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A Decrease in M-Rated Sales to Kids
hammersuit writes "GameDaily Biz reports on a new undercover FTC study. From the article: 'Forty-two percent of the secret shoppers - children between the ages of 13 and 16 - who attempted to buy an M-rated video game without a parent were able to purchase one. In the 2003 shop, 69 percent of the shoppers were able to buy one. National sellers were much more likely to restrict sales of M-rated games. Only 35 percent of the secret shoppers were able to purchase such games there. Regional or local sellers sold M-rated games to the shoppers more frequently - 63 percent of the time.'"
What a useless study! Who cares about this M-Rated thing? How are the politicians supposed to use this information when they're trying to push their laws calling for bans of "violent" and "offensive" games to minors?
We need a new study, counting the number of "violent" and "offensive" games sold to minors, where "violent" and "offensive" is properly defined... by taking the people selling the games to court over and over until the prosecution gets a jury that will agree that the game is violent or offensive!
If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
..why, when I was their age we didn't have no 'Hot Coffee' or Grand Theft Auto 3: San Andreas! All we had was pixelated blood and gore in Wolfenstein3D and we LIKED IT! They should stop hollerin' about wantin' M-Rated games and do what kids are supposed to do: Download pr0n off of the internet!
Children are not stupid.
The word will get around as to what retailers will sell them what games. 42% just means that there's a hole. And anything short of pure dictatorshp won't stop it.
Any legislation that prohibits sales of games to minors fails completely at its goal. Which is, of course, to prevent them from playing those games.
Still, I'd expect political doublespeak out the wazoo for a while, saying that they've been "wonderfully successful" at getting mature games out of the hands of children, and that there's "work still to be done."
I hereby copyright those phrases. Any politician using them must immediately resign and pay me an amount of money equal to all of the money they will ever earn (and have earned) in their entire lifetime, plus one Mexican peso.
If you can read this, I forgot to post anonymously.
Actually it's the only reason I watch evening news on some of the lower-quality channels.
When they're doing their "reports" about parents who don't know jack about their kids playing violent games...
Reporter: Do you know where your son is?
Mother: Yeah, in his room.
Reporter: And what he's doing there?
Mother: According to the noise, I'd say he's playing Splinter Cell?
Reporter: And do you know what's going on in this game?
Mother: Yeah, sure.
Reporter: And you don't consider this bad?
Mother: I consider it being better than him doing it for real so you got some hot topic for your evening news.
Unfortunately, we'll never see this interview aired.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
or Granny's Panties 7
Remind me to stay the hell away from your DVD collection.