List of Anti-Gaming Officials

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BlindTelepath

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I'm trying to come up with a list of public officials/figures who are demonstrably anti-gaming. Fill in the blanks, eh? :) (both in terms of names, and reasons)

Joseph Lieberman (forget what exactly.. ?)
Leland Yee (Hot Coffee attacks on ESRB et al)
Jack Thompson (StopKill.com obsessive compulsive neurotic lawyer)
David Grossman ("Killology" guy, "murder simulator" guy)
Hilary Clinton (5000 dollar fine for retailers of mature games to minors)

Who else?
 
is this a really big issue ? is the gaming industry ins some kind of threat that i am unaware of ? ..some kind of bill that might be aproved ?. coz there have been 2 threads on this issue so far.
 
mindless_moder said:
is this a really big issue ? is the gaming industry ins some kind of threat that i am unaware of ? ..some kind of bill that might be aproved ?. coz there have been 2 threads on this issue so far.
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You'd think..I mean video games DID cause Columbine, yeah no, not bad parenting, or even kids that are insane, and parents let them have access to guns, and not know of anything..I blame parents, we should ban them until we are 18.
 
BlindTelepath said:
Hilary Clinton (5000 dollar fine for retailers of mature games to minors)
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She did what now? When?
 
I'm gonna go run over them and rob them of their supposedly "hard"-earned cash, and then i'm gonna go on a 5-star crime spree in my Banshee.

Wish me luck
 
Sparta said:
I'm gonna go run over them and rob them of their supposedly "hard"-earned cash, and then i'm gonna go on a 5-star crime spree in my Banshee.

Wish me luck
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I'll call the military and police to a different location some 100kms away.

Then the paramedics.
 
Nah its cool, by that time i should have found that pill that slows down time and should've stolen a tank by then. It's all good.
 
Can you really list every concerned mother on the planet?
 
I've found in cases like this, Americans and Australians are too uptight.

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has been around in this country for many decades. We don't mess around with things like ESRB and PEGI (at least not in most cases). We just get our BBFC to classify it either U for Universal, PG for Parental Guidance, 12A for cinema films where people under the age of 12 must be accompanied by an adult, 12 for no one younger than 12, 15 for no one younger than 15 year olds and 18 for no one under the age of 18.

The BBFC took one look at GTA: SA Hot Coffee and said, "Meh, it'd be covered under the 18 rating anyway". Surely Australians, for example, bring it on themselves when their equivalent to the BBFC only has ratings that go up to 15? And if they want to shelter American kids so much, why does the ESRB only go up to M for Mature rating (not suitable for under 17s) instead of going up to 18, 19 or even 21?

It's the censors that make the big deal out of everything when it could be so much easier.

EDIT: Looked into it a bit further and it seems as though Aussies do have ratings that go up to 18+, but if that's the case, why didn't they do it with GTA: SA in the first place?
 
BlindTelepath said:
Hilary Clinton (5000 dollar fine for retailers of mature games to minors)
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If that's all she's done then that's fine. I mean there are ESRB ratings for a reason, and retailers should not be able to sell them to minors without a parent. That puts the responsibility into the parent's hands rather than the gaming industry.

If you were listing people who were trying to make alcohol illegal, you wouldn't list someone that simply wouldn't sell it to minors.

Not selling T/M/A rated games to minors is a good thing, and maybe a $5,000 fine is in order for the companies that do. Remember, that would be MUCH better for the gaming industry than completely banning the use of sex or violence.

Edit: Because Chris_D posted at the same time as me,

Chris_D said:
I've found in cases like this, Americans and Australians are too uptight.

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has been around in this country for many decades. We don't mess around with things like ESRB and PEGI (at least not in most cases). We just get our BBFC to classify it either U for Universal, PG for Parental Guidance, 12A for cinema films where people under the age of 12 must be accompanied by an adult, 12 for no one younger than 12, 15 for no one younger than 15 year olds and 18 for no one under the age of 18.

The BBFC took one look at GTA: SA Hot Coffee and said, "Meh, it'd be covered under the 18 rating anyway". Surely Australians, for example, bring it on themselves when their equivalent to the BBFC only has ratings that go up to 15? And if they want to shelter American kids so much, why does the ESRB only go up to M for Mature rating (not suitable for under 17s) instead of going up to 18, 19 or even 21?

It's the censors that make the big deal out of everything when it could be so much easier.
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I don't know what the name of our movie censor organization is here in America, but we've had it for as long as I can remember, probably as long as you have. Our's are G, PG, PG13 (Much like your 12A), PG17 (Rarely Used), R (18+), X (Probably Porn..). The ESRB on the other hand does put 17+ for their Mature rating, but what is their adult rating? I was under the impression that M was not the highest it went.. /realizes he's on the internet and just looks it up. Ok, A is Adult, which is 18+ as far as ESRB is concerned. I don't think I've seen an A game though. I think the problem with going over 18 as you said, is that when you're 18 you're an adult. You can move out, go to college, buy lottery tickets / cigarettes, get married, etc.. etc.. If someone gets married at 19, goes to Harvard, and buys his own little apartment, then can you really tell them: "Oh, you're not 21 so no GTA:<Insert Stupid City / Decade>. I mean 18 is pretty much as far as you can go for something that doesn't have the potential to directly harm you or others (Alcohol at 21).

