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Game Industry Derided For Mature Content 588

Posted by Zonk from the won't-someone-think-of-the-children? dept.
Steve Rock writes "To the surprise of no one, game manufacturers and resellers were again taken to task over the production and sales of games containing violent or sexual themes. According to the National Institute on Media and the Family's Ninth Annual Mediawise Video Game Report Card even games with beneficial or neutral content can be harmful to children because of the connection between gameplay and our obesity epidemic. Interestingly, out of fifty surveys mailed out by the Institute to retailers and producers only two were completed and returned. The industry was given a passing grade for the ESRB rating system but the actual enforcement of the system by the retailers was not -- it is worth noting, however, that the Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association has stated that self-regulation procedures were scheduled to be implemented by December 2004 and therefore tests of retailer compliance to ESRB ratings was premature."
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Game Industry Derided For Mature Content

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  • ESRB? Holy Comics Code, Batman! (Score:5, Informative)

    by ackthpt ( 218170 ) * on Wednesday November 24, 2004 @02:43PM (#10911594) Homepage Journal
    US History 101:

    Back in 1954 Dr. Frederick Wertham wrote the infamous Seduction Of The Innocent, regarding the comics industry preying upon the youth of America.

    "Wertham was convinced that comic books were evil, that they contributed to the delinquency of minors, and also to their sexual perversion. In addition Wertham claimed that when any questioned the comic book publishers on their product, they were conspired against, and were labelled communists."

    Before you laugh off it off, recall the US Senate Subcommittee Investigation on Juvenile Delinquency in the United States. and all the recent stink about decency in television.

    The comic industry, to placate the witch hunters offered self policing. Sound familiar? Wertham considered it a sham. Sound familiar, too?

    For some background on Comics Code check this site [dm.net] and this site. [sideroad.com]

    make way! make way! make way for the age of decency! 60,608,582 merkins can't be denied!

    • Re:ESRB? Holy Comics Code, Batman! (Score:5, Funny)

      by AvantLegion ( 595806 ) on Wednesday November 24, 2004 @02:46PM (#10911625) Journal
      You know, I keep seeing this.

      Comic books were "the devil", went through legal hassle, and eventually became accepted culture.

      TV shows were "the devil", went through legal hassle, and eventually became accepted culture.

      Heavy metal was "the devil", went through legal hassle, and eventually became accepted culture.

      Video games are "the devil", going through legal hassle, and becoming part of accepted culture.

      In light of this, I submit that the next big mind-warping fad needs to be "public sex with minors".

    • Before you laugh off it off, recall the US Senate Subcommittee Investigation on Juvenile Delinquency in the United States. and all the recent stink about decency in television.

      The comic industry, to placate the witch hunters offered self policing. Sound familiar? Wertham considered it a sham. Sound familiar, too?

      To add to the point, remember how long it took to bounce back from the damage Wertham did. Having that happen to video games now could have catastrophic damage.

    • Re:ESRB? Holy Comics Code, Batman! (Score:5, Funny)

      by Jeffrey Baker ( 6191 ) on Wednesday November 24, 2004 @02:49PM (#10911668)
      Also, D&D will turn you into Pentagram-doodling witch [chick.com] and the only way to come back to Jeebus is to burn all your D&D stuff (and heck, better throw all your other books on the fire, too).

      Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go carjack an old LTD, provoke a gang war, then go for some pizza and hookers. [rockstargames.com]

      • Re:ESRB? Holy Comics Code, Batman! (Score:4, Funny)

        by TopShelf ( 92521 ) on Wednesday November 24, 2004 @02:52PM (#10911710) Homepage Journal
        Just beware the "extra sausage" - on the pizza and the hookers...

      • Speaking of mature content... (Score:4, Interesting)

        by Txiasaeia ( 581598 ) on Wednesday November 24, 2004 @03:05PM (#10911875)
        I'm a fairly conservative Christian and even I have problems with chick.com. Among the more obvious problems, even the supposedly "accurate" portrayals of various events are inaccurate (for example, child molestation in Sodom & Gomorrah). I emailed their site several times to protest this, but they basically told me to shut up and never email them again.
        • I emailed their site several times to protest this, but they basically told me to shut up and never email them again.

          Funny, same thing happened to me when I pointed out some flaws on Slashdot...
        • Jack Chick reflects Christianity the way Weekly World News reflects journalism.

          (I was going to say Dan Rather, but some people might not have caught the irony.)

