Good news...

ferrarimanf355 · Apr 9, 2004

Trust me, be thankful that this is being shot down...
(from Gamespot)

California Assemblyman Leland Yee, who has been pushing a bill that would limit some video game sales to minors, said today he thinks his bill is doomed.

The bill is scheduled to come up for a vote Tuesday in the Assembly’s 13-member Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Tourism and Internet Media and Yee doesn’t think he’ll have a enough support to get it through. The video game industry and retailers have been lobbying hard to kill the bill, Yee said. “I think there us tremendous political pressure being exerted,” Yee said. “I don’t think (the bill) is going to survive at all.”

Yee’s bill, known at AB 1792, proposes to expand the legal definition of “harmful matter,” currently used to classify pornography, to include video games. By doing so, the law would prohibit the sales of these games to minors.

Specifically, Yee is targeting first- and third-person shooter games such as Postal 2 and Grand Theft Auto III, where players perform acts of violence that would be considered a crime in real life. Additionally, the circumstances surrounding the violent act would have to show that it was committed without pity or empathy and the victim’s injuries would have to be graphically depicted.

If all of this sounds rather vague, Yee doesn’t think so.

He said he’s not targeting all M-rated games and he made his bill as specific as possible so as to not run afoul of the First Amendment. “I did not simply jump into this issue without a lot of care and consideration,” Yee said.

In response to Yee’s bill, Entertainment Software Association president Douglas Lowenstein yesterday released a statement that his group supports voluntary retail polices to restrict the sale of M-rated games. “This progress toward effective voluntary enforcement – combined with the fact that the Federal Government itself reports that parents are involved in the sale and rental of video games acquired by kids more than eight out of 10 times – makes the proposed ordinance unnecessary,” Lowenstein said.

Yee, a UC Berkeley-trained psychologist, doesn’t play video games himself, but became interested in the issue after a staffer mentioned hearing her children discussing violent games. Yee points to an American Psychological Association study that draws a link between aggressive thoughts and behavior and violent games. The 2000 study included golden oldies such as Doom, Wolfenstein 3D and Mortal Kombat. A Swedish study released last month reached a similar conclusion, but went on to blame video games for obesity, as well.

Yee feels the current video game rating system isn’t working and that children will be able to get their hands on violent games as long as retailers are allowed to sell them to minors. Yee has also introduced another bill, AB 1793, also due for a vote Tuesday, that would limit the display of violent video games in stores and force them to post an explanation of the rating system.

If the bills do survive the committee, it will be at least a few weeks before it comes before the entire Assembly for a vote. After that, it would head to the State Senate and then to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s desk. Yee, however, doesn’t sound hopeful; he said he is surprised by the resistance his bills have faced. “I thought this was a slam dunk,” Yee said.

RAINBOW PONY · Apr 9, 2004

Um, yay?

ferrarimanf355 · Apr 9, 2004

http://www.igda.org/censorship/
http://www.igda.org/censorship/points.php

Please read up. Ignorance is not bliss.

galfordo · Apr 9, 2004

I really don't give a shit whether kids under 18 don't have access to GTA. It's not gonna kill them to wait.

ferrarimanf355 · Apr 9, 2004

Do you want to play cutesy platformers all your life? No? Then you should care. Here's some more info:
http://www.fepproject.org/
Click on the censorship of youth and violence in the media links on the top, because knowledge is power. :cool:

galfordo · Apr 9, 2004

ferrarimanf355 said:
Do you want to play cutesy platformers all your life?

No, but not having GTA before you're 18 isn't going to kill anyone. Kids are just abusing the country's love for civil rights on this one.

jaydubnb · Apr 9, 2004

I -wish- minors didnt have access to violent games simply for the fact that if one of them wigs out and kills an ant farm, the parent/guardian can be blamed for buying junior GTA 15 and I, as an adult, dont have to worry about shit being edited to "protect the children". Screw em. Let em play Kirby and Madden and have a blast, unless mommy/daddy/uncle joey is there in person with the kid and says its OK for him to play something mature.

ResO · Apr 9, 2004

I think the bill is lame, but I also think most kids now a'days are lame too

I honestly don't care either way, i'm not a minor.

Orpheus · Apr 9, 2004

ferrarimanf355 said:
Do you want to play cutesy platformers all your life? No? Then you should care. Here's some more info:
http://www.fepproject.org/
Click on the censorship of youth and violence in the media links on the top, because knowledge is power.

I don't need to play cutesy platformers, cause i'm 23. It's called "right of passage".
If little timmy can't buy GTA3 than thats tough shit for them. besides, momy and dady will probably buy it for him any way.
Honstly, games of a mature nature SHOULD NOT be sold to minors as they are meant for people over 18. thats why they have the damn ESRB ratings :rolleyes:

and i'm sick of these spoiled little shits acting like they deserve access to everything. They can go play pikmin for all I care.

You want a worthy cause:

http://www.fepproject.org/reviews/mediademoc.html

there ya go.

Hellsing · Apr 10, 2004

I agree with what ORPHEUS said. If some 12 year old kid can't buy a GTA why should I give a damn. I'm 33 at 16 I could drive, at 18 I could gamble and buy porn, at 21 I could buy beer.

