You are right ephram, my logic in that regard is flawed. Parents can still buy the game for their children. However politicians, as they always do, will use this law as a stepping stone for more control out of a needless fear that the youth of the nation will turn into freaks of nature. Below I talk about the newer laws proposed that seek to give government control of the ESRB. This isn’t needed because the ESRB is doing its job. Given that this kind of law is already being proposed, the needless law for fining a manager because an employee sold an M-Rated game to someone under 17 would only give it more strength in being passed.
Oh and that picture doesn’t help my argument because of how the guy looks? Hell my brother looks like an emo depressed suicidal freak but hes smarter than most people I know. I see no flaw in his actual statement and I’m sorry but I try not to judge a book by its cover.
I think that most M-Rated games end up in kids hands because of dumb parents or an older friend/relative buying it for them. Most kids don’t have the resources to actually get to a store and buy the game on their own.
Since there is no proof to a threat in the child’s safety the government has no place getting involved.
As far as carding goes, I’ve been carded to buy every mature game this year. WalMart is die hard at carding me and the few times I made the trip to Gamestop I also got carded. I can see me at 60 with white hair getting carded for the latest game! xD.
Moving on the the real issue:
The new thing that politicians are trying is to get government control over the ESRB. Politicians have been treating the ESRB like it isn’t doing its job without any evidence of their claims. In fact all the evidence points to the fact that the ESRB is doing more than any other rating organization. If the government starts controlling how games are rated, what is allowed in a game, etc… then a lot of companies will be forced to cookie cutter their games based on some guidelines for what can and cannot be in a game. What if they decide that blood and gore should be AO content? Then the US never gets any games because console makers don’t support AO rated games and stores in the US won’t sell them. Since consoles are localized you can’t buy a foreign version and expect it to work. Above all else, I want games to be fresh and new with new ideas that aren’t limited because of some regulations that tell gaming companies what is appropriate and what isn’t. I think the government having control over the ratings system isn’t part of their jurisdiction unless the ratings pose a real threat to our society.
How many people never saw porn until they were 18?
How many people never saw violence until they were 17?
How many people never heard cursing and hateful language before they were 17?
28.2% of gamers are under the age of 18 and the average player age is 33 according to the ESA. Laws that are proposed that would limit content allowed in games is aimed to protect children. I simply don’t want it to turn out that I can’t play a game with its full content because little Johnny’s parents are too stupid to raise their child properly. Total censorship is wrong. The ability to control the content from the console or computer is the best solution. Laws are stepping stones, once one is passed a new one with more restriction will be proposed. This always happens and we have to be careful when we start supporting and throwing out laws just because they make things a little easier. With the current progress of the ESRB there isn’t a reason to have the law. Companies are abiding by the carding rule most of the time. Even with the law there still wouldn’t be a 100% guarantee that a kid can’t buy the M rated game. I know lots of underage people that have always found ways to get porn, cigarettes, and alcohol. We don’t need the law. Our youth aren’t going to be crazy gun shooting maniacs. (Well some of them might because they are crazy)
No matter what laws we make, our children will still be exposed to the content. At least in gaming, it isn’t real. A kid can better distinguish real from fake in a video game than they can from a live action movie, the news, or any television show. For any console game the parents CAN put parental controls on. Even if their kid buys the game, they can’t play it if it is mature. A kid cannot play the game in the middle of the night, without the code. In the case of playing at a friends house, this will still be a problem regardless of a law forcing retailers to card for M rated games. (Which they do most of the time anyways).
I stand by the fact that laws won’t prevent a kid from playing a game but having informed parents will.
The ESRB is doing its job. The game stores are getting better and better at carding. Why should the government get involved? I have yet to hear a good reason. We don’t need to give the government a precedence on which it can ultimately control the gaming industry through controlling the ESRB. One law always leads to a more strict law. Parents need to be informed, kids should be carded, between the ESRB, parents, and the game stores we can regulate this without government involvement.
I don’t want the government having any say in this industry unless the gaming industry poses a real threat to society. The fact is, it doesn’t, and the government has no place getting involved.
Either way, I’m not trying to convince anyone one way or another. I simply believe that this law is not needed given the gaming industries progress with regulating its game distribution and its ability to rate games. I support the gaming industry fully. I support the ESRB fully. Given how the government has mismanaged many other things in recent memory I don’t think giving more responsibility there is a good idea. The more red tape we put in front of the gaming industry the longer it takes to create content and the less freedom there is for new creative ideas to be put into games. These are just things to think about.
-Kappa