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Venezuela's new anti-violent video game law just recently went into effect, an opportunity for those who import or sell violent video games (and toys) a chance to pay a hefty fine and spend three-to-five years in prison.

Gamesthirst and La Gaceta help the potentially violent video gamer better understand Ley para la Prohibición de Videojuegos Bélicos y Juguetes Bélicos, Venezuela's anti-violent game legislation that was proposed last summer and went into effect earlier this month.

Basically, the law says that those who "import, manufacture, sell, rent, or distribute violent toys or video games"—games with "information or images that promote or incite violence and the use of weapons"—can land them in prison for up to five years. Those guilty of promoting such games carry a fine "between 2,000 and 4,000 tax units."

This just sounds completely insane. You have to wonder exactly what they mean by "promote or incite violence" given the sheer amount of violent games out there.

Oh shit better not bring a game of cluedo!

This could be used to outlaw football, as that CERTAINLY has incited a lot of violence.

However, given that there are no studies or evidence that indicates that violent games incite violence or the use of real weapons it should be perfectly safe to sell video games. Oh well...

Steel wrote:This could be used to outlaw football, as that CERTAINLY has incited a lot of violence.

Including two wars by my count.

you never know when I might try and launch a planet buster strike on Venesula, it would all be sid meirs fault....

Or drop a Nuclear Bunker Buster on some poor unsuspecting oil rig

Steel wrote:However, given that there are no studies or evidence that indicates that violent games incite violence or the use of real weapons it should be perfectly safe to sell video games. Oh well...

Our psych lecturer, when discussing the strengths and weaknesses of various kinds of experimental designs, used violent videogames causing violence as a case study. At one stage he was discussing how there were studies that suggested that while playing violent games =/= becoming violent, children who played them at a young age were more likely to be violent at an older age, regardless of whether or not they continued to play them outside of childhood.

He didn't mention any specific study though.

UrchinStar47 wrote:

Steel wrote:This could be used to outlaw football, as that CERTAINLY has incited a lot of violence.

Including two wars by my count.

I only know of one, the so-called "football war" between El Salvador and Honduras which was actually caused by political issues stemming from the treatment of Salvadoran migrant workers in Honduras when the Honduran government attempted to blame their collapsing economy on the formerly tolerated if technically illegal El Salvadoran workers. The soccer match between the two "merely" worked as a propaganda piece for both sides (to demonstrate how nasty those Hondurans/Salvadorans were allegedly causing trouble).

Anyway, this law, of course, is open to a lot of interpretation and varying degrees of enforcement. Much in the same way even legally mandated age ratings are often ignored by games retailers. I assume the exact details of what would constitute a violence-inciting game will be kept deliberately vague in order to fit the social and cultural issues of the time. After all, given the very nature of video game interaction and possibilities, what is necessary violence and what is encouraging a player to commit wanton violence can be hard to separate.

How large is Venezuela's buying gaming populace anyway? Because I can predict that because of this games will get around illegally much more likely.

Does this mean we can now officially apply the "Oh yeah? Well that's what the America hating socialists do. Why do you have America?" argument against the pundits?

UrchinStar47 wrote:

Steel wrote:This could be used to outlaw football, as that CERTAINLY has incited a lot of violence.

Including two wars by my count.

Are you thinking of that riot/coup that nearly threw out the Byzantine Emperor Justinian in the 6th century? Yeah, I know what the mobs were rioting over wasn't exactly football, but it was a spectator sport of sorts.