Parents Television Council Attacks Videogame Retailers

[Thyunda]

Why would they do anything else? They are a propaganda group. They have a strong message, and naturally will massage statistics and other data into correlating with their message, just like every other propaganda group, government report, news report etc. The reason they exist is to accomplish their goal, so expecting them to neglect an opportunity to push their agenda is just silly.

That's a valid point, but the instances of minors being able to buy R-rated movies are much higher, and as a media watchdog, rather than just a videogame watchdog, you'd think that the PTC would be more concerned over those figures.

My personal theory is that the PTC is pushing this angle specifically, because for music and film, there's no chance of laws being established which regulates their sale, whereas for videogames, that's currently a very real proposition.

The worst part, for me, is that I look down on people like this...so I just make us gamers look like we're so far up ourselves we're deliberately ignoring the obvious damage videogames do to children. But then again, I suppose we're allowed that kind of privilege. How many PTC members have actually sat down to enjoy a good gaming session?
I suspect as many 'rock is Satan' believers attend Rammstein concerts.

Seeing as America is only 400 years old and was settled by political extremists (dissidents against the king), I have to wonder whether all this (from the position of logical people) rampant idiocy is merely the teething pains of a nation.

Did the British Empire have this sort of crap about the European continental art influx I wonder?

I am not even going to ask how you reached this conclusion. I always labelled the bizarre patriotism the country demonstrates as its teething pains. When you have a country as old as England...we don't really worry about people betraying us. With a new country like the United States of America, you're still a wee child, and desperately clinging on to whatever shreds of nationality you can get.

 

[mageroel]

Oh come on guys, it's been improving and still they are whining? Seriously, can't they back off and nag someone else for a change? Go make a fuss of something totally irrelevant on some other planet.. Kids aren't as helpless and innocent as they think.

 

[Knight Templar]

Lies, damned lies....

 

[KaosuHamoni]

Oh for fuck sake. When will these braindead fools stop trying to destroy a medium that they don't fully understand.

- Edit -

Wait a minute... did I read that right? The "Horrors of videogames"? I think that this proves that what we have been saying all along is true. They have absolutely no comprehension of the medium, and, now that people are starting to see them for what they are, they are so desperate to find some shred of indecency in the industry. Its pathetic really, and I pity them.

I don't. People like that are the bane of a freethinking society, and we'd all be better off without them.

Why not? They are obviously so closed-minded that they're head is like Fort Knox when other people opinions are concerned. I have met people like this, and argued with them to the point of rage, and, in the long term I have ended up feeling so sorry for them. They don't have the option to experience some of life's greatest things, just because they have formed a baseless opinion on it, and won't let anyone sway them on it. Its upsetting that people are even like this, and I ignore they're opinions. But at the same time yes, they are the scourge of the freethinking society, and yet, they should be avoided like the plague. But at they same time, isn't the point of the freethinking society that everyone is allowed they're own opinion, including them? I feel pity for them because they must be so alone, due to the fact that they shut everyone else's thoughts and emotions out and have almost no sense of empathy, and its upsetting. You know, I once asked a guy in class, who is the better musician, Hendrix or Chopin, and do you know what he said? He said Hendrix. That is how shut-off these people can be. Its almost like a disease. The same guy also said that benefits should be scrapped altogether, just because some filth decide to scrounge off it for some extra gadget money. Its things like that which make me rage and feel for them at the same time. He's an intelligent person, as far as academics are concerned, straight-A student, but that's not the only form of intelligence now is it?

 

[shadyh8er]

It neglected to mention, however, that the FTC's study also found that videogames were more difficult for minors to purchase than tickets for R-rated movies, R-rated DVDs, or music with Parental Advisory stickers.

I know from experience how hard it is for a minor to get into an R-rated movie (I tried to sneak into Superbad. Failed). So what does that say when it's revealed that games are more difficult to get than that?

 

[Booze Zombie]

80 percent is pretty damn impressive, in my opinion.
That's only 20 percent of children attempting to buy 15-18 rated games that actually get them and not all children are trying to get adult-rated games, so it's quite a low number, really.

 

[SonicWaffle]

That's a valid point, but the instances of minors being able to buy R-rated movies are much higher, and as a media watchdog, rather than just a videogame watchdog, you'd think that the PTC would be more concerned over those figures.

My personal theory is that the PTC is pushing this angle specifically, because for music and film, there's no chance of laws being established which regulates their sale, whereas for videogames, that's currently a very real proposition.

