http://gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2010/10/20/enemy-of-the-state.aspx?PostPageIndex=1 I want to know peoples opinions on this topic.
I can agree with how video games should be treated like the other forms of entertainment (books, movies, etc). But I think the ESRB does enough, where I live anyway a minor cannot buy a rated 'M' game without an adult (17+). But why blame the industry? If a person underaged buys a rated M game its their parents fault, not the industry.
Hi, my name is ESRB and I have been around since 1994. Every video game that is sold is, in my opinion, marked relatively clearly on the cover with an ESRB rating. If people are so concerned with cracking down on the content in video games, enforce ESRB ratings more. If I remember correctly, there is already a rule that states that you can't buy a Mature/Adult Only game without confirming your age. If the cashier fails to just quickly ask you to pull out an ID then it's their fault, not the video game industry. Furthermore, if a parent is upset that their child is buying a game with a higher rating then the child is ready for, maybe they should start paying more attention to what the kids buy and/or what they're buying for them. It's just like movies, imo. You can't limit what someone makes in a democratic society (I'm talking in terms of America here), that's unconstitutional, you can only limit who can buy it.
I'm rather doubting it'll get passed. It's rather easy to say that the bill goes against "Freedom of Speech" and courts are supposed to be rather emotionless in dealing with these kinds of things. Having someone say, "Think about the children!" won't get sympathy from the Court. That's basically what's happening here, video games are being blamed for things that should be handled by other people. The rating system is good, retailers do enforce the age policy for Mature-rated games(most of the time), and some ratings are a little undeserving. I own quite a few "Mature" games that don't even seem to be all that bad. Once you're 17, if you play those kinds of games you should be old enough to handle it. They mentioned the use of the Adult rating that's never been used, well why bother using it? If I remember correctly the "Ao" rating is for 18+. That's not a big difference at all. If young kids are playing violent games, get after the parents and not the industry.
Pretty much this. There are practices in place when it comes to kids and mature media, whether it be games or movies, but it's up to the parents and employees of the business to do their job. I remember when I was 16 and tried buying Godfather. The cashier wouldn't let me lol. I was pretty mad.
I'm wondering how they got the statistic "At the time that they passed this law, a federal trade commission study showed that well over half the kids 14-16 years old were able to purchase ultra-violent video games" Because I don't know anywhere in my area that sold out M games to minors. But most of my friends were able to get parents to buy the games for them. I think that they may have surveyed the kids in which case many of them probably saw getting their parents to buy it as buying it themselves. If I'm right then this changes nothing. The occasional stupid clerk will still be just that with or without a penalty. Also I don't like the fact that they bring up the lack of AO ratings though. Developers receive a base rating and are then given the chance to alter the game or submit the game for full review. If a game gets an AO rating then developers almost always tone it down so that it fits as a M rating. I would call that a good thing for their point of view on the subject.
Apart from the few rare cases where some form of entertainment has lead to a negative outcome, such as the case of Jamie Bulger, I think all forms of entertainment actually enrich life. If you compared the number of people who would commit a crime after a playing a video game, listening to music, or watching a movie, against those who are inspired to do sometihng creative, creativity will be in the thousands whilst criminals won't even reach double digits. Video games have lead me to enjoy my own culture, and foreign ones as well. They've given me great and unforgettable story experiences and even taught me a thing of two. And I use to be an under age gamer. I was able to get Grand theft auto at the age of 14-15. But it didn't mean I wanted to murder every prostitute I came across. It was just something fun to do. Why vlame the whole gaming community and put legislations against them when it should be the retailers responsibility for selling them? Even worse it should be a parents responsibility on whether they wish to buy a game that their child will play. And if i'm honest it's movies that desensitised me against violence. But that doesn't mean I agree with it. Hell, I resolve as much as I can with words and not violence, yet video games will get blamed because some people view them as a threat to social security? Pfft. If this is passed, I lose further hope for America. And knowing Britian, we'll follow along the same path like mindless sheep.
