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Print E-mail del.icio.us 54 comment(s) - last by LatinMessiah.. on May 11 at 1:47 PM
New York is the latest state that is making progress towards introducing laws aimed at trying to keep kids safe

New York Senators Martin Golden and Andrew Lanza are planning to introduce legislation that will keep kids away from games considered inappropriate for them.  The senators plan on first creating an advisory board that would monitor how effective the Entertainment Software Rating Board is at keeping adult video games away from minors.

The senators also want to make it illegal for vendors to sell video games without a rating label, for both new and used video games.  Anyone caught selling unrated video games would be fined and possibly face other penalties not yet determined.  All revenue generated from the fines would be used to fund the third part of the senators' proposal.

The third proposal by the senators is a Parent Teacher Anti-Violence Awareness Program, "which will empower parents and teachers to work with students and children on issues related to violence in video games."  The program would educate parents on ESRB ratings and advocate parental supervision with which games their children purchase and play.

States have previously been unsuccessful while trying to ban the sale of violent video gmes to minors due to the broad scope in which a game can be considered too violent. Other state bills have actually been deemedunconstitutional.

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wow
By jithvk on 4/23/2007 5:09:57 AM , Rating: 4
thats a great move. may be in doom-7 or halo5 we can expect a situation like when we are about to shoot at a monster, the monster will turn to u and will give a touchy speech... that will melt ur heart and u and monster will become friends.. wow.. those games will be full of drama and zero violence.. great move indeed..




RE: wow
By Lonyo on 4/23/2007 5:28:11 AM , Rating: 1
quote:
Video games with specific themes or content must also be submitted to the BBFC to receive a legally-binding rating (contrast advisory PEGI ratings) in the same way as videos. Other video games may be submitted at the publisher's discretion.


The UK system is that some games get legally binding ratings, meaning they can (or should) only be sold to people of specific ages, while other games get "voluntary" (non-legally binding) ratings which are advisory.
Seems to be reasonably sensible to me that at least some games should probably be more severely restricted than others.
It would also shut up those people calling for certain games to be banned.


RE: wow
By crimson117 on 4/23/2007 9:51:42 AM , Rating: 5
quote:
Seems to be reasonably sensible to me that at least some games should probably be more severely restricted than others.

Seems to me that parents need to step up, and government step down. No study has ever found that video game playing leads to real life violence. Why is the government making this their problem? It's not even a problem!


RE: wow
By CollegeTechGuy on 4/23/2007 10:50:47 AM , Rating: 3
A study actually finds that video games only cause aggresive behave in children that are already aggressive. Children that are not normally aggressive do not show any signs of aggression after playing violent video games. Even children with ADHD showed signs of being more relaxed after playing violent video games. My personal opinion on that one, since I was diagnosed with ADHD, is that violent video games have more to do in them and make me think more, and therefore keep me occupied enough to calm me down and not be so "bored".

Heres a link overviewing the research.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Most-kids-unaf...


RE: wow
By somguy on 4/23/2007 11:07:41 AM , Rating: 1
Here's another study that relates video games to an increase in aggression:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/720707.stm

Not that I'm against violence in video games, I just don't like it when people pull claims like: "No study has ever found that video game playing leads to real life violence" out of thin air.


RE: wow
By Rockjock51 on 4/23/2007 12:32:42 PM , Rating: 2
I believe, based on the post above yours, that the increase in aggression observed in the study you posted can be attributed to the subjects been aggressive people already. That said, I'm not against restricted video games. I doubt (Haven't researched it myself) there is any study that links watching Doom the movie to going on a mass murder spree, but there's still restrictions on who can buy it. Why should video games be any different?


RE: wow
By Rockjock51 on 4/23/2007 12:33:19 PM , Rating: 2
subjects *being* aggressive. sorry.


RE: wow
By NuroMancer on 4/23/2007 10:48:26 AM , Rating: 2
The sad thing is that most of the time it is the parents buying the kid the mature rated game anyway.

When I used to work in sales, I lost track of how many times some kid would walk up to their parents, hand them a game to buy, and without looking at it, give it to me to purchase.


