In Delaware, Another Try at Video Game Legislation

As a resident of Delaware, this really depresses me (even though I'm not a minor). I have yet to see a game, new or used, without its rating label visible; and the ID check thing is just a pain. When I was asked for ID once at an EBgames, I was impressed at the time.. but looking back on it, I don't see how the cashier could've concieved that I'm under 18. Having to do that every time I buy an M-rated game would just be annoying, and wouldn't solve the problem.

Oh and I forgot....

DECLARE WAR ON INCOMPENTENCE

"These politics remind me of the energizer bunny. They keep going and going and going."

It's funny. You would think that after 6 years, 9 court battles and millions of taxpayer's dollars wasted on these feel good but useless bills they'd just finally give up. But so long as it is only taxpayer's money being wasted on unconstitutional legislation and the politicans don't have to pay for it themselves out of their own pockets, they'll just keep doing it. It too bad politicans can't be financially responsible for their own idiotic legislation.

I love how the photos of the politicians we don't like on this site almost always seem to have that "I'M @#!$ING CRAZY AND I WILL KILL YOU AND EAT YOUR SPICY BRAINS" look on them.

@Robb

What makes it more difficult is if the retailer in question sells games from the pre-ESRB era, when such games HAD no ratings. D'ya think the game industry would spend who-the-hell-knows-how-many-dollars trying to reprint such titles? In the unlikely situation that this legislation passes (which we know it won't), someone is going to start bitching the moment a kid pops in Super Smash T.V., I swear.

Seriously, what is it with New England and games? Looking at the Legislation Tracker, most of these bills are clustered on the East Coast.

All of these laws seem to be based on stopping the children buying the games. If they can't buy the games themselves, they will get a naive parent, or an older kid, or an older sibling to buy the game, or they will play the game at a friend's house, etc.

I don't believe that video games have any negative effect on children, but at the same time I would not want (if I had children) my child seeing scenes from RE4 or listening to the language in San Andreas, no more than I would want them watching Hostel, or reading a Stephen King novel. The real problem regarding video games, which has led to all of these silly laws being drawn up, is that they are perceived as for children.

There are books for children, and books for adults that children should not read. The same for movies. The same for comic books. The same for cartoons. While most people recognise this in comics and cartoons, video games to the majority of people are kid's playthings. Thus, when GTA or RE4 is released, the alarmists and Jack Thompsons of the world immediately scream that these games shouldn't be made for children, when of course they aren't.

Until the majority of people wise up to the fact that just like movies/books, video games are not just for kids. Making things awkward for retailers and trying to enforce unconstitutional laws will do nothing to aid this situation. A law requiring people to not be lazy and read and understand the ratings systems might help...

@Robb
I was thinking the same thing. If a bill of this nature and wording were to pass federally, the ESRB could easily desolve and a new rating board could take its place and a new rating sytem be put in place. Thus forcing this law to be null and void.

I guess politicians don't understand what it means to be a private organization.

That's one scary looking lady in the pic above. Anyways as i have said before in many past posts this is an unconstitutional restriction on minor's First Amendment rights as well as a violation of the 14th Amendment's Due Process clause and thus it is an unconstitutional taxpayer's money wasting piece of s**t bill that will fail if passed. Lady try legislating something important rather then something that is bound to fail and won't solve any sort of problems (as there isn't any problems to being with).

Not that I have a problem with keeping the kiddies from buying games made for adults, but the bill will still be considered unconstitutional because the ESRB is not a government agency.

I wish these legislators would stop it with the "feel good" bills, which although probably garner them some votes, ultimately just end up wasting tax dollars.

[...] Upton hopes that the bill will succeed where so many other video game bills have failed. The bill would make it illegal hide game content from the ESRB that may give the game a more restrictive rating. One of the positive aspects of the bill is that it doesn’t attempt to interfere with the ESRB’s authority, but rather it tries to give the Federal Trade Commission the power to fine people who are not fully open with the ESRB. If a company was found hiding content, under the new bill it would have this deemed an “unfair and deceptive practice”, which the FTC is set up to prevent. Violence is the new porn when it comes to censorship by the US government. Given time, you can be sure that overly concerned parents will find some other scapegoat to focus their attention on. [...]

@mike:

It can also be said:

"im in ur goverment, legisterating ur games"