      • Re:ESRB? Holy Comics Code, Batman! (Score:5, Funny)

        by The Ultimate Fartkno ( 756456 ) on Wednesday November 24, 2004 @03:16PM (#10911997)
        Riiiiight. Show me a DM that looks like that and I'll show you a game with 67 guys packed into a basement, each one of them trying to roll a d20 and look sexy at the same time.

        "Soooo, lady DM - what'cha doing after I slay this gelatinous cube? Want to come over for some Cheez Doodles and the latest Next Gen DVD?"

    • Re:ESRB? Holy Comics Code, Batman! (Score:5, Interesting)

      by stecoop ( 759508 ) on Wednesday November 24, 2004 @02:49PM (#10911673) Journal
      As preposterous as the comic book debacle seems it is true. I saw the story on the history channel and one the targets was Mad Comic books aka Mad *Magazine*. See to get around the issue, the owners ceased calling it a comic book and named it called it a magazine as defined by that days statutes.

      Don't call it crazy because look at the year 1954 and subtract just a few years - you'll find a time where the US legislate Prohibition into law. Crazy things happen when bounds aren't kept within check.

      • Re:ESRB? Holy Comics Code, Batman! (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Kombat ( 93720 ) <kevin@swanweddingphotography.com> on Wednesday November 24, 2004 @03:04PM (#10911860)
        Crazy things happen when bounds aren't kept within check.

        Equally crazy things happen when we fail to learn from history. Funny you should mention prohibition, as it is back with a vengeance. Only this time, the culprit is marijuana instead of alcohol. Two remarkably comparable drugs, with identical consequences under prohibition (that is, the police are overworked, and drug lords profit from the monopoly they have on distribution).

        • Re:ESRB? Holy Comics Code, Batman! (Score:4, Informative)

          by Hatta ( 162192 ) on Wednesday November 24, 2004 @04:01PM (#10912504) Journal
          Only this time, the culprit is marijuana instead of alcohol. Two remarkably comparable drugs, with identical consequences under prohibition

          Come on. Alcohol and marijuana are about as comparable as, well, two very dissimilar things. Alcohol is addictive, causes violence, swollen ego, lack of coordination, liver disease, etc. On the contrary, marijuana is nonaddictive, users are peaceful and calm, there is no impairment of coordination, most activites you can do sober you can do stoned.

          I agree with you, the results of prohibition are the same no matter what drug we're talking about. But you do a disservice when you say alcohol and marijuana are comparable. Marijuana is in every respect safer and more beneficial than alcohol.
          • most activites you can do sober you can do stoned.

            Not entirely true. I'm far better at Soul Caliber 2 when stoned.
    • ... comic books were evil, that they contributed to the delinquency of minors, and also to their sexual perversion ...

      I always knew that Richie Rich and Casper were EVIL.

  • Do video games affect culture? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by jellomizer ( 103300 ) * on Wednesday November 24, 2004 @02:46PM (#10911620)
    Do video games affect culture or does culture affect video games?

    With all these problems being pinned on video games the real question is it really video games causing all these problems. For obesity is it just because video games cause children to be obese causing them to stay at home with little activity to play games, or is it that children who have a tendency of being obese don't want to go outside and play (for reasons of security, lack of proper parental supervision, or just no one else in the area to interact with) So they will stay in side and play video games, where if there were no games then they would Watch TV all day. The same is with violence in games is it because games are violence causes kids to become violence, or is it that they see themselves in a culture of violence so they enjoy violent games. I am not a big game player and I really don't care for first person shoot-em-ups and having excessive gore. But I feel that these games reflect the culture more then culture reflects the games because the games will not sell if they didn't reflect the culture.

    • Just games (Score:2, Interesting)

      by DogDude ( 805747 )
      Or maybe they're just games, and they're completely unrelated to "culture". I, for example, have little to no contact with pop culture. I have no TV, I live in a progressive town that doesn't allow big box stores (which seems to be the heart of US culture these days), I rarely listen to the radio. But, I love the Grand Theft Auto series. They're fun games. Good relaxation after a 16 hour day of work. Culture has nothing to do with it. I'm glad games like these exist, else I'd be playing mindless, juv
    • is it because games are violence causes kids to become violence, or is it that they see themselves in a culture of violence so they enjoy violent games

      Congradulations. You have just discovered the dificulty in figuring out Cause and Effect vs. Correlation. This is the hardest thing for scientists and psychologists to figure out. Do I have a correlation here? Or do I have a cause and effect?
      • Exactly. But unfortunatly these groups that do all these statitcs dont tend to realize this. For a country that puts little focust on the importance in math they put a lot of attention on what the numbers give, whithout looking at the non matmatical portion to it.
      • Apparently the second hardest thing for scientists and psychologists to figure out is how to spell the word "congratulations" without using the letter 'D'.
    • This is an insightful comment, I look at my kids and their love for video games, however my wife and I carefully monitor the content of the games they play. I like to play some violent games, but don't allow my kids to. It comes down to being a responsible parent, not letting your 10 year old play GTA for example. As for obesity, kids are encouraged to stay home, I know I don't feel comfortable letting my 8 year old daughter outdoors on her own, you read about some sickos picking up kids all of the time, an
    • The answer is 'Yes'. Its not a one way street. Sure, video games are culture based, if there wasn't any basis then they wouldn't sell.

