Washington attempts to ban violent games for those under 17

[ragsy]

What gives with such a law

http://money.cnn.com/2003/05/20/technology/gaminglaw/index.htm

In Australia in the 1920s they banned film makers from making anti establishment films suchs as the bush ranger films like Ned Kelly... the banned lasted for 30 years or so, till someone realised how ridiculous it was

I reckon it shows very little faith in the society... in fact i think it is an insult

Any thoughts

[TombRaiderChik]

i think that they made that because they think people would be more matture if they're 18+ ... which is necessarily true. but w.e people are still going to play them even if they are under 17.

[DaveJ]

The same reason any violent media is restricted in viewing.

Same reason sexual material is. Or drug-related.

Theres a time and a place.

And a state of mind.

And I'm not talking about College.
;)

[Umah Bloodomen]

They're trying to pass a similar law here in Michigan. Although many retailers here have taken the initiative and have implmented ID checks at the time of checkout, and have withheld maturely rated games from minors. (Which I have witnessed first hand at Meijer - our biggest retailer - something similar to a Wal-Mart for those of you not familiar with the chain).

A lot of the *parental-groups* have bashed the sale of video games to minors forever (and music, and other forms of media), although I do agree that such laws won't totally prevent the titles from falling into the hands minors, at least it will keep these *parental-groups* happy and off the backs of retailers and game companies for awhile.

No offense, but if their kids still end up with violent games, then that's an err in parenting, not marketing. (Of course, they're never willing to admit fault and thus the crusades continue) :rolleyes:

[unkwon]

In a way it protects developer's rights to make them as raunchy as they want, Not everyone can all have porn mags given away free...

Hey it's better with this than to get it totaly banned!

[Exodus]

LOL!!! The first game I played when I was like kindergarten was Duke Nukem!!! And it's like rated A.

[dhama]

A general scenerio.....

If you were a responsible parent, you would restrict your children in anything that you believed may harm the natural growth and/or emotional steadiness of the child.

Some, but possibly a minority, may have a weekness that could cause them to learn from playing violent games, in such a way that the game becomes a reality to them.
It'd be impossible to know who would be susceptable and who would not, so to be safe, a general restriction is probably the only way to ensure it's all eventualities are covered.
But what happens when some break the restrictive rule? And they will............
It's a difficult task.

[Exitium]

Violence caused by interactive entertaiment? No, despite how many people who would love to sue a game developer/publisher for making violent or excplicit games. In fact, violent games can reduce stress if played properly. For instance; if you were playing Doom on impossible difficulty with God mod on, do you think that would reduce more stress than playing Sim City? Stress is reduced by releasing it on to a target that does not retaliate against your anger. You may silently be shooting those aliens, but there's nothing the computer may do to stop you from doing that. The more stress you are able to release at one time helps your body. Mental stress and physical stress are two things that are the same. If your mind is crappy, your body tends to feel crappy too. If your body is tensed, your mind tends to be annoyed too. We must understand that mind and body are the same thing, there is no meta-physical plane of thinking. If we understand that our minds are just mounds of carbon connected together that communicate through chemical-electrical signals, than it is easy to release stress into a positive form of relief. Although stress balls and sports have been known to reduce stress as well, I question their effectiveness in varying conditions. Who in the hell knows that you might be releasing that anger on a base-ball that hits a window or person one day?

The problem with children becoming violent is not caused by interactive entertaiment, it is caused by their ignorant parents who spoil them and cannot disipline them. This is becoming a huge trend among the entire planet, and I have never seen a child punished for violent behavior in public since the last century. Terrible, isn't it? Can't take the time out of your life to scold your child when it is misbehaving? Think that punishing him later for no reason is effective? Think that giving him a treat for not being a terrible brat is effective? Humans do not learn with rewards, we learn with trial and error. Pain and agony are far more effective than a lollipop. That's one of the reasons why our minds are more developed than other species. . .

[Apocrypha Roxy]

How silly. :rolleyes:

Parents must take more responsibility for the welfare and the dicipline of their children - the more lenient you are on your kid, the more they're going to push you around. Sometimes a kid deserves a good, sound smack on the face. Don't give me that 'oh, you can't do that - it's child abuse!'.

Bull.

It's called putting your kid in line. I've been whacked with a wooden spoon or a belt more than once in my life, and I was a VERY GOOD kid, because I knew the consequences of disobeying my parents. Besides the fact that I was scared *****less of my father coming after me with 30's era family values and a raised hand.

The same kind of thing happened at FanFiction.net. They removed all NC-17 stories - with LEGACY OF KAIN, as the source. Some semi (or fully) erotic works - which were quite tasteful, in my opinion - were cited by very disgruntled parents of rather young readers, and so they were all deleated. Without the author's knowledge until it was too late. In fact, the one writer who's story was to blame was banned from ff.net for a week; all without knowing what was wrong. There was an entire petition signed by thousands of FF.net authors - myself included - to bring back our liberty to post NC-17 if we so choose. I don't know how it turned out yet... I mean, you can filter for G - PG13; PG - R, or NC-17. OR just show them all, if you want.

