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Step Away From The Games Legislation

Posted by Zonk on from the no-one-will-be-fragged dept.

Next Generation has an opinion piece by former Lucasarts VP of global marketing John Geoghegan. In it, he discusses exactly why gaming regulation is such a bad idea, and why he's so unsurprised that people have tried to do it anyway. From the article: "Kids need acceptable outlets to channel their energy and aggression. Critics claim video games promote aggression but an argument! is to be made that they channel aggression and perhaps even siphon it off, just like sports. Crucial to Schechter's thesis is his claim that popular entertainment is much less violent today than in the past. Oh, really? Well, consider the 19th century when whole villages turned out for a public hanging like it was a kid's snow day. Or think about Dante's graphic description of hell in The Inferno."

1 of 104 comments (clear)

  1. Public executions and censorship by Animats · · Score: 4, Informative
    Saudi Arabia still has public executions. They're usually held in "Chop-Chop Square", in Riyadh. Fridays at noon.

    A minor official from the Interior Ministry read out the charges against the kneeling prisoner. The executioner--a large black man with a scimitar--approached the kneeling prisoner from behind. After the sentence was read, the executioner jabbed the prisoner in the lower back with the tip of the sword, causing the prisoner to involuntarily jerk up. When he did, the sword flashed down. At that moment the head is sliced off and sent flying across the square. Blood jets from the severed carotid arteries and jugular veins, spraying into the air like a fountain. The frenzied crowd screams in choreographed unison, "Allah Akbar"!

    The Saudi "General Presidency for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vices has a page listing some things they prohibit. There are pictures of prohibited items, including some of video games. Most dolls are illegal. Barbie is definitely illegal. Valentine's Day gifts are illegal. Spandex seems to be illegal.

    No prohibited weapons, though.

    In the US, it's amusing that the anti-video-game people are often the same as the pro-gun people. "For only a little more, you can own the real thing!"