Video Game Legislation

I brought up the discussion about restrictive legislation in class because I had come across it in my research for my "Resistance: Fall of Man" presentation. Although it pained me a little bit, because I was saving it for a blog entry, but I digress because it fit in nicely with the presentation. So here I want to cover it in a little bit more detail though.

Essentially, in originally I read states, but now I've found global laws, that limit the amount of video games one can play and the type of video games. The gaming industry has its own rating system from "E" for everyone to "M" for mature. The people who make the games are the ones who rate them. The problem with the legislation, is that others in congress are deciding that games need to be limited based on hearsay and their own beliefs. They aren't actually playing these games and very few studies have been done to test the legitimacy of the claims made to bring about stronger restrictions.

The government is taking the responsibilities out of the hands of the parents. They are trying to dictate what one does, but ultimately, for gaming, it should up to the parents to decide when to allow their child to play a game. Singling out video games is unfair. In an interview with CEO of Insomniac games, he said

"Despite the fact that the content we create is as artistically relevant and varied as film and television, we're not being afforded the same constitutional protection. Under much of the legislation that has passed or is being considered, games are treated similarly to controlled substances like alcohol, drugs and tobacco. As a content creator, I believe that's inappropriate."(http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=10207)

Most of the people behind the legislation are making assumptions and trying to control how people act. Here are some of the examples I found:

Australia: Games are screened by the Office of Film and Classification, which rates other media. They have no 18+ or "mature" rating, so if a game goes beyond their 15+ limit, it's banned. Sometimes games can be re instituted if they're modified by the company that created them to fit the 15+ standards.

China: Online gaming is huge there and it plans on instituting a feature that must be coded into all games that if someone plays the game for more then 3 hours, their stats and abilities are decreased. If they play for more than 5 hours, their character is greatly decreased. These abilities don't go up unless the gamer doesn't play for at least 5 hours. This is to deter excessive game play. There is also talk that after a player signs out of the game, he won't even be able to log back in for an extended period of time, because the game will remember his IP address and won't allow him access.

Japan: Focuses on excessive violence and pornography. Sometimes games are banned and other times, they're edited to fit their criteria. Often, their games are never exported to other countries.

U.S.: There have been many attempts to ban different games over the year. Usually the bills have a specific game in mind, but most of the time, these bills are denied or struck down and seen as unconstitutional, but it doesn't stop anyone from trying again.

(Most of these facts were taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_controversy - I know it's not the best source, but I needed an overview)

The argument against video games has become a kin to the old "pornography" label. Where they "know it when they see it." Sometimes a game be seem obviously offensive. There was a game created in 1986 in Japan, called "177," where gamers take the role of a rapist. The name of the game actually comes from a law criminalizing rape. It was banned, but then later rereleased with more conservative gameplay and scenes. It wasn't even the first time rape was the topic of the game. Now this is obviously offensive to most people, but should the game have been censored? Movies have rape in them, even characters who are rapists, but they're still released. So why is it different with a video game? Is it because you're fingers are orchestrating the actions? Is it really THAT much different from merely watching someone do it on screen? The creation of the game is tasteless, yes, but not illegal.

It's a shame that video games are being criticized the way that they are, but I don't think it's the games' fault. Setting aside the potential outcome that the game itself is instrumental in the gamer's mentality, the games themelves are just a product of our culture. These are things we are interested in. The sales of "standard" toys like action figures and dolls have declined, because they're being replaced by video games. Our society is moving into a technological age, so claiming that game are "corrupting the country's morality" is ridiculous. Maybe they're helping, but they're not the ones responsible. Sex and violence is all around us: The news, movies, music, it's almost inescapable. Instead of looking back at how things were, we need to see how things are and deal with them that way with the future in mind.