So yea, I'm probably too opinionated on the matter.
 
Ok, fair enough, you're right. There is an AO rating (Adult Only) and this is what their website says:
ADULTS ONLY
Titles rated AO (Adults Only) have content that should only be played by persons 18 years and older. Titles in this category may include prolonged scenes of intense violence and/or graphic sexual content and nudity.
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Surely GTA: SA should come under that bracket if everyone's pissing in their pants about its content? But, on the flip side of the coin, this is what the description is of their M for Mature rating:
MATURE
Titles rated M (Mature) have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older. Titles in this category may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content, and/or strong language.
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How has GTA: SA breached that? It has voilence, blood, gore, strong language and (now) sexual content.

It's on the box, so I don't see why people go ape-shit at developers and gamers when it's their own censors that either aren't clear enough, not enforcing enough or not strict enough on their classifications of ratings.
 
Each and everyone one of them need to be burned at the stake. Either that, or forced into playing Big rigs.
 
Chris_D said:
It's on the box, so I don't see why people go ape-shit at developers and gamers when it's their own censors that either aren't clear enough, not enforcing enough or not strict enough on their classifications of ratings.
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QFT

Parent's need something to blame for their bad parenting. Anyone willing to give parents that something to blame is going to be pretty popular.
 
If parents are going to buy their 12 year old kids 18+ rated games, then what do they expect? Punish whoever breaks the age limits (parents and/or retailer), not the company who makes them.
 
I work at Blockbuster, and I have seen both sides at play. A parent brings her two sons (both look 17) and they want to buy some games, they bring up KingdomHearts. She questions me on its content, I'm like "WTF?" This parent is clearly overprotective when she needs to question a game with mickey on the cover. Another Day, A guy walks in with his 5-7 year old kid, renting him GTA: San Andreas, both happily conversing about "doing some drive-bys."

Point is: Parents only want what they want. Stupid rating doesn't mean shit, it's what they hear from the game that matters. Like GTA clearly has a "bad rap" with parents of all kinds.
 
Chris_D said:
Ok, fair enough, you're right. There is an AO rating (Adult Only) and this is what their website says:Surely GTA: SA should come under that bracket if everyone's pissing in their pants about its content? But, on the flip side of the coin, this is what the description is of their M for Mature rating:How has GTA: SA breached that? It has voilence, blood, gore, strong language and (now) sexual content.
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An AO rating is the death of a video game ..none of the usual retailers (eb games, wal-mart, best buy etc) will carry games labeled AO. No company will risk their investment by putting in what may be deemed by some as "inappropriate for children" ...despite the fact that their intended audience are adults

Chris_D said:
It's on the box, so I don't see why people go ape-shit at developers and gamers when it's their own censors that either aren't clear enough, not enforcing enough or not strict enough on their classifications of ratings.
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yes but this is what the anti-games activists want. They feel the ESRB isnt effective enough at keeping adult material out of the hands of children (because everyone knows parents are stupid and cant read labels) ..they want to legislate a more strict ratings code, or better still, create legislation that will hold developers accountable for any crimes committed that are associated with their games ..it'll eventually force developers to self-censor for fear of reprecussions.
 
Chris_D said:
EDIT: Looked into it a bit further and it seems as though Aussies do have ratings that go up to 18+, but if that's the case, why didn't they do it with GTA: SA in the first place?
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There are plenty of reasons. M mean mature not some kiddie who doesn't know the difference between right and wrong, besides there are plenty of M rated shows on national TV down here, that are much worse than GTA:SA .Firearms are harder to access down here. Even if you belong to a gun club those guns need to be under lock and key when not in use.

Even so there are allways plenty of ignorant people in every country on the planet. I'm talking about the ones that buy GTA simply to go kill pedestrians.
 
To those high up peoples.
Don't blame your own mistakes on the kids who can't tell right from wrong. Idiots.
 
Samon said:
Each and everyone one of them need to be burned at the stake. Either that, or forced into playing Big rigs.
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That will cause them to hate games even more, both for proving games can cause phsychotic bahaviour or that games are just complete crap :D
 
DEATH eVADER said:
That will cause them to hate games even more, both for proving games can cause phsychotic bahaviour or that games are just complete crap :D
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Ok, point, but I think after playing rigs, they'd be rather traumatised :p
 
FWIW There is no x, xx, or xxx rating. This is an artificial rating system that porn movies use but its not recognised by the MPAA. The onlly rating they have is NC17. The MPAA itself is an artificial rating system that is applied and run by the industry itself. A film producer/distributor can also choose to release a movie unrated. Unfortunatly most theaters wont wont carry unrated or nc17 due to the financial reprocusions the film industry itself might leverage against the theater, or the pure social stigma.
 
add Senator Charles Schumer to the list as he's in charge of the anti "25 to Life" brigade even before its released to market
 
BlindTelepath said:
Hilary Clinton (5000 dollar fine for retailers of mature games to minors)
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That's not anti-game... what's wrong with that?
 
how many movie retailers have the same conditions imposed on movies? or books? or works of art?
 
Most major movie retailers I know won't sell/rent a rated R or above movie anyone under 17...
 
I'm fairly sure they will... and if not, and they get caught I'm sure they get a stiff reprimand from their corporate headquarters... As in the cashier in question getting fired/"probation", etc
 
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