Game Industry Derided For Mature Content

Steve Rock writes "To the surprise of no one, game manufacturers and resellers were again taken to task over the production and sales of games containing violent or sexual themes. According to the National Institute on Media and the Family's Ninth Annual Mediawise Video Game Report Card even games with beneficial or neutral content can be harmful to children because of the connection between gameplay and our obesity epidemic. Interestingly, out of fifty surveys mailed out by the Institute to retailers and producers only two were completed and returned. The industry was given a passing grade for the ESRB rating system but the actual enforcement of the system by the retailers was not -- it is worth noting, however, that the Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association has stated that self-regulation procedures were scheduled to be implemented by December 2004 and therefore tests of retailer compliance to ESRB ratings was premature."

Comments

ESRB? Holy Comics Code, Batman!

[ackthpt]

US History 101:

Back in 1954 Dr. Frederick Wertham wrote the infamous Seduction Of The Innocent, regarding the comics industry preying upon the youth of America.

"Wertham was convinced that comic books were evil, that they contributed to the delinquency of minors, and also to their sexual perversion. In addition Wertham claimed that when any questioned the comic book publishers on their product, they were conspired against, and were labelled communists."

Before you laugh off it off, recall the US Senate Subcommittee Investigation on Juvenile Delinquency in the United States. and all the recent stink about decency in television.

The comic industry, to placate the witch hunters offered self policing. Sound familiar? Wertham considered it a sham. Sound familiar, too?

For some background on Comics Code check this site and this site.

make way! make way! make way for the age of decency! 60,608,582 merkins can't be denied!

Re:ESRB? Holy Comics Code, Batman!

[Jeffrey Baker]

Also, D&D will turn you into Pentagram-doodling witch and the only way to come back to Jeebus is to burn all your D&D stuff (and heck, better throw all your other books on the fire, too).

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go carjack an old LTD, provoke a gang war, then go for some pizza and hookers.

Re:ESRB? Holy Comics Code, Batman!

[stecoop]

As preposterous as the comic book debacle seems it is true. I saw the story on the history channel and one the targets was Mad Comic books aka Mad *Magazine*. See to get around the issue, the owners ceased calling it a comic book and named it called it a magazine as defined by that days statutes.

Don't call it crazy because look at the year 1954 and subtract just a few years - you'll find a time where the US legislate Prohibition into law. Crazy things happen when bounds aren't kept within check.

Re:ESRB? Holy Comics Code, Batman!

[The Ultimate Fartkno]

Riiiiight. Show me a DM that looks like that and I'll show you a game with 67 guys packed into a basement, each one of them trying to roll a d20 and look sexy at the same time.

"Soooo, lady DM - what'cha doing after I slay this gelatinous cube? Want to come over for some Cheez Doodles and the latest Next Gen DVD?"

Do video games affect culture?

[jellomizer]

Do video games affect culture or does culture affect video games?

With all these problems being pinned on video games the real question is it really video games causing all these problems. For obesity is it just because video games cause children to be obese causing them to stay at home with little activity to play games, or is it that children who have a tendency of being obese don't want to go outside and play (for reasons of security, lack of proper parental supervision, or just no one else in the area to interact with) So they will stay in side and play video games, where if there were no games then they would Watch TV all day. The same is with violence in games is it because games are violence causes kids to become violence, or is it that they see themselves in a culture of violence so they enjoy violent games. I am not a big game player and I really don't care for first person shoot-em-ups and having excessive gore. But I feel that these games reflect the culture more then culture reflects the games because the games will not sell if they didn't reflect the culture.

Parent's fault

[ifwm]

If your kid plays a game with mature themes, or sexual content, instead of blaming the game manufacturers, blame yourself for being a shitty parent. And don't try that "what if he plays it at his friend Johnny's house" because good parents know what happens at their children's friends houses. Excuses are ruining your children. Do your job parents, stop blaming others.