      But, as with anything, they expand on what we consider our culture to be, they contribute to it. They also serve to reinfoce attitudes and culture that we already have.

      Video games aren't the message, they are the medium, and the messages that are being passed through that medium are intertwined with our culture. They express values already held by society (not necessarily i

  • So what? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by The Kow ( 184414 ) <putnamp@ g m ail.com> on Wednesday November 24, 2004 @02:46PM (#10911630)
    What I don't understand is that, in spite of endless harping and railing by People With Nothing Better To Do (PWNBTD), has the gaming industry *EVER* been impacted by the complaints? Can someone provide a list of tangible side-effects of all of this criticism? It seems like the gaming industry just keeps chugging along.

    • Re:So what? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by stratjakt ( 596332 ) on Wednesday November 24, 2004 @02:55PM (#10911746) Journal
      It's now illegal to sell an M rated game to a minor in California, thanks to the Governator.

      I mean, it's not like he'd actively try to hamper the sale of video games so that youngsters disposable income would be spent on his latest action flick.

      To summarize: Arnold pretending to kill terrorists on the big screen, is A-OK. Nothing more american than Arnold Shwartzenegger. But me pretending to kill terrorists on the small screen, not OK.

      Yes, this has hampered the industry. Dozens, hundreds, hell who knows how many projects have been cancelled or shelved for fear of some frivolous lawsuit. Thrill Kill being a "famous" example of a promising game being scrapped because of PC concerns.

      See the douchebags vs Doom and douchebags vs Rockstar cases for more background.

      When I was a kid it was Dungeons and Dragons and Judas Priest albums that were responsible for all the troubles of youth. I guess they fixed D&D and Priest.
    • They aren't silly enough to believe that they will impact the compaines, but they do want to raise awarness in the general population that these games are not for kids. It may sound silly, but I know a lot of clueless parents who don't realise how graphic some of these games are. While the ideal parent would be involved enough in their childs life to montier thier video games personally, many do not have the luxuary of the time required. So hopefully groups like this do cause parents of young impressionable

  • crappy double standard (Score:4, Interesting)

    by AgentGray ( 200299 ) on Wednesday November 24, 2004 @02:47PM (#10911632) Homepage
    In other news the movie industry and book industry just keep putting out their usual mature content crap.
    • And please note that reading, school attendence and homework contribute to obesity.

      Children of the world, arise, arise!
      Loose yourselves from the corpulent shackles that bind you,
      Gripping your hearts in a greasy fist of early death,
      Sucking you to the earth with the inexorable force of mass attracted to mass.

      Eschew literature. Screw Math. Fuck school!

      The stalwart guardians of your interests have spoken. Sitting is bad for you,
      And in the words of the great prophet Moss, "Movement is serenity."

      Go outside an

  • Why are they parenting others kids? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Ironsides ( 739422 ) on Wednesday November 24, 2004 @02:48PM (#10911647) Homepage Journal
    Content aside, the amount of time kids spend playing games, even the good ones, is contributing to the obesity epidemic among American youth. For too many kids, the only parts of their body they are exercising are their thumbs. We are particularly concerned, therefore, about the launch of games this year aimed at children as young as two. We know that the industry wants to expand its customer base and that it is in their economic interest to hook babies on games. This trend, however, raises serious implications for our children's health.

    What ever happened to parents kicking their kids out of the house to play ball outside? Turn off the TV, unplug their game console, log them off the computer and send them outside to play with their friends. This is nothing new and the "problem" is solved. This coming from someone who spends 10+ hours a day in front of a computer and still looks skiny.
    • "What ever happened to parents kicking their kids out of the house to play ball outside?"

      1. murder
      2. rape
      3. kidnapping
      4. weapons
      5. drugs
      6. 5 choose 2 on 1-5
      7. 5 choose 3 on 1-5
      8 5 choose 4 on 1-5
      9. all of the above
      • I think it's really more the yellow journalism that blows those all of those risks totally out of proportion and perpetuates the culture of fear that's lead to America having the higest per-capita rate of imprisonment in the world. (mumbles something about the black people and locks the door)

  • mature content (Score:2, Interesting)

    by randalware ( 720317 )
    What about all of us old people (21+) that want content more adult.

