DC wants to ban Violent video games.

Col. Crackpot · Post by **Col. Crackpot** » 2005-02-04 08:53am

as a fan of violent and sexually explicit video games I support banning sales to children.

11 year olds have no business seeing hookers getting their brains blown out by sawnoff shotguns. Or the graphic murdur of police officers with automatic weapons, never mind being able to carry out these acts in a virtual environment.

if there is one thing I have learned playing GTA, Wolfenstien, etc is that u sure as hell wouldn't want my little neices seeing that shit. And when i have kids they won't be exposed to it either... at least not where i can prevent it.

Sharp-kun · Post by **Sharp-kun** » 2005-02-04 08:53am

I saw this on another forum. People (who I expect were mostly minors) were up in arms about it.

I don't see the problem with restricting sales of rated games to those that aren't old enough to buy them. Its been done with movies and some games here for ages. You just need a few high profile cases to encourage retailers to fall in line.

Guardsman Bass · Post by **Guardsman Bass** » 2005-02-04 08:56am

I'd be more afraid of minors getting addicted to an M-rated game. *cough*Halo!*cough* However, I do support this ban, particularly as at most game stores that I go to, they ALREADY require you to show ID if they think you are too young. As for games with strong sexual content, I don't know about the PC, but I have heard of ONE title that has come out in the past 5-6 years that had any truly noticeable sexual content.

Of course, this is only on M games. I hope these guys don't plan on going after the Teen-rated games, too.

Lucifer · Post by **Lucifer** » 2005-02-04 08:59am

But at some places, if you look old enough, they won't bother to check if you are old enough. They don't really notice.

Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba · Post by **Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba** » 2005-02-04 09:27am

But all th best stuff is M-rated!

But in all seriousness, I see nothing wrong with this. It gives power to the parent. Won't stop ME from buying GTA anytime soon.*shrugs*

wautd · Post by **wautd** » 2005-02-04 09:34am

About time. As for myself, I lost count of how many people I've killed since I started gaming with my old NES system

Vendetta · Post by **Vendetta** » 2005-02-04 12:43pm

Admiral Valdemar wrote: The problem, however, is stores that don't give a shit and sell to kids anyway, thus sparking off this problem in the first place like sale of alcohol to minors.

BBFC certification is still voluntary for videogames, as I understand. There have been calls for their certification to be more stringently enforced though, as it is ignored much of the time, despite the fact it can land you in jail for six months and facing a £5000 fine.

It may be the case that eventually all games will pass through the BBFC's hands, like movies do, and will all carry the appropriate rating. Which would, at the very least, make people more aware that the things are being rated for a reason.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2005-02-04 12:49pm

Vendetta wrote:
Admiral Valdemar wrote:The problem, however, is stores that don't give a shit and sell to kids anyway, thus sparking off this problem in the first place like sale of alcohol to minors.
BBFC certification is still voluntary for videogames, as I understand. There have been calls for their certification to be more stringently enforced though, as it is ignored much of the time, despite the fact it can land you in jail for six months and facing a £5000 fine.

Laws are useless without active enforcement. As I said earlier, have the police do a few sting operations with highly publicized arrests, convictions, and harsh sentences. Fear will keep the local systems in line.

Vendetta · Post by **Vendetta** » 2005-02-04 01:19pm

BBFC certification is quite well enforced for movies, it's just for games that they let it go.

You could conceivably go to a store, buy an 18 rated game, wander across to the other counter, and be refused service when trying to buy a DVD carrying the same rating with exactly the same legal weight.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2005-02-04 02:26pm

I am highly confident that such a ban will be as effective at curbing violent crime in the district as it ban on handguns was, as in not at all.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2005-02-04 04:09pm

Sea Skimmer wrote:I am highly confident that such a ban will be as effective at curbing violent crime in the district as it ban on handguns was, as in not at all.

I don't think most people are going to realistically think it will curb crime. It's really more of an instrument of parental control over their kids.

Pint0 Xtreme · Post by **Pint0 Xtreme** » 2005-02-04 04:21pm

Darth Wong wrote:Fear will keep the local systems in line.

Fear of this BATTLE STATION!! Oops, wrong forum.

Uraniun235 · Post by **Uraniun235** » 2005-02-04 08:57pm

HemlockGrey wrote:
Its just like how an adult needs to acompany a minor to an R-rated movie.
Actually, I don't think they do. I can go see R-rated movies anytime I want at my local independent theater.

Age restriction enforcement isn't legally mandated; movie theaters choose for themselves whether or not to enforce it.

Seggybop · Post by **Seggybop** » 2005-02-05 03:02pm

You can't infinitely copy cigarettes and alcohol over the internet. You can't borrow them, finish with them, and then give them back.

Games and porn, you can, quite easily.

A law like this might lower the amount of children playing these games by a small amount (only the stupidest of them would be deterred) but not in any meaningful way.

Temjin · Post by **Temjin** » 2005-02-05 04:47pm

Seggybop wrote:You can't infinitely copy cigarettes and alcohol over the internet. You can't borrow them, finish with them, and then give them back.

Games and porn, you can, quite easily.

A law like this might lower the amount of children playing these games by a small amount (only the stupidest of them would be deterred) but not in any meaningful way.

So?

It makes all those people who are so concerned with little Johny playing GTA: SA happy. It doesn't matter whether it's enforcible or not.

Seggybop · Post by **Seggybop** » 2005-02-05 05:39pm

Meh. Good point. Let them be happy in their ignorance.