From reading the ESA, looks like it’s a crime to sell these games to minors and the new law would put guidelines to use instead, but from the GamePro, it looks like the inverse.
ESA says this law will make it hard to know which games will be good for sale to minors, but GamePro says it straight: only the 17+ rated ones will be illegal to 16- people.
Officialy, yes, it is. A kid should no more be able to buy an MA-rated game without a parent or guardian’s approval than he could see an R-rated movie.
Unofficialy, I don’t think enough people care to actually enforce this.
Frankly, I don’t know why they’re so upset about it. I’m all for it. If a game isn’t meant for minors, it shouldn’t be sold to minors. Isn’t there the same kind of legislation in place forbidding minors from seeing R-rated movies?
Actually, no, not in Colorado, at least. It’s just usually story policy. That’s part of the problem.
My problem with it is that I believe the government is enforcing the opinions of ESRB and themselves upon the people, which is wrong. I, personally, would rather my child play Doom that it’s K-A cousin ‘Chex Quest,’ built from the same engine, and with the same gameplay, only without the gore. I think that shielding kids from most of the reality of violence is what causes more problem’s than the kid seeing some gore. People under that age have (with help) ruled fucking empires, I think they should be able to take a little blood without coming unglued. Besides, if you’re child can’t, then you as a parent can not let them. If they try hard enough to go around your rules, they probably want to play the game enough that they’d be fine with it.
In short, I think it should be a parental choice, not a government enforcement. Every law restricting personal freedom takes us a step closer to distopian 1984 life, only three or four decades. Ratings in music and movies have shown themselves to be widely political, and I have little doubt they aren’t in games. Rating a game ‘Mature’ is a good way to get less people to buy it, which is a good way to get it to less people. I’m not saying it’s an evil conspiracy, just that it’s giving the government powers they shouldn’t have.
That’s what happens when the government starts sticking its nose everywhere and telling people what to do and think, and how to live. As soon as they get a little power, they start going overboard and trying to control everything. No wonder that administrations in many countries immediately start replacing the people in places of power with their own entourage. Politicians always think they’re better than everyone else, and that they have the right to meddle in people’s lives.
The main problem, as far as movies are concerned, is that the rating system is ineffective. They base it solely on: blood; nudity; and curse words.
Thus, mature and thoughtful movies which have nudity and curse words are slapped with an R rating. Whereas teen sex comedies, which have far more crasser materiel than most R movies, are given PG-13 ratings because they avoid using any actual curse words or showing any nudity. It defeats the purpose because the crass comedies are what parents are trying to keep their kids away from, yet the kids can go in by themselves because the rating system is too simplistic.
I don’t really know what the controversy is about video games.
Some video/game/dvd stores near me sell the M and AO rated games, but you need to show an ID in order to purchase them, let alone see them on a shelf; they keep them in back rooms, or ‘behind the counter.’ Not all places do this, just the more conservative ones like family-owned stores. Larger chains like Blockbuster only require an ID, and the games are in plain view.
It’s not federally regulated. Some states have “laws” that aren’t enforced that cover the issue, but it’s not a national law. The ESRB isn’t attached to the federal government as closely as the MPAA is.
In the UK, any thing with a BBFC Rating (mainly on movies, some games) is enforced, whist the PEGI system is not. Most game from GTA2, that have serious issues, Like the GTA games, have BBFC rating as well as PEGI.
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I know what you mean. The Uk System is almost Identical. I hate the teen sex comedies, like American Pie (UK15?), and accutally made leave the room, But Terminator (UK18), I’m fine with.
I was playing Viloent video games since the days of mortal kombat…and before that…Heck…I am suprsied no one has complained about the vilonce in the mario games, think of the poor turtles
The difference is that Mario is cartoonish. Also, since there hasn’t been a surge in turtle deaths, nobody can really try to associate Mario with influencing behavior.
Wait, wait, so does that mean that study I did where I was able to show mathematical evidence that people who wore blue jeans got into more fatal car accidents than people who wore shorts might not have proved anything? Well, I guess I go back to wearing jeans now.