Proposal to ban violent video games fails in Supreme Court : Othor Games

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 3:41 am

Honestly i hate when states try to pass stuff like this but if they must don't make it based on age make it based on iq or grades something brain related.

» Fri Feb 18, 2011 7:47 pm

Honestly i hate when states try to pass stuff like this but if they must don't make it based on age make it based on iq or grades something brain related.

No, I think we should go to a "You must be this tall to play this game" type system. Now that's an idea that could work...

» Fri Feb 18, 2011 11:35 pm

When I started playing video games there weren't any ratings or a ratings system.

The ratings and ratings system came about because this country is full of whiney little [censored]es.

[censored] the [censored]es.

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 10:22 am

When I started playing video games there weren't any ratings or a ratings system.

The ratings and ratings system came about because this country is full of whiney little [censored]es.

[censored] the [censored]es.

Exactly, so let's stop the whiny little [censored]es from buying the games! It would improve online gaming no end.

» Fri Feb 18, 2011 10:28 pm

The ratings and ratings system came about because this country is full of whiney little [censored]es.

Soccer moms?

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 9:11 am

Yes, they stunt children's sixual maturity and can cause mental issues for the rest of their lives. That's why we restrict it's sale to them, and videogames ought to be similarly restricted.

Really? I never had "the talk" with my parents, found out through those means and came to realize I'm gay. I wouldn't say I have a stunted sixual maturity nor mental issues (although I have been suffering from depression lately, it's completely unrelated I'm sure).

And they already are restricted... :facepalm:

» Fri Feb 18, 2011 8:11 pm

Correct, NC-17 movies are more like AO-rated games than M-rated ones. As I recall, when GTA San Andreas got re-rated AO, Rockstar re-released it as M with the offending content removed so it could stay on shelves.

But with this law they want some games to be above M (17+) and instead have a huge 18+ label attached. I'd say they would not be sold in most stores, same as NC-17.

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 4:45 am

But with this law they want some games to be above M (17+) and instead have a huge 18+ label attached. I'd say they would not be sold in most stores, same as NC-17.

Isn't that what AO already is? Sounds a bit redundant to me.

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 5:14 am

:facepalm:

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 9:34 am

Isn't that what AO already is? Sounds a bit redundant to me.

Yeah but this is supposed to be a law, not self-regulation.

And Call of Duty: Black Ops is one example of a game that would have this 18+ label, even though the game is rated M.

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 4:46 am

Yeah but this is supposed to be a law, not self-regulation.

And Call of Duty: Black Ops is one example of a game that would have this 18+ label, even though the game is rated M.

I see now. All this time I never actually knew that the ESRB was a non-profit self-regulatory organization; their influence is so widespread in the US, I assumed they had government backing.

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 2:48 am

I see now. All this time I never actually knew that the ESRB was a non-profit self-regulatory organization; their influence is so widespread in the US, I assumed they had government backing.

Indeed. Same thing as the Motion Picture Association of America. Totally controlled by the industry, NOT by the government.

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 7:18 am

I'm sorry, but what is wrong with this law exactly? Games are rated for a reason you know and games with a M rating obviously shouldn't be sold to minors without a parent / guardian present. :huh:

It's the same with films, you can't go see a film that has an 18+ rating if you're a minor. Why should video games be any different?

Rating's are simply optional, a suggestion if you will. Only reason minors can't watch R films or buy M games is because retailers are scared of some sort of lawsuit for corrupting the youth.

» Fri Feb 18, 2011 8:56 pm

Yeah but this is supposed to be a law, not self-regulation.

And Call of Duty: Black Ops is one example of a game that would have this 18+ label, even though the game is rated M.

17+, 18+, it's a one year difference and honestly with the maturity levels of most people it really wouldn't matter if the 17 year old got it or not. :shrug:

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 8:40 am

Uh..

No..

Not even close

Agreed , this is like the many laws in the USA that protect minors from watching pormography , even thought it doesn't work well cause everyone can click the 18+ year old button anyhow. Personally , I don't think kids should have games like COD or M rated games unless their parents get the game for them and they have to hold resposibility of buying the game and not blaming the game company for the consequences.

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 4:29 am

17+, 18+, it's a one year difference and honestly with the maturity levels of most people it really wouldn't matter if the 17 year old got it or not. :shrug:

Yes it won't matter to most people, but it might matter to Wal-Mart.....