    I enjoyed GTA vice city, Postal 2, Quake and would not call them G rated.

    I want them labeled for content, with good install/de-install programs.
    And if you really insist a password/age checker.

    • And an age checker would work how? Require a credit card?

      I remember the old Leisure Suite Larry games had questions you'd need to be 20 or so to know the answers to but that was pre-internet.

      If manufactures can't get a copy protection scheme to work for more than a week, I wouldn't expect them to get one to work that blocks underage players.

  • Games industry has bigger problems.. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by raehl ( 609729 ) <raehl311.yahoo@com> on Wednesday November 24, 2004 @02:49PM (#10911662) Homepage
    Like being derided for poor, delayed, buggy content.

  • Give me a break! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by m.h.2 ( 617891 ) on Wednesday November 24, 2004 @02:49PM (#10911670) Journal
    "even games with beneficial or neutral content can be harmful to children because of the connection between gameplay and our obesity epidemic."

    I've played these games all of my life. I'm not a criminal. I'm not a sociopath. I'm not overweight.

    When are people going to start taking responsibility for the things they and their children do, rather than blaming it upon "outside influences."

    Kids become criminals because they aren't taught to NOT be criminals and because their parents are too soft/stupid/lazy to discipline them appropriately
    Kids become fat because they eat to damn much.

    • Granted for the rest, but

      I'm not a sociopath. remains to be proven.

      Hint: you are posting on slashdot.

    • Re:Give me a break! (Score:5, Funny)

      by the_mad_poster ( 640772 ) <shattoc@adelphia.com> on Wednesday November 24, 2004 @03:00PM (#10911809) Homepage Journal

      I'm not a criminal. I'm not a sociopath. I'm not overweight.

      Then why are you posting here?

    • Re:Give me a break! (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Kombat ( 93720 )
      When are people going to start taking responsibility for the things they and their children do, rather than blaming it upon "outside influences."

      It's not exactly an "either-or" situation. You see, society/culture will exerts a lot of influence on kids. The parents can work to direct this influence, by controlling the amounts of influences they deem positive/negative, but if society shifts, and begins offering grossly disproportionate amounts of "good" vs. "bad" influences (as measured by typically accep

  • In other words (Score:5, Insightful)

    by sulli ( 195030 ) * on Wednesday November 24, 2004 @02:50PM (#10911676) Journal
    Senator Lieberman [senate.gov] is up for re-election in 2006, and he wants to make sure he's way ahead of any Moral Values his opponent will throw at him.

  • pac man (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 24, 2004 @02:50PM (#10911677)
    Video games don't affect kids.. I mean if Pac Man effected us as kids, we'd all be running around in dark rooms, munching on magic pills, listening to repeditive electronic music.

    heh heh...

  • Parent's fault (Score:5, Insightful)

    by ifwm ( 687373 ) on Wednesday November 24, 2004 @02:50PM (#10911681) Journal
    If your kid plays a game with mature themes, or sexual content, instead of blaming the game manufacturers, blame yourself for being a shitty parent. And don't try that "what if he plays it at his friend Johnny's house" because good parents know what happens at their children's friends houses. Excuses are ruining your children. Do your job parents, stop blaming others.

    Also, last year the average age of "video gamers" was 27. Not sure what the source was, but I remember it being reputable. Why would companies NOT make mature games? There are more adults buying (and playing) games, so it makes financial sense.

    If parents did a better job, the current system would work fine.

    • Re:Parent's fault (Score:3, Insightful)

      by chinakow ( 83588 )

      That is absolutly correct. I actually watched the press confrence yesterday, I saw the last half or so, here is what I got from it.

      The average PS2 owner was like 27 or so and the average Xbox owner was a year younger. The board is not tying to censor the games but make parents simply AWARE that these things exist, they also mentioned that ESRB had only ever rated 18 games as AO (Adults Only, 18+), but showed clips of "The Guy Game" and "Leisure Suit Larry", these games are rated M(Mature 17+) yet last I ch

  • Good thing we have the wholesome, trash-free alternative known as television to distract us from this video game smut.

