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Annual Video Game Report Card Is Positive, For Once
Every year, the National Institute on Media and the Family releases a report card which grades various aspects of the video game industry on how well they keep "inappropriate" games out of the hands of children. This year's report was largely positive, which is surprising given the history of strong criticism by the Institute. They acknowledged that gaming is becoming a much bigger part of family life than it was in the past, and they're making an effort to shift the focus onto the parents to keep their kids' gaming habits under control. The full report is available here (PDF), and Game Daily has an interview with Entertainment Software Alliance CEO Michael Gallagher which touches on some of the same issues.
They acknowledged that gaming is becoming a much bigger part of family life than it was in the past
Great news! Where can I pre-order Manhunt 3: Family Edition?
Trolling is a art,
Is it only me or "INCOMPLETE" means "FAILS MISERABLY" in this case?
Especially when they use the grade on parental involvement and they talk about how much parents got no clue on how the game console that their child use has options for them that they had no clue it existed!
The media should stop saying that the kids are becoming violent because they play violent videogames.... They should say that the kids are playing violent videogames because parents don't care about what their kids do when they play, not even when they "virtualy murder people".
They shouldn't receive an award for this. I'm sorry, but telling the video game industry they're doing a good job of "keeping inappropriate" content out of the hands of children is both a slap in the face to the parents that should be watching what their kids are buying, and a slap in the face to the kids who buy these games hoping for something interesting, only to find talking frogs, barbie, and games where everybody gets along and wins -- when they're 14! Why can they go see a few hundred zombies get set on fire, shot at, or otherwise die in the theatre (as long as they're all non-smoking zombies), but can't get the same thing in a video game? This entire idea of "for the sake of the children" has gone too far when children aren't encouraged to take risks and make their own decisions. These "appropriate" video games... I've seen them -- They suck so hard they're in danger of forming an event horizon.
My 12 year old kid sister has been fed a steady diet of these "positive self-esteem" books, videos, and games. Last year I tried to show her Happy Feet (it's a movie, look it up) and she couldn't get past the halfway point because that's where the penguin "got sad". I tried showing her some "real" video games, only to have mom come down on me like a ton of bricks... So it's back to watching bubbles with numbers in it and talking animals. And then mom (and other parents from Generation "Precious Snowflake") wonders why she has no inclination to read, write, do her homework, clean up after herself, or even brush her teeth...
Well, duh... it's because she's being fed sanitized crap that is the electronic equivalent of valium every day!
#fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
Seriously, now, why do we even give a short one for what the "National Institute on Media and the Family" think?
If your not allowed to get GTA, how else will I know I can get my money back from a hooker by running her over?!?
Seriously though:
Rather than be concerned about mental problems (its VERY difficult to create mental problems in people when they are given a wide range of experiences)
why not be concerned about our fat asses?
I sit way too much... damnit.
Video games have been around for about 40 years. To put them in some kind of special category that needs unique oversight or attention is just ridiculous, alarmist behaviour. Kids have been entertaining themselves with one thing or another as long as humankind has been around. They play with fire, fight, pick on and make fun of each other, climb to dangerous heights in trees or towers, toy with combustibles and explosives... sometimes they get hurt, sometimes they die, but video games haven't altered childhood in any significant way.
Of course parents should be aware of the games they're playing, but no more so than they should be aware of everything their child is doing.
It's frustrating that the world is scrambling to deal with computers, cellphones, video games, movies, etc. They haven't really changed the nature of what it is to be human. We had Sweeney Todd, The Tell-Tale Heart, King Lear, and MacBeth long before we had video games. Kids have been getting warped ideas into their head as long as human imagination has existed. Sometimes kids even act out those fantasies to horrific ends which I don't believe is any more frequent either before or after the advent of video games.
As much as people want to attribute violence to video games, people are very quick to hush up once they realize the perpetrator of the latest school shooting, mall shooting, or spree killing wasn't even a gamer. For the first 48 hours, dozens of investigative reporters tried to draw a line between the Virginia Tech killer and Quake/GTA/Halo until they realized he didn't like video games or TV for that matter.
The whole video games : violence angle is a dead horse.