The average videogame player is, what now... 30 years of age or so? But, despite our grizzly neckbeards and massive beer guts, we still get carded for everything. We get carded for booze. We get carded for cigarettes. And if this newly introduced bill passes the U.S. House of Representatives, we'll be carded for our videogame purchases, too.
The Video Games Ratings Enforcement Act would require ID checks for the purchase of any M or AO rated title. It would also require stores to display details on the ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board) ratings system. Those that don't comply could be hit with a $5,000 fine.
“The images and themes in some video games are shocking and troublesome. In some games, high scores are often earned by players who commit ‘virtual’ murder, assault and rape,” said Terry.
“Many young children are walking into stores and are able to buy or rent these games without their parents even knowing about it. Many retailers have tried to develop voluntary policies to make sure mature games do not end up in the hands of young kids, but we need to do more to protect our children,” he added.
I hate being carded, but this really isn't a bad idea. With this law in place, perhaps some of the videogame blame lazers fired by the media will be deflected. What do you think?
[Via Gamasutra]
Dale North is Destructoid's Editor-In-Chief, a founding editor, and specialist in Japanese gaming. An accomplished musician, Dale was reporting from Japan during the earthquakes of 2011. Luckily, he got the fuck out alive and is home in America now with his wife and beloved corgi, Einstein. Dale is also a co-founder of Destructoid's sister anime site
Japanator. Likes Corgis, Sega Saturn, PSP, iPhone, Photographic tools.
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Contest:
11:36 AM on 05.08.2008
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Oh wait, that's the problem already, isn't it?
Who cares about being carded. It only takes 2 seconds if the cashier is good at math. I even had to show ID when I bought GTA. No big deal.
Face-motherfucking-palm.
I'm fine with getting carded for games, but I very much doubt that it'll stop watchdog groups and people like Thompson from continuing their crusades.
Big deal though. Pass a law. Card my ass. Just stay away from telling me what I can and can't play and what developers can and can't make. Do that, and we're cool.
Hell, I already do. When I bought No More Heroes, I was carded (despite being 24 and looking like I'm 30) so vigorously that the woman (see: idiot) behind the counter thought I had a fake ID because the pictures didn't match (I wasn't wearing glasses when I had the photo taken, but was wearing them at the counter...).
But I'll happily volunteer my credentials for every game I purchase if it'll stop the politicians searching for faux problems to solve from picking on our medium.
@AlucardX24
Don't they already do that? I guess I thought that was already a law.
I don't mind having to show my card when it comes to buying games and whatnot.
The online shopping angle is where the real loopwhole is now. Gamers can just easily go there and avoid such questions.
I guess except the 12 year olds who want to play M rated games, but fuck them.
Something seems off about this to me.
Granted, I don't want kids getting their hands on age innappropriate games with out their parents being invovled, or at the least, aware.
That said, it seems wrong to have a government law based on a ratings board independant of the government. THough I guess the only way to keep talk of Big Brother out of he bill *IS* to have a seperate body rate the games.
It just reminds me a little bit of the orphan works bill, in that there is to be enforcement of a certification that is not gevernment regulated, albeit centralized into one ratings board.
There's good there, but something just doesn't sit right . . .
Next we need to pass a law that requires all parents to take a course on the ratings system so they know what the fuck they're buying for their children, or to grow a spine so that they don't buckle in under demands for M rated games. Then we'll be good.
I know Scalia has suggested otherwise, but most state legislation along these lines has been found unconstitutional.
It bothered me when Manhunt 2's content had to be changed -that the company's vision for the game had to be distorted- in order for it to avoid being banned.
And no, they don't do it for movies. Carding for movies is done voluntarily by the movie companies. Which is how it should work in a free country with a free market.
Also, TrailerParkJesus, you do get carded for movies, but that's an act of private organizations--not government control.
P.S. Sorry if my bb code is screwed up; Dtoid hates Safari.
Remember how we have a 1st Amendment? Remember that? The government, under no circumstances, can restrict speech. Not who creates it, how it's created, or who consumes it.
Tell the FCC that.
And can we please educate these people about how there is no such thing as a rape game, save for Custer's Revenge? Also, "high scores" aren't totally relevant anymore. Sigh.
So once it's been done once it's therefore OK? The FCC is just as unconstitutional as this bill, and they should be fought just as hard.
But seriously, not for this bill at all. If my ZZ Top beard and Malt Liquor breath aren't enough to at least prove my age to buy the game, then there is something wrong. Plus this will not exactly stop parents from buying games for their children. Next thing you know they'll have to ask you if you have children and if you are buying the game for them. If you lie, you are put on a list of registered video game offenders and will have to relocate and inform everyone in your neighborhood that you play games and let your child play Grand Theft Auto XIII.
That's what precedence is. You should also note that selling pornography to minors is also illegal.
Honestly, the only people affected by this are minors, which the government has a constitutional requirement to protect from material deemed harmful to their growth, specifically immoral material such as violence and sex.
Nope, but it sure will put the blame on them for the actions of their kids based on the games they play and not the gaming industry as a whole.
Precedence decisions are overturned all the time. And they are overturned based on the Constitution.
It should also be noted that the FCC has never been tested at the Supreme Court level. If they were, it's almost certain they would lose due to the plain violation of free speech.
Not really. It's typically rare for such a thing to happen actually.
It should also be noted that the FCC has never been tested at the Supreme Court level. If they were, it's almost certain they would lose due to the plain violation of free speech.
Really? Because I swear that just last year and this last March there was a case brought to the Supreme Court regarding the utterance of a vulgarity once during a live feed show. And, in that same article linked, 30 years ago they deemed it indecent for George Carlin to say his "seven dirty words" on the TV.
They've upheld and overturned various FCC rulings over time.
Fuck you, old rich people.
Jack Thompson's approach to T2 is the idea of conspiracy to sell inappropriate material to minors, and at the moment, his inappropriate relies on legel definition of what's pornographic: anything sexual (which to a layman, is ludicrous).
However, given a world where the sale of a game to a minor is on-the-books illegal, he'll need merely to point to the fresh law and make his case in that direction.
I am not sure how the federal government would be able to meet this hurdle, unless a different standard applies. The only thing I could think of is that this would be a free speech issue related to minors, but I have still never seen a different standard for free speech used with regard to minors (except for Morse v. Frederick, but that was within the context of public schools). So I am not sure what the government's argument would be in this case.
PS I just finished my Con Law class, so this stuff is kind of fun to look at.
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2008/05/secretshop.shtm
They show that it's easier for underage kids to get into and buy R or Unrated movies than it is for them to buy M rated video games. And the percentage of underage kids being able to buy M rated video games has gone down DRAMATICALLY in the past couple of years.
Now I want to get one thing straight. I'm against underage kids getting their hands on M rated games. But dammit people, I do NOT want the government doing the job of the parents. It's not a LAW that movie theaters card kids, it's not a LAW that movie retailers card before selling R or Unrated movies. So why should video game retailers be forced to abide by some law? And what will the punishment be for violating this law? Not anything as bad as if someone sells a kid a ticket to SawIII. Which appears to happen more often than a kid getting his hands on GTA4 without his parents having bought it for him.
...think about it.
but we are canadians. so yeah. no jackT up here
I'm fairly certain it's not going to get anywhere, but I'm okay if this does get as far as it does as long as it applies equally to all media and not just video games. I personally don't mind it either way since with or without it my position on what games my kids play will be the same, they play whatever I say they can play and that's it.
Last I heard, the ESRB is a private entity, the gaming industry's self-regulation committee. Can they really tack on and enforce laws on a private entity's "opinion"?