Video Game Regulation

                There’s been a lot of talk recently about the hubbub over Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas’ hidden (or not-so-hidden) mini-game that involves ‘hot coffee’ (wink wink). Senator Clinton’s involved and people are throwing around this and that idea. If you want to read some good articles on this, I recommend you go check this one out. It’s a pretty good fire-back from, while not the video game industry, from a member of video game fandom.

                I don’t watch a lot of television. But what I do watch is usually G4, the network for gamers (and they didn’t even pay me to plug it). And through this medium, I’ve been keeping up with some of the twists and turns regarding this whole issue.

                And it seems to me that the whole thing is being blown out of proportion. But not just from lawmakers, but from the gaming industry as well. For the most part, except for some of the crackpots over on the far right, mostly they’re calling for regulation and enforcement of that regulation, but then little more. And I don’t see too much wrong with that.

                The video game industry already has a rating system, one that is in many ways superior to the rating system used by the Motion Picture Association of America. This system tells potential buyers what they can expect from the game as far as content, especially over such areas like blood, gore, sex, etc. I don’t see anything wrong with this or the little stickers on the corner of the box.

                Just the same, I don’t see anything wrong with limiting game purchases by age group. A 15 year old not being able to buy San Andreas doesn’t bother me. The game carries an M (or now an AO) rating. That does mean 18+ only. We do not allow children to buy pornography or, technically, even R-rated movies. Yet I can’t say I’ve heard of anyone being brought up on charges or fines for selling the games to minors. I admit that’s a bit extreme, but let’s be fair. If the law applies to one side, it needs to apply to the other.

                My problem is when the lawmakers start talking about banning. I’ve got no problems with the games carrying little stickers that say ‘warning: this game contains violence, profanity, and fragrant shots of girls high-kicking really tight thongs’. I’ve got no problems with little Timmy not being able to buy San Andreas until he’s 18. I, to be quite honest, don’t even really have a problem limiting some video game sales to certain hours of the day (M and AO games only being sold before 3 pm or after 8 pm or something like that). My problem is when they say that these games should be banned.

                Video games are an artistic medium just like any other. And we’ve been through this time and time again. We went through it with Rock and Roll (several times, actually). We’ve been through it with painted art, the written word, even film and TV. Video games are art, to varying degrees. It needs to be protected by the First Amendment.

                The First Amendment is about having the freedom to say what you want to say, uncensored. I don’t feel that it has any guarantees about saying it wherever you feel like. I don’t mind limiting access to a reasonable degree (‘reasonable’ being the operative word) to what the community feels is ‘questionable’ material. But that questionable material must, should, and will remain accessible to those who want to see and experience it.

                The video game rating system is a good idea, one that has helped mature the industry and helped give it a more professional level of presentation to non-gamers. I know most of you who read this are gamers and think ‘well why can’t they just look at the back of the box or read a review and figure it out’. And to be honest, you’re saying that because you’re a gamer. You know what to look for and where to look for it. You know how to choose what you like and what you don’t.

                A novice gamer, like a young child or even an elderly woman in a nursing home (yeah, gaming’s getting popular there), probably doesn’t know the ins and outs of the industry. She doesn’t understand the difference between DOA and Tekken. So while she may be comfortable with beating the tar out of some poor polygon character, she may not be with jiggling polygon boobies. And that warning system can caution her and help her make a decision that is better for her and will be better for her opinion of the video game industry.

                We want to encourage gaming. We want to make gaming more accessible and more satisfying for everyone. And this does initially sound like a paradox, but in order to do that, we must limit it for some people. I feel bad for all the twelve and fifteen year old kids that are mature and responsible enough to handle playing San Andreas. But I do feel that the wait of a few years isn’t too much to ask.

And besides, look at it from a Darwinist perspective. This way, the smart ones who find away around the system get to play it.