Right now, videogames are the devil. Rapeplay, Jack Thompson, Hot Coffee, Fox News, Mass Effect's rape simulator, all the shit with the Taliban in the new MoH...even people without an opinion are coming around to the idea that videogames are the new evil, destroying the youth, even as they become more accepting to the ideas of explicit lyrics and violent movies. Your average joe has accepted that kids are going to hear songs about sex and murder, or see things on TV that aren't age-appropriate, but currently videogames are the hot topic and the PTC are cleverly capitalizing on that to draw attention to themselves.

I think you're right about their motivations, but not just because they're more likely to get a law passed. Nobody really makes a big deal about violent movies anymore, but videogames are all over the news, which means that politicians and other people of influence will pay attention. The PTC are focusing their efforts in an area where their whining may have an effect because they can see it's pretty much a waste of time to complain about violence in movies or music. In order to feel as if they're accomplishing anything, videogames have to be the target.

 

[Tanis]

"The PTC isn't stating facts here, it's issuing propaganda."

Uh...huh...um...duh?


Not to be mean or anything, but saying that the PTC is 'issuing propaganda' or 'showing a bias against the gaming industry' is like saying the Westbro Baptist Church hates gay people.

 

[Irridium]

Tell you what PTC, when the compliance rates for television and movie's pass video games, we'll talk. But until that happens, shut the hell up because its obvious you have your own issues to deal with and neither side needs to deal with the other right now.

 

[PseudoDuck]

Can someone clear this up for me? In the USA, is it actually illegal to sell a mature video game directly to a child?

In the UK I am the one who will lose my job and face a massive fine if I sell a video game to someone who is under the age shown on the box. My employer may face some action but it's all on me at the end of the day.

However, if an adult is the one buying it then I have no legal obligation to say "You are aware that this game you're buying for your 13 year old son has a 18 certificate?" as much as I would like to.

I was in Game a month or so ago and a boy who couldn't have been older than 15 was asking his Mum to buy a game for him. While I can't remember the exact game, I do remember thinking "That's an 18 rated game." But, because it was her that was buying it (clearly unaware of what the game actually entails) then the staff can sell it to her.

 

[Traun]

80% efficiency? That's a lot!

 

[Thyunda]

*snip*

I'm not even going to ask where all that came from.

 

[Traun]

Can someone clear this up for me? In the USA, is it actually illegal to sell a mature video game directly to a child?

In the UK I am the one who will lose my job and face a massive fine if I sell a video game to someone who is under the age shown on the box. My employer may face some action but it's all on me at the end of the day.

However, if an adult is the one buying it then I have no legal obligation to say "You are aware that this game you're buying for your 13 year old son has a 18 certificate?" as much as I would like to.

I was in Game a month or so ago and a boy who couldn't have been older than 15 was asking his Mum to buy a game for him. While I can't remember the exact game, I do remember thinking "That's an 18 rated game." But, because it was her that was buying it (clearly unaware of what the game actually entails) then the staff can sell it to her.

It isn't illegal. However the US legal system is different than the one in Europe, so things like that snowball.

 

[ffs-dontcare]

I'm not surprised.

Honestly, I'm not sure if we should even give them our attention, seeing as that's what they want.

 

[tharglet]

Thats actually bad.... in GAME (European/British Game Store branch) We're pretty much on pain of jail time instructed to ask for ID for 16+ and over games...

Yep, can attest to that. I'm 24, but get ID'ed if I actually shop in GAME.

Parents buying games for their kids is a grey area - there are definitely a good number who just buy the game because Little Johnny asked, but some will buy the game if they know their kid well enough to know they aren't going to be stupid with the game.

If anything, there should be more encouragement for parents to actually take an interest in game content, using the resources available. If the PTC want to help, they could possibly put together an advertising campaign that will attract people to educate themselves.

 

[Thyunda]

*snip*

I'm not even going to ask where all that came from.

basically:

America isn't a baby, its just hard set in militarism.
England isn't exactly "on the ball" when it comes to being more "mature" than America.

I was referring to its age...I don't have the faintest idea what you're talking about. America's 'civilisation' is less than five hundred years old, whilst England has been at the forefront of social and technological innovations right up until very recent times, when, admittedly, we've fallen behind. But all of this is completely irrelevant. I wrote to criticise the viewpoint of the earlier user, so you've come out of nowhere.

 

[Syntax Error]

Oh well, according to an ArsTechnica newsbit, the PTC is on the decline. So maybe Americans (well, not all of you, obviously) are starting to get your priorities straight.

Oh well, in here, local networks showing your television programs have blurred cleavages, except when the woman is in a bikini anyways. I know, it's shocking. In a way, censorship here in the Philippines is actually worse than in the US (we have a regulatory board who get their panties up in a bunch from a single naughty joke/double entendre on a noontime variety show).