Lawyer: California Law Could Destroy Videogame Industry
- Thread starter Greg Tito
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OK, so after doing some more research, I found I may have been off on the point about marketing... only in that I found that both movie studios and game developers target kids and teens for their mature products. Here is a US government study I found on it:
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2000/09/youthviol.shtm
So perhaps I wasn't asking the right question. Maybe we should ask, "Why do parents seem to know and understand the film rating system, but not the game rating system?" It seems the game industry isn't quite doing something right on this, and I think it also has to do in part with the attitude that even older gamers have about the ratings and controls on the industry that we don't allow, but that the movie-going public tolerates. Why is it that we are just fine with saying, "Kids shouldn't watch Saw 1000," and don't really object when parents find fault with kids watching it, but we get all uptight and defensive if parents object to kids playing MW2? I think if more gamers changed their attitude on this, and the industry did more to promote and enforce its own rating system, parents would be more aware of its meaning and this would not have happened in the first place. It all starts with respect. Clearly something isn't being done about it, either on the developer or the retail end, and if we want respect as an artistic medium, something has to be done. We can't sit back and whine like children if all of a sudden children can't hack off a man's arm with a chainsaw in a game.
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2000/09/youthviol.shtm
So perhaps I wasn't asking the right question. Maybe we should ask, "Why do parents seem to know and understand the film rating system, but not the game rating system?" It seems the game industry isn't quite doing something right on this, and I think it also has to do in part with the attitude that even older gamers have about the ratings and controls on the industry that we don't allow, but that the movie-going public tolerates. Why is it that we are just fine with saying, "Kids shouldn't watch Saw 1000," and don't really object when parents find fault with kids watching it, but we get all uptight and defensive if parents object to kids playing MW2? I think if more gamers changed their attitude on this, and the industry did more to promote and enforce its own rating system, parents would be more aware of its meaning and this would not have happened in the first place. It all starts with respect. Clearly something isn't being done about it, either on the developer or the retail end, and if we want respect as an artistic medium, something has to be done. We can't sit back and whine like children if all of a sudden children can't hack off a man's arm with a chainsaw in a game.
Why the fuck does a law like this even need to be passed? They make you show your ID at the shop to buy an M rated game. I, Christ, what the fucking FUCK!?
People who say that it's not a big deal if this happens and that it'll just be like the laws in your country or that it won't spread, please leave or take some time to learn about the United States. The constitution is THE SINGLE HIGHEST POWER IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA! It is what makes the United States the United States. If this law passes it will classify that by law NO VIDEO GAMES (just because it says violent video games are going to be restricted to minors doesn't have anything to do with the constitutional ramifications because this law applies to the medium at large because of how our law system works) are protected by the rights given by the first amendment. This will make them restricted under the same class as pornography, alcohol, and cigarettes. "That's not that bad," you say. "They are restricted and they're still in business." Lets take a second to think about this. Most politicians are older and have set views and if your opinion is outside of those views or if the topic is something you don't understand it means you're very supceptable to fear-mongering and card-stacking. This applies to just about everyone in the Government. That they will take further legislation to outright ban the sale of all video games because of the same so called "facts" that Faux News Gives against video games. The reason Tobacco, alcohol and pornography is still selling is because 2 out of 3 of those are addictive, and all of them are industries the politicians are familiar with. Secondly, listen to yourself. do you really believe that Video Games are just as bad as tasteless habits bad for your health (Tobacco and Alcohol) and porn? If you do i strongly suggest you rethink your concept of gaming good sirs.
In a related story, the lawyers for the other side decided to one-up Sweeney and declare that the defeat of this law will usher in the apocalypse. As one lawyer put it "The Mayans totally saw this coming. They predicted that a decision would be made which would temporarily save an entertainment industry at the cost of the entire human race." Alarmist sites immediately scrambled to put this story up in order to rile up their followers.
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Everyone in this topic needs to take a step back and a couple deep breaths. This is just the usual pre-case theatrics that are part and parcel both for this case and for American media in general. People are reacting to this story with the same level of calm analysis that the people who were screaming "Death Panels" did during the health care debate.
