Euro Parliament Wants "Red Button" For Shutting Down Games

GamePolitics writes "The European Parliament has actually requested that red, panic-style buttons be set up for use by parents whose children play online games. The buttons would allow the parents to quickly shut the game down should something inappropriate occur. Wouldn't the old-school on-off switch work just as well?" To be fair, the report isn't entirely crazy; it says games "can also be used for educational and medical purposes," and acknowledges that the "presence of violence in video games does not automatically lead to violent behaviour."

Comments

Sounds a bit useless

[TheLink]

Sounds useless, but to answer the question - using the power switch could cause file system corruption.

So if you could rig this up to the equivalent of "Alt-F4" then you can avoid that.

As for why it's useless, if your child is not ready to see "stuff", and they see "stuff", and then you press the panic button, they won't _unsee_ stuff. In fact, they would probably remember it for a very long time.

If your child is not ready, just don't let them play such games, and perhaps you should work harder at getting them ready.

You don't send soldiers to battle untrained and unarmed.

Brainwash/domesticate your kids before the world does it for you (they want your kids to buy/believe their stuff without thinking too much or even at all).

Yes you may think brainwashing is wrong. But it's usually better to train them "fire = bad", and hopefully they survive long enough to figure out the complexities and subtleties.

Re:Sounds a bit useless

[IBBoard]

As for why it's useless, if your child is not ready to see "stuff", and they see "stuff", and then you press the panic button, they won't _unsee_ stuff. In fact, they would probably remember it for a very long time.

If your child is not ready, just don't let them play such games, and perhaps you should work harder at getting them ready.

Why let a little common-sense get in the way of a perfectly good law that lets parents blame everyone else but themselves for bad parenting decisions?

I'm now a father and although he's only nine months old I'll probably do the same as my parents did: determine the suitability of the game based on the maturity of my son and let him play the GTA/Carmageddon equivalents before he hits the age rating if he can take it as it's meant - a game in a virtual world that has different rules to the real-world.

Also, what's the betting that this is mainly a "for the sake of the children, hide the tiny, brief flashes of flesh" idea (which you're less likely to know about) rather than a "for the sake of the children, stop the massed bloodshed" idea (which generally tends to be obvious from the format of the game).

Re:Sounds a bit useless

[mike2R]

Also, what's the betting that this is mainly a "for the sake of the children, hide the tiny, brief flashes of flesh" idea (which you're less likely to know about) rather than a "for the sake of the children, stop the massed bloodshed" idea (which generally tends to be obvious from the format of the game).

Probably not actually, since this is a proposal for a piece of misguided European legislation, rather than misguided US legislation.

The EU has many many faults, but thankfully over-regulating the human nipple isn't often one of them.

Universal Remote

[im_thatoneguy]

They could employ the same system that the Xbox employs. Add an IR receiver.

I already have a button which turns off my Xbox 360 in one button press. It's on my Logitch Harmony. When I press "Off" it turns off my hometheater, including my 360.

If they want a quick "OMG boobs!" button then they just need a universal remote. Program it to the XBox's IR "Off" command and bam! Problem solved.

If people start swearing I could just press the "mute" button and it'll mute my receiver.

I guess the EU wants to legislate the ownership or at least education for parents to purchase a Universal Remote. PC games? Add an IR receiver. Again, mute is easy enough in windows. My keyboard has a mute button so there must be a hook. Also minimizing to desktop is a hotkey so that should be pretty easy to setup to an IR command as well.

Re:Universal Remote

[HTH NE1]

I already have a button which turns off my Xbox 360 in one button press. It's on my Logitch Harmony. When I press "Off" it turns off my hometheater, including my 360.

If they want a quick "OMG boobs!" button then they just need a universal remote. Program it to the XBox's IR "Off" command and bam! Problem solved.

Too complicated. They need a device that is completely universal, works with all gaming consoles and computers now and in the future out-of-the-box, requires no programming, doesn't need batteries, and can be used without thinking at a moment's notice to disable the child-damaging violent games.

What they need is a shotgun. Nothing else sends a clearer signal to your impressionable children that violence is wrong than a shotgun blast to their gaming console.

When I was about 8

[Dr. Hellno]

and this was just about 12 years ago, one of my friends told me about this awesome cheat code for Duke Nukem 3D where if you entered the code and then pressed space bar in front of a lady they would sing (or some other stupid thing). Of course, when I entered the code and hit space, the lady (stripper) took off her top and showed me her boobs (vague lumps with pink squares in the middle).
Of COURSE, at this juncture, my mother entered the room. I don't remember the exact look on her face, as such, but attempting to recall it now, I envision Munch's "the Scream ( :O )"

She told me to turn off the game, or I would be grounded, and would have no more access to the computer. That's it. No magic button was required. Her finger did not even have to touch some mundane "on/off switch". I took one last glance at the cardboard-pixel boobs dancing haltingly across my screen and decided that, whatever this was exactly, it wasn't worth the infinite punishments my mother seemed prepared to apply.

Considering that day now, I don't see much need for some sort of "red button". Setting aside the fact that various consoles and televisions already have remotes with buttons serving the mandated purpose, I lay before you this objection: parents already have (very nearly) absolute power over their children. Button or no button, you can stop them from participating in any leisure activity that you feel is inappropriate with little more than a threat and a stern tone of voice. You certainly have the power to take away any consoles or computers which might allow them to defy your violence/profanity/digital-titty embargo.

A button makes it easier, less personal, more secret. It also puts an additional burden on the video game industry, to the glee of family values groups everywhere. It is not a necessarily solution. It is at best a crutch used to control your offspring, and at worst a lie used to manipulate them.

Should you ever see your children looking at something that you don't think they should see, then tell them that they can either stop, or lose some privileges.

Re:No IR needed to toggle power switch

[h4rm0ny]

I've got a better one. Tell your child to stop playing the game. If a parent can see what their child is doing in order to press a red button, then they can just as easily tell their child what not to do.

Relying on physical means to control your child's behaviour only sends the message that physical means are the only means to control their behaviour and if they can avoid or counter the physical means, they can behave as they wish. Are the people who proposed this bill afraid of their own children? Is physical control what they rely on?