Blaming your kid's behavior on something they read or watch or play is rediculous. If anything, letting them run amok to do whatever they please is the problem. Parents are softies these days. Kids are out of line, and they have no respect for their parents. If they curse out their mom or dad, the mom or dad doesn't whack him/her upside the head, rather, they argue like sissies and send them to their bedroom with the PS2/cable entertainment system.

You call that punishment? Nope, neither do I.

It's the same as blaming murder on firearms. (Can you say, "I'm a Proud Member of the NRA?" :D) Blaming robbery on games like GTA and The Getaway, etc. Blaming carrying a weapon to school on games with guns and swords like Tomb Raider, DMC, LoK, BloodRayne, etc. Drug use on games that include it. Cursing (citing BloodRayne again... but it's FUNNY!). Psychotic tendencies
on games like American McGee's Alice - which is one f***'d up game to begin with. Can you say, 'Acid Trip on Screen'? :D

If you have young kids who buy videogames, and you don't want them to play a specific kind of rating, GO WITH THEM. If you think your kid is mature enough to know the difference - a 14 year old playing M, for instance, that's okay. A 14 year old playing an AO game is not okay. A reasonable parent understands this. On this note, a 7 year old should not be playing a violent game rated M.

On that, however, my 6 year old nephew loves Soul Reaver, so I'm a hypocrite. But the kid's a genius, anyway. See? Maturity comes into play.

Everyone likes to point the finger at everyone but themselves. Learn to take responsibility, damn you!

I know I'm going to whack my kid when they go wiley. My sons & daughters will be frightened of me - I assure you of that. Fear momma's wrath, kids... of course, it's all for love.
My children will not be denizens of modern America if I can help it.

Hit your children. Because you love them.

Okay, I'm done, for now. I KNOW I'm going to get some ultra-liberal retaliation, and mods may not like it, but I posted in an eloquent display. And I have plenty of witty repartee for those foolish enough to disagree with me. :)
And this is the part where I run away...

[ragsy]

I agree Apocrypha Roxy


My feeling is that to complain about violent games being the cause of all our problems is a cop-out

It is far too easy to blame somthing or someone else for a problem

rather than stifling freedom of information and speech try educating parents on how to better raise there kids to be balanced and good citizens

the parents are liable for thier childrens actions not the government, therefore the parents should be able to control what there kids see

[zizzy123]

My mom won't even let me buy certian teen rated games, and i'm 14! Seriously, the blood in video games doesn't like disturb me or anything. And the violence doesn't influence me to chop people's heads off. I'll be lucky if she lets me buy legacy of kain games when I'm 17. *sigh*

[Arctic_Wolf]

Originally posted by Apocrypha Roxy
Fear momma's wrath

I agree that children need more disipline but fear is the wrong tool, fear is the tool of Saddam Hussain, Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler. Fear is the tool of facism and dictatorship. I grew up under fear and if I have children I hardly think I want them to have to live through fear aswell.


On to the issue, video games do not cause violence. Violent tendancies are a combination of upbringing, morality and genes. Someone who is naturaly violent will be violent whether or not they play violent videogames, someone who is not violent, will not become violent via videogame violence. Anyone who has no morality, and so can be swayed by media is sick and needs help, the difference between right and wrong, contrary to popular opinion, is inbuilt.

[Eddy Bones]

Huh, I've been reading this whole thread and just now I realized it's a year old. No wonder I though I've read all this somewhere:p

[Jack455]

:( me too man i feel silly

[Arctic_Wolf]

Better late than never for getting your opinions across.

[JohnnyTheHomicidalManiac]

i have a son. Being a gamer myself i let him play any game he so desires, but as a parent its my responsiblity to make him understant the difference between a game a reality, if he's turns out to be a serial killer it'll be my fault not his.

as far as teenagers go if they're old enough to have their own money to buy it with they're old enough to play it.

Parents should look at other influences, hell parents should look at statics like crimerates between different socio-economic groups.....

....flatmate wants the phone....

[Wee Bald Man]

The law doesn't ban violent games, only ones which specifically "depict violence against law enforcement officials".

Anyway, the law failed to get passed:

-----------

Saturday, July 17, 2004

Washington's Violent Videogame Law Held Unconstitutional

Washington State's ban on the sale (to minors) of violent videogames depicting violence against 'law enforcement officers' was held unconstitutional yesterday on First Amendment grounds. The 15-page decision is here: http://www.corante.com/importance/archives/VSDA_v_Maleng.pdf

A quote from the PDF:

Would a game built around The Simpsons or the Looney Tunes characters be "realistic" enough to trigger the Act? Is the level of conflict represented in spoofs like the Dukes of Hazard sufficiently "aggressive?" Do the Roman centurions of Age of Empires, the enemy officers depicted in Splinter Cell, or the conquering forces of Freedom Fighters qualify as "public law enforcement officers?"