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Everyone in this topic needs to take a step back and a couple deep breaths. This is just the usual pre-case theatrics that are part and parcel both for this case and for American media in general. People are reacting to this story with the same level of calm analysis that the people who were screaming "Death Panels" did during the health care debate.
I swear, if Schwarzenegger wins, I'M GOING TO SHOVE MY FIST THROUGH HIS STOMACH, AND RIP OUT HIS GODDAMNED SPIHNE!! NEYAHHH! *throws computer monitor at floor*
I wrote once that I saw potentially positive aspects of this as well, and in a way I still do. By regulation, that would mean that the industry can finally feel less hindered as to what is permissible content. Gone would be the days of "gee, should we leave in this part or will Wal Mart refuse to stock our game if we do?". A clear division of games for kids and games for adults would permit game makers to take a great deal more liberties in a great many directions.
I explained it better the last time I wrote about it, right now I'm much to tired to further elaborate. Imagine if this had been in place a year ago; That would mean fewer screeching teens on Red Dead Redemption, and I would not have had to allow my gold membership to expire or suffer further ear-bleeds from pubescent race ranting.
I explained it better the last time I wrote about it, right now I'm much to tired to further elaborate. Imagine if this had been in place a year ago; That would mean fewer screeching teens on Red Dead Redemption, and I would not have had to allow my gold membership to expire or suffer further ear-bleeds from pubescent race ranting.
You know, what really annoys me about this whole deal is how stupid it is and how we're blowign it out of proportion.
15-20 years ago, a bill to restrict the sale of violent games to minors wouldn't even create a ripple in the gaming landscape. Have we become so hooked on excessive gratuitous violence that something that once would have been utterly trivial can potentially "destroy" the entire industry? I think that's really sad and pathetic. I know I personally don't give a crapo about how violent a game is when I'm playing it and if I had any kids I wouldn't want them playing violent games either- why would I when there are so many perfectly great non-violent games they could play instead? Is there some good reason why we have to indoctrinate our kids with violence these days? What a load of crap.
I frankly hope this law is upheld and the video game industry gets the good kick in the ass it needs. If restricting the sale of inappropriate contect to children is enough to devastate the industry, I think it deserves the devastation. If nothing else, it'll help reduce the number of foul-mouthed 12-year old homophobes on the Xbox Live servers.
15-20 years ago, a bill to restrict the sale of violent games to minors wouldn't even create a ripple in the gaming landscape. Have we become so hooked on excessive gratuitous violence that something that once would have been utterly trivial can potentially "destroy" the entire industry? I think that's really sad and pathetic. I know I personally don't give a crapo about how violent a game is when I'm playing it and if I had any kids I wouldn't want them playing violent games either- why would I when there are so many perfectly great non-violent games they could play instead? Is there some good reason why we have to indoctrinate our kids with violence these days? What a load of crap.
I frankly hope this law is upheld and the video game industry gets the good kick in the ass it needs. If restricting the sale of inappropriate contect to children is enough to devastate the industry, I think it deserves the devastation. If nothing else, it'll help reduce the number of foul-mouthed 12-year old homophobes on the Xbox Live servers.
I thought I was going to be the first one with an intelligent reply in this threadjeretik said:
..gov regulates porn about as much as it regulates how much I poop. The state regulates porn much, much more than the feds do, and the only state that really regulates it is... California.Article said:
Liquor? Yeah, it's regulated. Still a healthy liquor market. Would opening the market up be better? You bet. The reason they don't? Taxes, tons of it.
Cigs? That's more of a state thing, other than the 2009 bill which banned flavored cigs. Oh, and both 'moonshine' and tobacco are illegal to make/grow. Why? So they can tax you.
And that's really it. If you actually expect .gov to say 'No, sorry. We're not going to allow you to sell MASSIVE RECORD BREAKING SALES GAME WHICH WILL BRING IN LOTS OF TAX MONEY'! you're insane. The end result is money. The video game industry makes money. This means the video game industry makes money for the country that the business is in and also the country that the buyer is in (as well as the city and state/province/whatever).