    • Well, the government keeps our "news" very clean. The average US citizen knows virtually nothing about an ongoing, bloody, expensive war going on. Hell, most people in the US thinks that Iraq had something to do with 9/11/2001. The US government is good at keeping its people ignorant. Maybe they're thinking that if they remove violence from video games, that'll pacify the sheeple enough for now, while the big industries (TV and movies) can still make their money. I can tell you though, if the US gov't

  • Why pander to the kids (Score:5, Insightful)

    by furball ( 2853 ) on Wednesday November 24, 2004 @02:52PM (#10911700) Journal
    We have movies that don't cater to kids, plays that don't cater to kids, why do the same thing with video games? The generation that grew up on video games are now adults and if we want adult content then give us adult contents.

    ESRB did what it was meant to do. It gave parents a way to figure out what types of content are to be found in a given game title.

    What next? Is Congress going to hold hearings on hentai next?
    • Exactly. If anything, the game industry should be derided for not having ENOUGH adult content. Sure, I'll agree that 75% of game content should be geared towards youngsters, but there's still quite a few single white males out there who live alone and would appreciate it if some games didn't have to pretend that sex and nudity were are completely non-existant in real life.

  • Lame. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by philovivero ( 321158 ) on Wednesday November 24, 2004 @02:52PM (#10911707) Homepage Journal
    Video games cause obesity? Huh. That's curious. I sit around on my ass 90% of the time on a yearly basis, and yet I'm well within my ideal weight.

    Oh! But I don't eat fast food. I eat vegetables and fruits and healthy food, and I can count the number of times I went to Micky D's last year on one hand.

    And does anyone seriously believe sexual content hurts anyone anymore? We keep hearing this from the Bible thumpers, but year after year, there's no credible study that links sexual content with any deleterious behaviour.

    Despite the obvious and known links between violence on television and in games, we say a little word here and there about it, but at the end of the day, the gov't wants violent children (pretty easy to get them to shoot defenseless Iraqis in a pile of dead guys, isn't it?), so no-one ever gets serious about that.

    I'm beginning to wonder how enlightened we really are.

    • Re:Lame. (Score:2, Funny)

      by nomadic ( 141991 )
      Oh! But I don't eat fast food. I eat vegetables and fruits and healthy food, and I can count the number of times I went to Micky D's last year on one hand.

      Well there's your problem. Work on it.
  • I'm generally conservative-minded in my views, but this is one of those initiatives championed by the religious right that I cannot lend a grain of support to.

    The "science" connecting juvenile delinquency with mature video games is specious at best, and "bunk" most quickly comes to my mind. If any of it were true, you'd better lock me up before I go on a rampage, because I most definitely fit the profile (knowledge of guns, divorced parents, played Doom) when I was a teenager.

    Perhaps these people would b
    • If any of it were true, you'd better lock me up before I go on a rampage, because I most definitely fit the profile (knowledge of guns, divorced parents, played Doom) when I was a teenager.

      Divorce: The columbine kids parents were married. Guns: When was the last time you heard of a Boy Scout going on a shooting rampage, or someone whos dad is in the NRA. Doom) I know for a fact that this type of game keeps a lot of people I know from killing/shooting/strangling people. (Great way to work out frustration

    • Re:Religious Right (Score:3, Insightful)

      by RatBastard ( 949 )
      Perhaps these people would be better off trying to be good parents to their own children than trying to force the video came industry to do it for them.


      They don't care about the children. They care about enforcing their moral values on others. That's ALL they care about. The "think of the children" argument is just a smokescreen to get you to go along with them.

  • National Institute for Media and the Family (Score:5, Funny)

    by Telastyn ( 206146 ) on Wednesday November 24, 2004 @02:53PM (#10911722)
    Let's see, a thinktank orginized to combat the corruption of minors by video games and other media finds that video games corrupt minors...

    Thanks slashdot. Maybe next you can post an article about greenpeace saying that everything isn't hunky dory with the environment...

  • They do not want things to change... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by DAldredge ( 2353 ) <SlashdotEmail@GMail.Com> on Wednesday November 24, 2004 @02:54PM (#10911725) Journal
    They do not want things to change, they want the donations and funding to keep coming in and if they solved the 'problem' they would lose that money.

    That is why the GOP never does much about abortion and why the DEMS never do much about race relations.

    There isn't money in fixing the problem.

  • Video games as a medium (rarely well-done) (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Mad_Rain ( 674268 ) on Wednesday November 24, 2004 @02:55PM (#10911750) Journal
    I'd try for a "First Post," but I'd like to include some actual content [azcentral.com] here.

    For those of you not reading the attached article, it is a summary of a report that says that reading an hour's worth of fairy tales to your kids contains more violent imagery than an hour of evening television.

