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Hot Coffee In The Retail Space
Gamasutra has a piece talking to the Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association's Hal Halpin about the impact of recent gaming news on the retail space. From the article: "As of this minute, [the game retail industry's] three major opponents are the State of California, the State of Illinois and the State of Michigan ... More specifically, they are those states' respective attorney generals and their governors, who each signed into law bills which their legislatures knew full-well would be in violation of the First Amendment."
But isn't almost every other store a starbucks anyways?
First Amendment applies only to Congress, not to the states. It says "Congress shall make no law...", not "the states shall make no law."
Was Hot Coffee actually in the game with a cheat code? Or was it something a bunch of hackers did and changed the code? It still boggles my mind why Senators weren't upset with the gangster and other sexual things in the game.
God spoke to me.
Heck, I consider David Grossman to be another dishonest huckster, but he's like a pillar of honesty compared to Thompson. (Remember him? He used to have Thompson's part in this debate. I miss those days.)
Just read the man's (Jack's) words, he come across as a dishonest, bigoted grandstander whose primary concern is stroking his own massive Ego. I don't get why this guy is treating him like someone who is taking a reasonable, morally responsible position here.
"MIT betrayed all of its basic principles."
Is it just me or does this entry leave you clueless as to what the story is actually about?
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He also speaks in favor of Jack Thomson's efforts saying that the only front he disagrees with is the limitation of MA or AO games to the public in general... which is the only issue Thompson ever argues about (well, I know he'd like it banned, but that's not going to happen).
Personally, I agree that certain content should NEVER fall into the hands of minors. I don't care what the parents say. There is no such thing as a non-impressionable teenager. You can tell me how independent you or your kids are, but right up till you die your environment has an impact on you.
Any parent who thinks their 13 year old son is old enough to handle extreme violence (killing bystanders for fun), sexuality (nudity, scantally clad women/men doing their thing, porn), or drug use (the support of it) in any video games/movies (very few exceptions) more than likely would rather let the game machine and TV raise thier kids than step up to the plate. At any rate, they're not okay in my book.
The article doesn't make much sense, and it's kind of hard to understand if this guy's got a point.
They're worried about their wallets. This guy doesn't care what's actually in the game. Free speech is to keep voices from being quelled on a political front, for the most part. They aren't being silenced anyway. We aren't violating free speech, we're protecting our kids', and thier future's!
This sig isn't original enough, it's time to come up with something witty...
making a law which makes it illegal to sell games (of any type, violent or not) to minors is not a violation of anyone's first amendment rights. Perhaps you should read that amemdment again. No one's free speech is being squelched.
minors aren't full citizens of the united states, ask any attorney. Its the reason that many minors get away with murder and its the reason that your record is *supposed* to be wiped clean when you turn 18. Nothing in the constitution says anything about giving gaming rights to people that are not citizens of the United States.
there is *nothing* wrong with those laws, which I'm sure many of you will argue with. I agree that they should not have been put into law, but the fact that they're laws has nothing to do with ANYONE's first amendment rights.
So the teens of the US can't go out and buy games which allow them to steal imaginary cars and kill imaginary hookers. so what? Since when is stealing imaginary cars and killing imaginary hookers a right? persuit of stupidity and violence is not a right, and there are plenty of other ways to persue happiness.
you idiots can mod me down all you want. you're still morons if you think gaming is a constitutional right.
"attorneys general," please.
but it doesn't occur to him that he might have to take the log out of his own eye before he can demonstrate to others where the spinters are.
He just doesn't seem to understand that his conduct is atrocious no matter how many judges tell him so.
His mental illness isn't bad enough for him to be considered "insane" (or at least it wasn't when they had him tested), but he needs to be diagnosed and treated. His behavior goes well beyond that of mere egotism.
The ACLU feels that these 13 year olds are certainly mature enough to make decisions about abortion themselves without counselling from any family member.
The ACLU also feels that 13 year olds are prefectly mature enough to make their own decisions about sex, or be educated about sexual activity by a maturer same-sex "mentor".
Of course, the ACLU also beleives that 13 year olds are not mature enough to make up their mind about murder or other violent crimes and should then be treated as unresponsible for their actions.
"We decided then that we'd tie up with children's charities and donate the games to hospitals, shelters, homes and schools..."
Great, until they donate their excess copies of "Hot Coffee" capable GTA...
When all of your wishes have been granted, many of your dreams will be destroyed - Marilyn Manson
### Was Hot Coffee actually in the game with a cheat code?
It was on the game discs, but only reachable via save-game hacking and neither via gameplay or via a simple cheat-code.
Does anybody know other games where affected by the aftermath of the 'Hot Coffee' dicussion. I know that the US Version of Indigo Prophecy had three scenes removed due to probally offending content, any other games that got cut for the US release? And what would have happened if they didn't cut those scenes (contain some nudity and sex), AO rating?
I think that if something's a product designed to make money it's much harder to make a case for it being free speech. You're not trying to express your opinion, or even necessarily yourself, you're trying to make money. Freedom of speech protects your right to say things, it does not entitle you to do things which can be seen as harmful to others. If I hand crafted a bear trap, then set it up on the capital steps, the some poor senator stepped in it, and I got arrested, i dont think a "freedom of speech" argument would get me off. While games are no bear traps, i think it is at least fair to say that the nature of their influence on kids is a question still open to debate. As long as that's true, i'd rather see an "err on the side of caution" policy for these kinds of things.
Now, dont get me wrong i love games. I am myself and avid gamer and i work for a company that produces products for the game industry. That being said, it does bother me a little when i see a crowd of elementry school kids running people down and doing drivebys in GTA.
Hot Coffee aside, the guy states that his group (and I'm talking EB games) has expanded shelf space for PC games in recent years. You gotta be kidding me! I've seen the space for PC games have a 3 month half-life.
And with XBOX 360 here, PS3 and new Nintendo coming up quick, all the PC titles they display will be in a shoe-box under the game guides...
Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt = [citation required]