BTW
GTA is a crappy game maybe you should be complaining about the bad control or over all lousiness of the game. To be honest everything Rockstar releases is really bad.

galfordo · Apr 10, 2004

jaydubnb said:
I -wish- minors didnt have access to violent games simply for the fact that if one of them wigs out and kills an ant farm, the parent/guardian can be blamed for buying junior GTA 15 and I, as an adult, dont have to worry about shit being edited to "protect the children". Screw em.

Good point. I'm even more against underage kids playing games like GTA than I was before. They're dumb enough already without these games giving them ideas.

galfordo is now officially an old fart .... *pauses for a moment of silence* .... getting old is teh suck.

Giga Power · Apr 10, 2004

Who cares. Censorship is everywhere, and it's just enforcing a age restriction. I say go ahead with it.
Maybe if these 1337 little fucks wouldn't be able to buy shit that they hear is great on Exntended Play, then some of the better games would actually fucking sell.
And don't worry little guys, I'm sure you can get mommy to snatch it for you.

Michael Yagami · Apr 10, 2004

I'd back this bill.

People under the age of 18 shouldn't be playing M rated games. If you are not old enough to go see and R rated movie by yourself you don't get to buy M rated games. End of story.

Mike

SouthtownKid · Apr 10, 2004

galfordo said:
I really don't give a shit whether kids under 18 don't have access to GTA. It's not gonna kill them to wait.

I'm going to count every time we agree on something. Okay, this is #1.

galfordo · Apr 10, 2004

SouthtownKid said:
I'm going to count every time we agree on something. Okay, this is #1.

You gotta start somewhere

.

Nesagwa · Apr 10, 2004

Its the same as the movie ratings thing, a 15 year old kid couldnt waltz into target and buy Pulp Fiction, and rightfully so.

"Cutesy platformers". Yeah, I guess they play too much GameCube and like Hello Kitty too. Instead they should be playing BMX XXX. Fucking retarded.

evil wasabi · Apr 10, 2004

I actually got carded when I bought Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes at Wal-Mart, guess I don't look old enough.

Anyway while parents need to be more responsible for their kids, I have no problem with kids not being able to get at these games.

Makismo · Apr 10, 2004

Funny how things change. Back in the day you could buy whatever you wanted. I remember watching Johnny Arcade and he said that Sword of Sodan was bloody as Hell (along those lines). The first thing I did was to go out and buy that game myself. It really was bloody as Hell but it kind of sucked. You could stab people to death and cut off their heads. The heads would even roll on the ground too. That was some serious shit back in 1990. The same went for Splatterhouse on the Turbo Grafx 16. However, there wasn't any rating system in those days. However, I don't think that there is a rating system in Japan so who really needs one here? I guess they are just more civilized than us red blooded Americans. Oh well....

galfordo · Apr 10, 2004

Makismo said:
Funny how things change. Back in the day you could buy whatever you wanted. I remember watching Johnny Arcade and he said that Sword of Sodan was bloody as Hell (along those lines). The first thing I did was to go out and buy that game myself. It really was bloody as Hell but it kind of sucked. You could stab people to death and cut off their heads. The heads would even roll on the ground too. That was some serious shit back in 1990. The same went for Splatterhouse on the Turbo Grafx 16. However, there wasn't any rating system in those days. However, I don't think that there is a rating system in Japan so who really needs one here? I guess they are just more civilized than us red blooded Americans. Oh well....

Unfortunately, we've got like 20 lawyers in the US for every 1 lawyer in Japan. Plus we've got some real morons over here who like to imitate what they see on video games and then claim that it's someone else's fault ...... bad combination.

The ratings system and age restrictions just give these worthless fucks a little less leverage. I'm all for it.

ferrarimanf355 · Apr 10, 2004

lithy said:
I actually got carded when I bought Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes at Wal-Mart, guess I don't look old enough.

Funny, I was carded at Wal-Mart too for buying Unreal Tournament 2003. :smirk:

Sigh... some people don't care here. How sad. I thought that it would hit home... :annoyed:

galfordo · Apr 10, 2004

ferrarimanf355 said:
Funny, I was carded at Wal-Mart too for buying Unreal Tournament 2003.

Sigh... some people don't care here. How sad. I thought that it would hit home...

Dude, c'mon be reasonable - it's not like they're banning games here.

Would you want your 6 yr. old daughter beating prostitutes on GTA 3?

There have to be some standards.

Hellsing · Apr 10, 2004

ferrarimanf355 said:
Funny, I was carded at Wal-Mart too for buying Unreal Tournament 2003.

Sigh... some people don't care here. How sad. I thought that it would hit home...

So the truth behind the thread is out. I'm 33 and I get carded every once in a while at bars. Don't be so thin skined its called life.

galfordo · Apr 11, 2004

Hellsing said:
So the truth behind the thread is out. I'm 33 and I get carded every once in a while at bars. Don't be so thin skined its called life.

I wish I'd still get carded with my old-lookin' ass

.

Hellsing · Apr 11, 2004

galfordo said:
I wish I'd still get carded with my old-lookin' ass .

I take it as a complament.

Or the bartender is just nosey and wants to know how old I am.

galfordo · Apr 11, 2004

Hellsing said:
Or the bartender is just nosey and wants to know how old I am.

Heh, that or your bartender is teh gh4y :tickled:

- trying to get that address ....

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