    The difference is the medium - parents reading stories vs. children watching TV (usually without supervision). Parents who blame video games for violent behavior need to take a long hard look at themselves first, before making the leap that violence in games is tied to violence in the real world.

    That being said, I am all for some additional coporate responsibility to not sell violent games to children under (insert arbitrary age between 10 and 14 here). Ultimately though, it's up to parents to help provide context for these things.
    • Games aren't free. If Jimmy the 10 year old has $54.99 to buy the latest kill spree, then the parents have already failed.
  • Cue uninformed knee-jerk responses by teenage slashdotters that don't have teenagers of their own (you figure that out...) in 3... 2... 1...

    In other news, this has happened every year since 1990 or thereabouts (definitely pre-Columbine). I haven't heard much substantially happen since then, and I don't think anything will.

    • In other news, this has happened every year since 1990 or thereabouts (definitely pre-Columbine).

      Goes back further than that, actually -- I remember this kind of fuss when I was a teenage video-game geek in the early 80's. I was also a D&D geek and a bit of a metalhead, so I was getting it from all sides. Fortunately my parents were too smart to take the hysteria seriously, but some of my friends had really ferocious battles to fight.

  • Mature content??? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by UserChrisCanter4 ( 464072 ) on Wednesday November 24, 2004 @02:56PM (#10911763)
    My local bar had a sign proclaiming the upcomign Halo 2 tournament. You know, a bar, in the US, where you'd need to be 21 to walk in the door (at most bars).

    High School teachers I work with mention having played Grand Theft Auto.

    Whatever statistic you believe, gaming is an extraorinarily succesful mass media, and it's not getting there on the backs of eight year-olds alone. An enormous amount of the success is driven by the kids that grew up with the Ataris, Colecos, and Nintendos, and they are perfectly comfortable playing these "mature" games.

    Kids connect these M-rated games with maturity, rather than the fact that it takes maturity to logically understand these games. It's unfortunate, but the only people that can counter it are the parents and interested third parties. The store I work at throws a warning on the register when an "M" game is being checked out, and prompts us to ask for ID. Failure to follow through can result in termination. More and more stores are following this process, and we're going to be at a point very soon where we can't continue to simply foist the blame off on others. "M" games exist because there's an enormous market for them. 13 year-old kids shouldn't be playing them unless that child's parent is sure that the kid is capable of handling that game. In the meantime, let those of us who can legally drink, smoke, gamble, and be drafted buy Half-Life 2 if wish.

  • It won't be long (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Billy the Mountain ( 225541 ) on Wednesday November 24, 2004 @02:56PM (#10911768) Journal
    before augmented reality is mainstream. From the article:
    even games with beneficial or neutral content can be harmful to children because of the connection between gameplay and our obesity epidemic

    I think good games and physical conditioning are going to merge and really catch on--even with those who are not really in shape. Current barriers are miniaturization of equipment, battery improvements, and HUD improvements, but I think we are close.

    BTM

  • context (Score:5, Insightful)

    by paradesign ( 561561 ) on Wednesday November 24, 2004 @02:58PM (#10911788) Homepage
    A good commentary on the "morality police" vs violent games 'thing' [buzzcut.com]

    Best quote

    I followed up with a simple question, "Who on this panel has played which of the games?"


    Burke answered first, "I haven't played any of them." She backed up her willful ignorance of the games by suggesting that she didn't need to read Soldier of Fortune to know that she was opposed to its glorification of killing. "I think it's an irrelevant question," she concluded.

    When will people learn that ignorance is not an excuse.

    • No, The Best Quote was... (Score:4, Funny)

      by jimbro2k ( 800351 ) on Wednesday November 24, 2004 @03:13PM (#10911968)
      From the commentary: Perhaps the most telling moment of the entire call came when a reporter asked in essence, "Why is it that crime rates are falling just as videogame content is getting more violent?" Without irony, New York City councilman Eric Gioia replied, "I'll take a stab at that" You see Councilman Gioia, context is everything.
  • ...in a free speech zone?!

  • Videodrome was a crazy Cronenberg movie (1983) about a guy (played by James Woods) who ran a cable company. The show opens with him sitting in a chair defending his network's hilariously sleazy content. "It gives our viewers a harmless outlet for their frustrations and fantasies." His character is so shady, even if you're desperate to believe him, you can't.

    But then the movie turns dark. Woods uncovers a conspiracy to control people's minds using television. The videodrome is a metaphor for the combat of i

  • Where are parents on the report card? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Maul ( 83993 ) on Wednesday November 24, 2004 @03:01PM (#10911829) Journal
    The industry has done a pretty good job self-regulating themselves. I'd agree with the ratings on most of the games I've played, and that it is quite clear what all the ratings mean. I've seen retailers tell kids who try to purchase "M" games to get their parents in a few locations as well.