Makes me wonder if Jack Thompson finally crawled out from under that rock he's been hiding und- *gets blasted back 90 feet by gamers screaming: "NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!"* ........ Ow.......... Anyway, to the topic on hand... I think no matter what the retailers do, parents are going to buy these games for their kids. I saw one parent buy his eight year old son Doom even after the retailers told them that it was too violent for the kid and the dad bought it anyway because he thought the kid should have the more the merrier with violence. Yes, he said that. No matter what you do, there's always going to be idiot parents out there. No matter what law is going to be passed, no matter how many stickers, no matter how many fines you add to the gaming and/or retail industry, the kids are going to get it. Whether it be some stupid parent, or some friend who is 17/18, it's going to happen. A friend of mine in Junior High got Mortal Kombat 2 and we played with the bloody fatalities and all. I'm a (mostly) stable adult who hasn't murdered anyone *yet* :P. The kids who play these games aren't going to turn into mass murderers, and if they do, they had issues to begin with. It's horrendously stupid, it was the same with music, tv, movies... The list goes on and on, it'll happen with the Internet at some point, too. If it hasn't, already. It's a part of life and sadly, you have to resign yourself to it. And God-forbid you have to wait a few years for you to reach the golden age of 17 for a few games. At 17, life gets a lot crappier, trust me. Be happy you're not 17 yet and you can get the game and have all the pressures of adulthood knocking on your door. And yes, I do believe in the rating, not only for GTA, but for some other games that do deserve the rating, and I never played war games, so I won't post my opinion on that. Enjoy the kid in you when you can, folks.
I think we all need to calm down, this argument has been said for movies too remember, and each time someone *****es and wines, it doesn't do a thing, each generation, parents find a thing to complain about, first it was rock, than movies, now video games, its a cycle, this whole thing will be over soon, and plus if this would pass, than this would not be America anymore now would it. Also in the article they said someone said that in L4D 2 that killing zombies is a cruel, wow, fist of there zombies! hello! parents, I know you watched classics such as dawn of the dead, and everyone knows, zombies are not human anymore. Plus if this was past, than parents would move on back to movies, than music and soon our whole media industry will be full of cute bunnies and rainbows and America will look like pussies. Oh and one more thing the person who wanted the supreme court to look at this was ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, wow Arnold, lets look at your past shall we, you have stared in some of the most violent movies I have ever seen, and now you want to get rid of violent video games? wow, irony.
My thoughts exactly ! You seem especially obsessed with sex censorship. ^^ We do have a rating system similar to ESRB in France but it' s purely informative, no retailer will ever ask any kid to show him some kind of ID. I' ve seen some 8 years old kids playing GTA. Pirahna 3D was rated 12+ here ! O_o (it even shocks ME) I think all this violence isn' t really a problem as long as parents pay attention to their kids and talk to them about it. Japanese seem to think the same. America have the most censoring ratings that I know of.
Also why can't people accept the ID law, sounds fine to me, its like buying alcohol. But no parents are just like the kids themselves they want more, more, MOAR!
You know I honestly think this is hardcore crap. Parents have every right to let their kids play/watch/read/listen to whatever they want them too. My parents trust me when I play M rated video games, and I tell them the differences between AO, M, T, E10+, and E all the time so they understand what games I'm allowed and not allowed to play. My parents let me play the hardcore Mature games because they know I can handle it. I really wish the government would get out video gaming, and get back to governing the country (which is something, I think, they're not doing a very good job of). Those are my thoughts. By the way you can read the discussion or whatever the Supreme Court had about this just this morning right here: http://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/08-1448.pdf Nevermind someone already mentioned it above me lol
I think this case is covered, outlawing violent video games is unconstitutional, the evidence in this article is clear, the supreme court has made up their minds, we win, Schwarzenegger loses, case closed, I'm gonna play some GTA IV *plays GTA IV*
The bottom line is that no matter how many warning labels are on a video game; A parent isn't going to listen to a screaming child whining over a video game and just ignore it. The kids are still going to play the games. That's no doubt. And I don't really see how any of it affects the community. I mean you don't see children reenacting Halo by teabagging eachothers corpses after shooting them in the leg with a pistol do you? It's just rediculously pointless in my opinion. Just trying to take everyone's mind off of the things that matter.