RE: wow
By OxBow on 4/24/2007 10:53:38 AM , Rating: 1
While I agree that the real emphasis should be on active, engaged parenting, I also feel that some teeth should be added to the ESRB. Game companies that gimmick the system (like take two did) should face some steep fines and regulation. So should parents that allow their children to access M rated material.

As a parent, I don't want my child to be playing violent shooters and many online game activities. It's my responsibility to keep my kids away from these games and monitor their behavior. While I am quite conscientious about this, many parents aren't. It wouldn't suprise me to see a strong correlation between "lax parenting" and "children with violent tendencies." By adding some teeth to the ESRB we could go a long way to solving this debate. Many parents would stop buying those games for their kids if they knew that their were penalties associated with it.

Parents can be brought up on charges with CPS for allowing minors access to cigaretes, alcohol, drugs and pornography, why not violent media?


RE: wow
By LatinMessiah on 5/11/2007 1:32:02 PM , Rating: 2
Couldn't agree with you more, OxBow. The rating system is there for a reason, especially with games becoming more violent and adult-themed. Why not let someone enforce it more strictly if the parents are not going to?


RE: wow
By EndPCNoise on 4/23/2007 11:49:08 AM , Rating: 3
Don't fool yourself. Ratings or no ratings, people will always call for certain games to be banned.

Kids will always continue to get their hands on violent games because there are way too many irresponsible parents who will buy the games for themselves and/or their young children to play. That's why these types of laws will never work.


RE: wow
By Senju on 4/23/2007 6:11:11 AM , Rating: 2
This can only hurt content developers. Lots of great ideas but since it might force the game to change ratings, just toss that idea into the garbage. Rating affect sales as you know so the stricter the rating, the less sales so will cause restricting game development freedom = less fun in games! :<


RE: wow
By Polynikes on 4/23/2007 9:13:35 AM , Rating: 2
Nothing. There's a reason I didn't vote for them.

As far as the "OMG kiddies got violent video games!" problem, how about they work harder on enforcing current regulations instead of wasting time and money creating a new one? ID the kids when they try to buy M rated games. Wow, tough, huh?


RE: wow
By Spivonious on 4/23/2007 10:31:20 AM , Rating: 1
Gamestop/EB Games already does this. When I worked there we needed the parent/guardian to give the okay if a kid was trying to buy an M-rated game. It's truly amazing how many parents were completely okay with their 12 year-old buying GTA even after I explained that the game revolved around drugs and prostitutes.


RE: wow
By jtesoro on 4/23/2007 12:16:51 PM , Rating: 3
What happens if the sales clerk doesn't do this ID or parental approval check? Is the clerk or store liable for anything?


RE: wow
By Spivonious on 4/23/2007 1:25:16 PM , Rating: 3
No, since there is no law prohibiting it. The clerk will get reprimanded though.


RE: wow
By 1615 on 4/23/2007 11:58:18 AM , Rating: 2
I find this incredibly helpful. Until now, I had no idea which games *really* contained the bloody, gory, violent and sexual content that I was looking for. With a mandated 'parental advisory' label, I'll know exactly which games to buy now.

Good job, New York!


RE: wow
By LatinMessiah on 5/11/2007 1:35:38 PM , Rating: 2
It's a win-win situation. So why are people all bent out of shape about this?


RE: wow
By spartan014 on 4/24/2007 12:11:07 AM , Rating: 2
Ha ha.. Good one.

Maybe they can add a mini game to GTA 5 to get our hands on those senators with a chainsaw to boot.. Gears Of War style!!


politics again?
By Pwnt Soup on 4/23/2007 7:09:00 AM , Rating: 2
as if these senators give a damm? its just a political stunt too get votes and/or money from people and businneses. if you want too understand politics, follow the money. so where is the money in this deal? do they get too shake down gamemakers? do they get too use this too raise donations? or do they get too form another useless government agency or pannal too spend more of our tax dollars too protect us from ourselves?




RE: politics again?
By zombiexl on 4/23/2007 7:20:50 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
do they get too shake down gamemakers? do they get too use this too raise donations? or do they get too form another useless government agency or pannal too spend more of our tax dollars too protect us from ourselves?


Option D. All of the Above...