    On the other hand, I've seen parents completely ignore the ratings and description of the games time and time again. Yes, I've seen parents at retail locations buying their kids copies of GTA and other "M" games.

    I know the ultimate goal for these groups that issue report cards is to get the Government to start regulating the industry. That won't do a thing. The #1 responsibility of if kids or not see "mature" games falls in the hands of parents.

  • I don't care how you feel about the content of television, movies, video games or any other media. If you patronize it, you are adding to the very problem you percieve. If you have children, and you find this objectionable, don't buy it. And don't buy products from companies or advertisers related to it.

    The government can't save you from yourself, and shouldn't be expected to. We can't have laws governing every aspect of our existence. That's why the Constitution says any right not discussed within it is g

  • Blame game (Score:5, Interesting)

    by dead sun ( 104217 ) <[aranach] [at] [gmail.com]> on Wednesday November 24, 2004 @03:03PM (#10911857) Homepage Journal
    I would like to blame all the politicians for the corruption of children in their personal quests for power. The politicians display their win at any cost attitudes openly, shamelessly slander those who oppose them, and are more scandalous than any executive at Rockstar Games could ever be when raking in cash. We should prevent children from seeing anything political, and censor CSpan too, the language used is hideous. Politics must be banned. We cannot have children learning these lessons.

    I'd also like to lay a thick layer of blame on all the moral and religious groups which feel that repressing feelings instead of openly discussing them is the proper way to handle them. I'd like to make a call to remove all children from churches until priests can stop molesting them. Please, think of the children. Further, the lessons in the bible are too graphic, depicting things like brothers slaying each other. What is this world coming to? How about reading Sesame Street books on Sunday instead, those are wholesome. I'd like to further blame religious figures who lambast the teaching of sexual education, though most parents will never bring up the topic until it's too late and their childrens' curiosity provides the lessons. How many children's lives must be ruined because adults are too embarassed to speak about sexuality? Can't we for once actually think of the children?

    Finally, I'd like to thank the video game industry, for providing children with an outlet for excess energy that doesn't involve killing people. Sports games, platformers, puzzle games, there are all sorts of interactive outlets for children apart from just watching after school cartoons. I'd like to yell at parents that give overly young, impressionable children mature games. What's wrong with you? I'd like to thank all parents that have decided their 16 year olds are or are not mature enough to play GTA, and took the trouble to, you know, actually think about their child instead of blaming others for their poor parenting.

  • Bringing God to the PlayStation (Score:4, Funny)

    by l0ungeb0y ( 442022 ) on Wednesday November 24, 2004 @03:10PM (#10911925) Homepage Journal
    I for one am taking the high ground here and currently producing "Christian Cell" a first person action game that will teach children about the bible while they infiltrate godless liberal political organizations before they can put Hillary Clinton into Office and outlaw the bible.

    After being air-dropped in the middle of the night your role as a member of Christian Cell will be to use your bible knowledge, high tech gadgetry and stealth skills to sneak up behind enemy targets, collect information and ultimately destroy the leaders of this terrorist organization.

  • Priorities (Score:4, Insightful)

    by verloren ( 523497 ) on Wednesday November 24, 2004 @03:11PM (#10911933)
    This is exactly the kind of thing we all (not just /.ers) need to get worked up about! Video games do far greater harm to our kids than moldy old school buildings that should have been gutted decades ago.

    Blasting fantasy aliens will shorten a child's life way more effectively than spending a year without health insurance.

    Better we concentrate on ending the nervous twitch that excessive gamepading can cause, rather than the total ego destruction that occurs when a parent/teacher/priest molests the child.

    Let's deal with children with the warped perception that Master Chief is 'cool', and we can get to the constant cramming of blipverts selling piece of crap aspirations that can never, ever be realized later.

    Let's stop the mega-corporations poisoning the poor children's minds with comic ultra-violence, so that they can concentrate on poisoning their bodies with chemicals in the environment, in the water, in the sludge-matic pound 'o' lard flame-wiped shite burger at the local worker exploitation outlet that embodies their future.

    OR

    We might pick something that actually matters, but that might require the expenditure of actual effort, and change it instead.

    It's a judgement call, I guess.
  • World of warcraft collectors box is really sharp looking. No copyright notices, system requirements all that junk. All that is on a soft glue paper attatched to the back. Its flawless except for....

    THE %#*%#@ ESRB NOTICE RIGHT IN FRONT!

