Legislation That Will Actually Help Gaming
In March, California Assembly Bill 450 will be debated. Why is this important to you? Assembly Bill 450, written by Assembly Speaker per Tem Leland Yee could be a significant catalyst for change in the way we buy or even what type of games we play in the future. Leland Yee’s bill would prevent the renting, sale and distribution of videogames that show graphically violent depictions of injuries to human beings to those that are 16 years of age or younger. If caught the violators would be fined up to $1,000 for each offense. Along with the fine games that are deemed to qualify for this bill would have to sport a tag stating, “This game may not be sold to anyone under 17 years of age.” Not to color the argument one way or the other you can read Assembly Speaker per Tem Yee’s official press release here. Shocking as this may sound, I agree with Yee on the premises of the bill introduced and think only good things can come of it. I do have problems with his reasoning and the state of our society when we have to legislate parenting but I think this bill could turn out to be a boost for the game industry as a whole. First, let start by saying I disagree with his reasoning that games cause violent behavior in children. There has yet to be any conclusive evidence that violent games cause children to act out violently. Can games be a trigger to someone that already has violent tendencies? I am sure it could, but at the same time I am also sure that a losing a quarter in a vending machine may also send a postal employee on a multi-state shooting spree, and yet I am pretty positive there would not be a call to ban soda from the workplace if this were to happen. My point is the violent tendencies, along with the inability to tell the difference between reality and fantasy, good and bad, already have to be present in the individual for games to have any kind of impact. You may be asking, “If this is the case how could you think that this bill is a solution to the problem at all?” My response to you would be, “I do not think it is a solution.” The problem is that since Mortal Kombat, parents, and anti-violence advocates alike have all been condemning videogames as the cause of all that is evil. It is easy for negligent parents and adults to find an scapegoat when the child they were not paying attention to screams for attention by committing a horrible act of violence. They search for a reason so that they do not have to face the hard reality that they may have had a part in something so awful, and thus they blame the first thing they do not understand in their child’s life. My support for the bill stems from the fact that once it is passed it will take away the only positive argument that these types of groups have. Making it so that retail or rental places can not sell games to those under 16 puts the responsibility of children playing these games back onto the parents. It forces them to take a more active interest in their children’s hobby. No longer can it be the “evil game industry” that is trying to sell games to our poor defenseless children and the gaming industry will be on equal footing with the movie industry. The last half the previous sentence is, in my opinion, the most important aspect when it comes to this bill. Being that the ratings would be enforced and more than likely M rated games would be kept (legally) out of the hands of children, game developers would be able to expand and explore the medium of gaming. Games could tackle mature subjects in ways that younger gamers may not be able to handle and there would be no opportunity for the industry to come under fire. Movies have been able to create moving works based on mature themes for decades and it seems that now games may be able to have the opportunity to move away from their simplistic origins and give gamers of all ages the ability to engross themselves in a title that addresses intense subject matter. Games have been pigeonholed as a children’s hobby for so long that whenever the first sign of anything that has violence in it is released the first screams you hear are of “What will happen to our children?” Now with this first step, games may be able to break this image and be viewed as the artistic medium that it is.
By Jeremy Mravlja Gamer's Perspective Agree? Disagree?.....send us a E-mail at mail@gamersperspective.com or join us on our forums. |