Don't want stuff like this passing? Don't vote for people who raise taxes. But then again, how else are stimulus packages going to be payed for?
:|
I'm done.
Sadly, it goes beyond that. You should read up on the law being proposed, it's pretty ridiculous.Thumper17 said:
*Joins in the laughing*Commander Breetai said:
But no seriously, this law has a chance of being passed. IF it does, I will be severely disappointed, and I think that congress should be ashamed they've let it get this far.
I swear if this gets passed.....
I guess I'm not done.
It's no different than the movie industry at this point.
The entire point of the problem with this is both consumer choice and the ability for studios to make what they want and let the market dictate what is popular and what isn't. It's the very root of freedom of speech. It's the very root of capitalism.
If you disagree with this then move to China or North Korea and give the alternative a change.
The root issue here is freedom of speech. The reason this is important isn't that the video game industry will suddenly collapse. That's a complete misunderstanding of what would happen if the Supreme Court decides to make a bad choice for once. And even then, it's not like this isn't already happening. Boards dictate the rating of a game and game companies shoot for specific targets.Arcane Azmadi said:
It's no different than the movie industry at this point.
The entire point of the problem with this is both consumer choice and the ability for studios to make what they want and let the market dictate what is popular and what isn't. It's the very root of freedom of speech. It's the very root of capitalism.
If you disagree with this then move to China or North Korea and give the alternative a change.
Kay, lost one and I'm done.
It should come as no surprise that this law is coming from California, home of the "Free Speech Zone".
The supreme court has an amazing track record of being consistent with the Constitution and the intent of it, which is the point of the supreme court.Polaris19 said:
It should come as no surprise that this law is coming from California, home of the "Free Speech Zone".
People saying "it won't be that bad" are probably missing the point. The point is, what the hell gives California the right to treat videogames differently from other entertainment mediums? There's any number of slasher films that are every bit as violent as any video game you could think of. And books? Don't get me started on books. The "Sword of Truth" series by Terry Goodkind has somebody get raped or almost raped on every other page, along with all kinds of horrible, vile things on top of that. And is there any warning or notification as to what the content is like in the book? Nope. No "adults-only" tag, no description of the heinous acts within. The only indication of the sort of things that go on inside the books are fanciful covers and a vague synopsis on the back. If a parent picked a "Sword of Truth" book up, thinking it would be just fine for their ten-year-old, I wouldn't blame them. But I would pity the kid who's going to be traumatized by the descriptions of that furry demon thing whose "apparatus" I probably can't describe here in full detail, and what that "apparatus" is used for. If you know what I mean. And I think you do.
And what will the California government define as "violent?" Will a game featuring Bugs Bunny dropping an anvil on Daffy Duck's head be just as "violent" as sawing a Locust in half in Gears of War? Don't say they wouldn't take the law that far. Never underestimate the willingness of a bureaucrat to screw with your your life.
This law absolutely should not be passed. Not only is it unfairly discriminating against a single medium, it WILL be abused and harm the videogame industry. And frankly, I'm appalled to see so many people just blindly accept the dictates of the ruling class. It appears that some people have grown accustomed to the idea that their respective governments have their best interests in mind and that everything will be fine if they just follow the rules, no matter how unfair those rules may be. That is the mindset of a peon, frankly.
And what will the California government define as "violent?" Will a game featuring Bugs Bunny dropping an anvil on Daffy Duck's head be just as "violent" as sawing a Locust in half in Gears of War? Don't say they wouldn't take the law that far. Never underestimate the willingness of a bureaucrat to screw with your your life.
This law absolutely should not be passed. Not only is it unfairly discriminating against a single medium, it WILL be abused and harm the videogame industry. And frankly, I'm appalled to see so many people just blindly accept the dictates of the ruling class. It appears that some people have grown accustomed to the idea that their respective governments have their best interests in mind and that everything will be fine if they just follow the rules, no matter how unfair those rules may be. That is the mindset of a peon, frankly.