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Credit Card Required To View 'M' Rated Information
John Callaham writes "Gamecloud has a special feature article titled 'Going Through The Age Gate'. Why are some downloads of game trailers and demos are now requiring that a person declare their age before accessing them?" Not only are some sites requiring you declare your age, Activision is requiring a credit card to view "M" rated game information. From the article: "Asking for a credit card number, even if that the message says it will not be charged, brings up some very serious questions. Why is Activision asking for credit card numbers to access product pages that promote 'M' rated games when the ESRB and every other publisher only use the required 'age gate'?"
It's pretty obvious why they're doing this--this is classic Cover Your Ass.
Sure, nobody has sued a game publisher over the good ol' fashioned trust system yet--but Activision really doesn't relish the thought of being that lucky test case. Hence, they've decided to close this particular avenue of litigation.
A better question would be to ask whether or not Activision is overreacting to the percieved threat of a lawsuit.
Obliteracy: Words with explosions
Gee no parent ever gets there children credit cards in america. Age verification via credit card is not even close to fool proof.
Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
Because you can't show them your driver's license or photo ID over the internet. The only way they can even try to check for age is to see if you have a credit card (you can only get your own if you're 18 in most states). I'm sure collecting the card lets them verify your ID, but it's useful marketing data for them, too. They can match you wherever you put in that card # and see what you're interested in.
I'm not thrilled about putting my credit card number in online when there's nothing to buy, but I don't think this is for them to charge it - imagine them treating the card like a doubleclick cookie and you see where they may be able to gather a little bit of data about their users. I'm not as paranoid about personal data as some, so it's not much of a concern to me, but if we had some other unique form of ID I'd be more comfortable with this.
-jpowers
I live in California and I had my first Credit Card at 17. So just having a credit card doesn't make you an adult.
At the time it was guaranteed by my mother but I still had a number on it. So if they want to protect themselves it had better tie into a real database somewhere down the line which will tell them your age.
That will be the next headline. They'll get hacked, the CC #'s will be stolen and ID theft will abound. Later it will come out that it was an ambitious VP who was in on it, made out like a bandit and is still at large.
Petyr
This thing isn't asking for name, billing address, CVC/CV2 number, experation date...
It's asking for a number and a DOB.
What this thing is doing is running the number against a check of Visa/Mastercard/AMEX's available card numbers to see if the algorithms check out. For example... 1111 1111 1111 1111 is not a valid card number. In fact, there are credit card number generators out on the net that do nothing but figure out bank information numbers and card holder numbers, throw it together, and give you a 16 digit account number.
Any credit card generator program could easily be used to bypass this if people are being uptight about the authorization.
The whole reason behind this is so that the parents realize that little Billy is digging in the wallet trying to figure out what a real credit card number looks like.
Is it so bad that, instead of really looking at the information, we dig out the pitchforks over any little thing?
First off, I can't remember the last time I for game information from a publisher's site. Does anyone seriuosly go to Activision.com to look up the features of Big Mutha Truka 2005? No thanks. I read off-site previews and reviews. Something like mediareviews, 1up, or gamerankings always has enough information on the games I find interesting.
Second, these guys are only hurting themselves. Let's say 10% of gamers actually go to a publisher's site to get something. How many will actually have a CC? How many will be willing to put that number in? I think not many. The traffic to what is, in effect, an advertisement will fall. And with the adverts not getting clicks, the game sales will fall sharply.
Finally, let's say they have an exclusive demo or make you register to get updates. Well, the demo will be out on eMule and ISOHunt within a few days. If not, the full game will be out no later than 2 weeks after the release. And if people can't access a demo, sales will fall and piracy will rise. Updates and patches will end up mirrored by tons of fan sites; they are rarely hosted back at the publisher's site anyway.
Look, I really understand that game publishers are scared. After all, they are in a position where screenshots and in-game videos will get you sued while Tubgirl and Rocco float around unmolested. It really is sick when selling a game to a kid will result in a bigger fine than selling him porn or alcohol. The pubs are scared. But taking this first step is really going to hurt them in the eyes of the precious few consumers that actually try and read their sites.
I'd rather you do it wrong, than for me to have to do it at all.
I just checked out Activision's website ... that's just nuts. Requiring a credit card to access the content of Doom 3? They're only hurting themselves and their sales. I'd NEVER enter my credit card just to access content. Hell, I won't even register for many free websites just to read content that's blocked behind authentication.
Worse yet, they request your credit card number in this small popup with pretty much no supporting text that's helpful in identifying that it's a popup coming from Activision. For all you know, it's a popup from some advertiser phishing for credit card numbers. From the titlebar, you can see that the page uses https, but that's about it. Dumb, dumb move for a company trying to promote their product.
Well, the sample credit card numbers on the VeriSign page seem to work okay. I only tried a few, but they worked. And it only took a few seconds of googling to come up with those.
Be a real patriot: Question authority. Think for yourself. Formulate your own conclusions.
Firefox seems to bypass the Activision window blocking access to the "mature" site. All you have to do is open the link in a new tab (middle-click or ctrl-click on the link).