Slashdot Mirror
The Political Landscape of Game Ratings
Via GamePolitics, a Washington Post article about the political landscape surrounding game ratings. Author Mike Musgrove touches on Jack Thompson, Senator Brownback, and interviews ESRB ratings board chair Patricia Vance. From the article: Vance, the head of the ratings board, says the group has conducted surveys showing that there is an 83 percent awareness of the game industry's ratings system among consumers. By comparison, the movie ratings system has about 90 percent awareness, she said. Vance said the video game industry is a target largely because it still suffers from a perception that games are for kids, even though the age of today's average gamer is over 30. 'I think a lot of people who propose this sort of legislation have never purchased a game or don't play them,' she said."
I honestly don't think that the political problems surrounding content in videogames has anything to do with the average (or assumed average) age of gamers; the real problem is that (inspite of what we gamers think) videogame playing is really not a mainstream activity.
I believe the average age of the gamers disprove the notion that gaming is not a mainstream activity. Ignore the notion of gaming as arcades and consoles. Think how many people have computers. Now, how many of those people do you think are at Yahoo! Games or the like, playing some flash based game. Or maybe they are playing a Java Game. These are not on the same level, but it is still "gaming". Honestly, simple things like this are almost "gateway" games to more intense gaming. (Though probably not GTA intense.)
Now, consider that the last generation of gamers (which I guess I am part of) is approaching 30. We are now working individuals with money to spend. Now, instead of dropping quarters into machines, we purchase $300+ consoles and $50+ games. The fact is, it is really becoming a mainstream media format, especially with the increase in casual gamers. The true problem is the age of politicians. It is disgusting to think how old some of them are. It is also bad when you realize this generational gap is a big reason why they are so ignorant of technology. (See previous slashdot article from today I believe.)
"Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb."
It seems the only people who don't understand the rating systems are sitting in Washington.
The rating system is pretty solid except for the mindless parent. The problem is the mindless parent will NEVER understand, they don't care enough about their kid to learn about the stuff they play with.
I saw a parent in a store one day carrying Spongebob, and Rocket power, and GTA:San Andreas, so I'm reaching the counter at the same time, so I kindly ask "you do know that's a mature game" and the guy laughs and says "yeah, Those games are for the kids, but this is for after the kids go to sleep". People know this stuff already, most stores display this stuff pretty promentently already. I think it's time to stop relying on goverment to force stuff that is already done, and to ask parents to properly monitor the kids.
Over the last 15 years, it seems everything has been "who's fault is it?" when ever someone does something wrong, even 9/11. It's the person who commits the crime. The guys who hijacked the plane, the kids that shot up the school, the man who kidnapped the girls into the house in the amish town. They commited the crime. In the same vein, stop looking for influences from everywhere. It's not the games, it's the parents who allow kids to play games like this. It's the parents who don't ever talk to their kids to see they are disturbed, it's the parents who just basically assume everyone else is going to raise their kids. Hillary Clinton wrote "it takes a village". I'm saying BULLSHIT. They can help but it takes a parent, pure and simple.
Nowadays it seems common for legislation that regulates an industry to be written by lobbyists for that industry. That doesn't seem to be the case here. Perhaps the companies that write games aren't making enough campaign contributions. Or maybe cultural artifacts are too valuable as scapegoats for whipping one's base (followers of authoritarian religions, fearful soccer moms, etc) into a frenzy.
-- $SIGNATURE
I'm watching videos without ads on my own schedule. I'm not controlled by the boob tube (or even you tube). I enjoy entertainment but I'm not a slave to it. That's a big difference. I remember the days where I had the entire TV guide memorized for the coming week.