Step Away From The Games Legislation

Posted by Zonk on Tuesday February 7, 2006 @05:17AM 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."

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I agree with legislating. by Spy+der+Mann · 2006-02-07 05:36 · Score: 0, Troll

See, it's all about grey areas and blaming. Until there is a legislation, the parties will keep blaming each other whenever a death-related-with-gaming incident occurs. But with legislation, the parents can be rightfully blamed. "Oh, you let the kid have this mature-rated game. YOU'RE the one responsible!" (actually it's bad parenting, but at least we'd have an excuse to jail them).

Of course, evil gaming companies know that with legislation, they'll lose a great part of their revenue, and this is why they keep lobbying against these laws.

My 2c.