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 4:41 am

Exactly, so let's stop the whiny little [censored]es from buying the games! It would improve online gaming no end.

Yup, and this will end the problem decisively. The only way to get around this fool-proof law are ignorant parents buying the games for their kids regardless.

...

...

...Oh snap, that's what they do anyway. FOILED AGAIN!

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 4:36 am

http://www.mediacoalition.org/mediaimages/ab_1179%5B1%5D.pdf

Exposing minors to depictions of violence in video games, including sixual and heinous violence, makes those minors more likely to experience feelings of aggression, to experience a reduction of activity in the frontal lobes of the brain, and to exhibit violent antisocial or aggressive behavior.

^- Bad/fake science.

Even minors who do not commit acts of violence suffer psychological harm from prolonged exposure to violent video games.

^- Bad/fake science.

The state has a compelling interest in preventing violent, aggressive, and antisocial behavior, and in preventing psychological or neurological harm to minors who play violent video games.

^- Bad/fake science, behavioral engineering, fear mongering.

Like others said, I'm yet another pre-rating era gamer, grew up playing Doom, Wolfenstein, Rise of the Triads, Duke Nukem, and strangely I have a significantly better concept of what's actually harmful than people who are supposed to have a clue. However, the people that make these kind of laws obviously have no vested interest in legitimate children's health or science. It's just another way of using government to control how people act and what they can see/hear, and using government to try and modify people's behavior, which includes the bizarre contemporary coddling of children who aren't nearly as fragile as they like to make it seem. Nothing more, nothing less.

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 7:53 am

I grabbed Fallout 3 GOTY the other day at EB. It was real cute when the person asked me "Are you 17 or older". lololo

Here, alota places ID you if you look young and are trying to get a M rated game.

It's the same here too, and I can get that for looking young. Is the law different in California? Because I thought M games were already not allowed to be sold to minors in America.

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 9:49 am

It's the same here too, and I can get that for looking young. Is the law different in California? Because I thought M games were already not allowed to be sold to minors in America.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/gaming/2009-02-20-video-game-law_N.htm

Short:
SACRAMENTO (AP) — A federal appeals court on Friday struck down a California law that sought to ban the sale or rental of violent video games to minors.

Don't see how this one survives either, but I'd rather shoot the messenger.

» Fri Feb 18, 2011 9:23 pm

By violent video games the ones rated M, right? They're already not allowed to be sold to minors unless I'm missing something?

» Fri Feb 18, 2011 11:16 pm

By violent video games the ones rated M, right? They're already not allowed to be sold to minors unless I'm missing something?

By store policy, not by law.

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 2:24 am

By store policy, not by law.

Oh, I see. :mellow: I'm sure the kids could still get the games anyway. Unnecessary law is unnecessary.

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 2:07 am

The difference between the industry self regulating sales of video games, and the government regulating them, is that if the government did regulate their sales, VIDEO GAMES WOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED ART.

And, as not being considered art, the government could mandate censors, toning down, or WHATEVER THEY WANTED TO MANDATE, because, as video games would not be art, they could be censored. So just the same way certain types of porm are not allowed, video games could be censored in the same way. Compare this to books, movies, pictures, paintings, digital art, or what have you, which can NOT be censored by the government.

Sorry for the Necro, but it gets my goat, still. The 'games are not art' thing. I think any movie director in recent years who has won an Oscar for a movie using a butt load of computer generated effects should have to give back the Oscars. It's obviously not art, obviously... apparently. lol

The uptight old types might want to consider what's been driving the hardware constantly, especially when it comes to visuals, graphics tech. Avatar, the last three Star Wars movies, Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Carribean... yeah... give back those Oscars you won for the special effects... without the video game industry, without publishers, devs, artists, and gamers... that tech would be like, twenty years behind where it is today. lol

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 2:04 am

I remember vividly that my first M rated game was Contra: Hard Corps for Sega. My mom got me it for my 10th birthday. It was rated M because it had naughty language...like "ass", "[censored]" and "hell". I know you can't see the second one, but you hear it on tv, so you can tell how far we've come in 12 years.

I figure my first video games were around age 7-8, so that would have been my first Teen rated game as well.