"
The reports claim that sprung is a game that is rated T for teens. From what I have understood, that rating applies to ages 13+. I don't know if it's appropriate to encourage thirteen year olds to engage in that kind of dialogue. I do think it's important that teens understand the value of safe sex before making the decision to have sex, however, condom talk and "rocking mountains" is a bit premature. I think the concept of sprung should be re-evaluated, or at least the rating changed to a higher maturity level.
Representatives from Big Lots, have yet to make a statement. This situation is being treated like a fluke within the industry, and from what I see, it is. Clearly something was being overlooked and someone accidently put the wrong game in the wrong box. In order to prevent such instances, I think it's important to pay more attention to detail, so the wrong game doesn't fall into the wrong hands in the future. Petrich warns parents to clearly observe the games that their children are playing, so they can decide what influences are being had on their children because, clearly, some of these games are more than what meets the eye.
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