    Now I can put the box up for display and show to everyone that this game is rated teen.

    YAY...

  • "What about the children?" (Score:5, Insightful)

    by DroopyStonx ( 683090 ) on Wednesday November 24, 2004 @03:14PM (#10911977)
    Fuck the children. Seriously.

    Everything's about protecting children, and it's POINTLESS.

    You think you should censor movies with swear words? Well think again: they pick em up in the schoolyard regardless.

    Afraid to show them boobs? Well, guess what they'll be seeing as a teenager anyway? I'm not saying show them some hardcore porn, but really, Janet Jackson's ugly tit won't fuck your child up.

    Afraid to show them violence? Oh, hah, no. Violence is okay in movies, but not in interactive games!

    Do your fucking job as a parent and there shouldn't be any issues. The end. Simple, really... unless you're a shitty parent.

    Society is hypocritical. Thankfully, the smart ones ignore stupid complaints from the ignorant.
    • There's nothing wrong with violence [wikipedia.org], sexuality, etc etc - it's all about placement. Teach your kids that stress relief by acting out frustrations on your opponents is different than whacking around another kid in a playground. Hunting in the wilds is different than blowing people away with a shotgun, etc etc.

      Personally I'm still more afraid of the influence upon children of today that post 9-11 is giving (hey, let's go blow up some countries because they might harbour terrorists, and it's ok to lock up a

  • Used to work at a game store... (Score:3, Informative)

    by EFGearman ( 245715 ) <EFGearman@sc.[ ]com ['rr.' in gap]> on Wednesday November 24, 2004 @03:22PM (#10912055)
    And a few Christmas's ago, had the following conversation with a customer who walked in to buy a game:

    (Me): Thank you for coming to [store]. Can I help you find anything.

    (Her): Yes, I'm looking for that game.

    [slight wait as I realize no more information is forthcoming]
    (Me): What game would that be ma'am? We carry a lot of games.

    (Her): It's a driving game. It's fairly new.

    (Me): Ok. [I list off the more popular driving games, ending with..] and finally GTA:Vice City.

    (Her): That's it. Do you have it?

    (Me): Yes we do. Here it is right here. Do you want to get the strategy guide with that? It's five dollars off the guide if you get it with the game.

    (Her): No. My son likes figuring these things out on his own. This game is appropriate for a ten year old, right?

    (Me): No ma'am, it's not.

    I proceeded to explain what the 'M' meant and showed her that while some games only had one or two 'blurbs' on the back listing what made them mature games, that GTA:Vice City had several more.

    Needless to say, she not only did not get the game, she got something else and went home to have some words with her son.

    My manager was impressed with the way I handled that, because we had a couple salesclerks that would have just sold her the game.

  • Thanks for the boobage, CSPAN! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Larthallor ( 623891 ) on Wednesday November 24, 2004 @03:57PM (#10912463)
    They had a video during their live presentation which was attended by Senator Lieberman and covered by CSPAN. I didn't realize what it was, at first, because I was flipping through channels when I saw DOOM III being played. It turns out the video they were playing was a montage of various "problematic" games, including GFA and others, designed to show just how inappropriate to kids they were.

    Towards the end, they showed the latest Leisure Suit Larry game and something called The Guy Game. The Guy Game, for those of you that aren't familiar with it, seems to be a trivia-type game that allows you to see real video of real girls taking off their tops when you answer correctly. Can you guess where this is going? Sure enough, their demo showed full boobage, which CSPAN did not censor. There were a good 5-10 seconds of actual, real (or at least not simulated) breasts running on CSPAN! This has got to be a first. Thank you, Senator Lieberman!

  • Games arent just for kids anymore (Score:3, Insightful)

    by doormat ( 63648 ) on Wednesday November 24, 2004 @04:04PM (#10912531) Homepage Journal
    If porn is legal, and violent R-rated movies are legal, then whats the problem with GTA?

  • So what? What I want to see is... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by eclectic4 ( 665330 ) on Wednesday November 24, 2004 @04:16PM (#10912651)
    ...more adult content.

    I'm in my early 30's. Card me all you want at the counter. Grand Theft Auto should not be in the hands of minors anyway. But at the same time present me, a "grown-up", with the choice of titles with pure adult content.

    Then we will all be happy. Well, until they decide to take their crusade further, which is the fear I suppose.

  • Quote from High Fidelity (Score:3, Interesting)

    by mog ( 22706 ) <alexmchale@@@gmail...com> on Wednesday November 24, 2004 @04:27PM (#10912767)
    I'm reminded of a quote from one of my favorites, High Fidelity - "What came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?"

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