Also, last year the average age of "video gamers" was 27. Not sure what the source was, but I remember it being reputable. Why would companies NOT make mature games? There are more adults buying (and playing) games, so it makes financial sense.

If parents did a better job, the current system would work fine.

National Institute for Media and the Family

[Telastyn]

Let's see, a thinktank orginized to combat the corruption of minors by video games and other media finds that video games corrupt minors...

Thanks slashdot. Maybe next you can post an article about greenpeace saying that everything isn't hunky dory with the environment...

Re:So what?

[stratjakt]

It's now illegal to sell an M rated game to a minor in California, thanks to the Governator.

I mean, it's not like he'd actively try to hamper the sale of video games so that youngsters disposable income would be spent on his latest action flick.

To summarize: Arnold pretending to kill terrorists on the big screen, is A-OK. Nothing more american than Arnold Shwartzenegger. But me pretending to kill terrorists on the small screen, not OK.

Yes, this has hampered the industry. Dozens, hundreds, hell who knows how many projects have been cancelled or shelved for fear of some frivolous lawsuit. Thrill Kill being a "famous" example of a promising game being scrapped because of PC concerns.

See the douchebags vs Doom and douchebags vs Rockstar cases for more background.

When I was a kid it was Dungeons and Dragons and Judas Priest albums that were responsible for all the troubles of youth. I guess they fixed D&D and Priest.

context

[paradesign]

A good commentary on the "morality police" vs violent games 'thing'

Best quote

I followed up with a simple question, "Who on this panel has played which of the games?"

Burke answered first, "I haven't played any of them." She backed up her willful ignorance of the games by suggesting that she didn't need to read Soldier of Fortune to know that she was opposed to its glorification of killing. "I think it's an irrelevant question," she concluded.

When will people learn that ignorance is not an excuse.

Where are parents on the report card?

[Maul]

The industry has done a pretty good job self-regulating themselves. I'd agree with the ratings on most of the games I've played, and that it is quite clear what all the ratings mean. I've seen retailers tell kids who try to purchase "M" games to get their parents in a few locations as well.

On the other hand, I've seen parents completely ignore the ratings and description of the games time and time again. Yes, I've seen parents at retail locations buying their kids copies of GTA and other "M" games.

I know the ultimate goal for these groups that issue report cards is to get the Government to start regulating the industry. That won't do a thing. The #1 responsibility of if kids or not see "mature" games falls in the hands of parents.

Blame game

[dead sun]

I would like to blame all the politicians for the corruption of children in their personal quests for power. The politicians display their win at any cost attitudes openly, shamelessly slander those who oppose them, and are more scandalous than any executive at Rockstar Games could ever be when raking in cash. We should prevent children from seeing anything political, and censor CSpan too, the language used is hideous. Politics must be banned. We cannot have children learning these lessons.

I'd also like to lay a thick layer of blame on all the moral and religious groups which feel that repressing feelings instead of openly discussing them is the proper way to handle them. I'd like to make a call to remove all children from churches until priests can stop molesting them. Please, think of the children. Further, the lessons in the bible are too graphic, depicting things like brothers slaying each other. What is this world coming to? How about reading Sesame Street books on Sunday instead, those are wholesome. I'd like to further blame religious figures who lambast the teaching of sexual education, though most parents will never bring up the topic until it's too late and their childrens' curiosity provides the lessons. How many children's lives must be ruined because adults are too embarassed to speak about sexuality? Can't we for once actually think of the children?

Finally, I'd like to thank the video game industry, for providing children with an outlet for excess energy that doesn't involve killing people. Sports games, platformers, puzzle games, there are all sorts of interactive outlets for children apart from just watching after school cartoons. I'd like to yell at parents that give overly young, impressionable children mature games. What's wrong with you? I'd like to thank all parents that have decided their 16 year olds are or are not mature enough to play GTA, and took the trouble to, you know, actually think about their child instead of blaming others for their poor parenting.