Since the news of Senate passing the video game bill recently I thought I would make my first post about that. Now, I'm no whiz in government so bear with me.
I think this is the most pointless bill introduced pertaining to gaming.
At this rate no one will ever take video games seriously as an art form, story telling device, or even an accepted form of entertainment. Too many uneducated people are taking video games and blaming them for the corruption of the world, like the problems didn't exist before gaming, not even looking at movies or television of this day in age.
Not to mention that some of the points of the bill are already covered.
These are including:
All consoles must have parental controls (All three currently do in some way)
No game can be sold unless there is a rating on it (Done by ESRB)
Currently the ESRB is a non-profit organization which can currently stop at any time it chooses. When this bill goes into effect there would have to be some kind of rating board. Now I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but if the ESRB decides to stop, there would have to be a new board, which would probably be run by a group of people who do not understand gaming, who would slap an "M" rating on if there was a single gun, or drop of blood. Now of course I'm exaggerating, but my point is, it would not be the same ratings, and by the looks of things, it wouldn't be any better. By better I mean less lenient, which some people may think is a good thing to have more "M" games, maybe the public will think gaming is more mature, maybe it will keep the kids out. But all it can do is add more bad press of "Children getting their hands on mature games".
This bill is just the start of the government grabbing control of video games, if this passes more anti-gaming bills will start appearing, and who knows, maybe passed. And the uneducated people who are proposing these bills are the cause of it, they do not understand how deep a game can go, they just see shooting and killing other people and go complain to someone about it. But what they don't understand is that video games can be used to tell a story, perfect example being Metal Gear Solid. Amazing story, I can bet if the series was a book instead of a game it would be receiving honors and be called a work of art by the same people who are trying to keep it out of reach. But the video game critics are so thick that they cannot even realize that the game is deeper than just killing people in the shadows, or "Teaching our children to assassinate". It's about love, hardships, betrayals, pain, and plot twists. Not killing for the sport, not mindlessly offing someone, not fighting for no reason. In most of the games being targeted there is a story deeper than what critics see, all they see, or want to see is mindless killing. Which is why video games will never be taken seriously, people are too worried about "crazed teen and children" learning how to kill someone by pressing the right trigger on the controller.
Video games have a deeper way of telling a story than movies, books, or television because they put you "in" the situation and you can influence it so that it is as though you are experiencing the story for yourself. You aren't far off in left field, you are the main character, you call the shots, and the game reacts to that. Mass Effect, another good example, basically lets you create the story how you want with choices, something a book or movie cannot even begin to let you do. But all the media can comment on is the "orgasmic rape".
I've said enough on the matter. I just hope this bill doesn't pass, as I don't want the government in control of this art form.
