January 18, 2008 -
The video game industry's recently-announced plan to build political support via campaign contributions has drawn sharp criticism from a well-known media watchdog group.
The Parents Television Council wasted little time in announcing that it would target elected officials who accept contributions from the ESA's new political action committee (PAC). In a press release, PTC president Tim Winter (left) said:
Let me be clear of our intentions: Any public servant who cashes a check from the video game industry will be exposed by the PTC as taking a stand against families, and his or her actions will be communicated to constituents in his or her congressional district.
Winter added:
The video game industry continues to fight meaningful accountability for selling inappropriate material to children. The industry has been exposed repeatedly for its reprehensible behavior and now they are looking for ways to buy friends in the government...
The [ESRB] has offered little to prevent companies like Rockstar Games from subjecting millions of children to sexually graphic material as they did with Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. More recently, when it was revealed that Manhunt 2 still contained horrific violence that was thought to have been completely removed, the ESRB was missing in action.
Congress has asked for accountability and Sen. Brownback’s ‘Truth in Video Game Rating Act’ would require the ESRB to actually play the games they are rating, yet the industry appears threatened by this and is looking to procure votes in Congress to keep it from becoming accountable...
Comments
Thanks again for showing how stupid people can be, PTC.
McCarthyism much PTC?
Hey, the "moral superiority" groups want to place stigmas, get ready to have stigmas placed on THEM. Seems fair to me. I've got plenty I can condemn THEM for. So anyone associating with them should be condemned as well.
Nightwng2000
NW2K Software
Talk about idiots. The PTC cannot understand that the video game industry is held accountable, but not for their gripes. They claim the ESRB was absent during the Manhunt 2 fiasco. As I recall, they came out about two days later and said that the "uncovered" violence was shown to them. They were aware of it. It was still well within the bounds of the M rating.
PTC cannot understand that not all media needs to be sanatized for children. The ydo not understand that adults like to watch TV and movies. They do not understand that adults like to play video games.
They do not understand that these campaign donations are well within the law. They do not understand that these campaign contributions are meant to support politicians with open minds about entertainment and freedom of speech. Not for close minded idiots supported by anti free speech idiots like PTC.
I propose that we expose every politician who has accepted campaign contributions from NIMF, PTC and CSM as the anti free speech pundits they are.
E. Zachary Knight
Divine Knight Gaming
OK Game Devs
Random Tower
You and I are one in thought on this one. :)
E. Zachary Knight
Divine Knight Gaming
OK Game Devs
Random Tower
These people are out of their minds. I doubt they would react like this about politicians receiving support from movie studios, but content-wise video games are no different than movies. There are different types of games marketed to different demographics. Rockstar is not trying to sell Manhunt 2 to 12-year-olds here.
I mean it just looks like they are making the same kind of generalizations about video games that Jack Thompson is famous for, by implying that ALL video games contain content that is not suitable for children and that ALL video games are marketed directly to children, and that simply is not the case.
Repressive people are scum.
Is it wrong that stories like these make me want to stab out my own eyes? What is wrong with these people? They come across like McCarthyists! (Probably no bad thing, in their eyes.)
The videogames industry has not been selling games to minors - you can thank the retail outlets (Best Buy, Target etc) for that.
Gaming is not exclusively a child's hobby - the average age of a gamer is between 28 and 32, fer crissakes!
The ESRB does play all the games they rate, and it's only in the case of RPGs or non-linear games that they have to take short-cuts.
Rockstar does not equal or speak for the entirety of the videogames industry. Do they even know that those two games were developed in Scotland? Even so, we all know GTA:SA and MH2 for PSP were hacked, it's not like Take 2 went out of their way to publish pornography, as the PTC seem to suggest.
Argh!
Maybe somebody should send them links to these two articles on MSNBC?
It is NOT the ESRBs responsibility to prevent ANYTHING! It is their responsibility to rate games.. that is all. Games are rated fairly. The ratings are clear and clearly displayed for consumers.
The ESRB does not play the games they rate. But they do play a random selection after the release to double check that they game was not altered in anyway from their initial viewing.
What they do is watch a video of gameplay and cutscenes that show the most extreme content of the game. It is honor based.
But the potential backlash fro mthe public and the ESRB is enough to keep most (if not all) developers honest in their submissions.
This is seen after Hot Coffee and Manhunt 2. After the backlash that Rockstar received, any sane developer would not even consider trying to hide any content.
What PTC is claiming, is that since Rockstar made two mistakes, and that is all they were, that is representative of the whole game industry.
The PTC is also claiming that since the video game industry is opposed to any form of goverment regulation, the video game industry is agianst families. They feel that parents are so powerless, that they need the government to step in and regulate the media that enters the parents' homes. The feel that the parent has no power over what entertainment enters their home.
The PTC is opposed to privacy and the first ammendment. They want to become the world's censor. Since they have no power to censor entertainment themselves, they try to force the government to do so.
That is why Nightwing and I feel that any politician who accepts money from them or any other similar organization needs to be exposed as the anti first ammendment pundits they are.
E. Zachary Knight
Divine Knight Gaming
OK Game Devs
Random Tower
Let me guess, the FTC's 42%. Well by that logic the movie industry must be working twice as hard to sell R rated movies to children considering that its 70 something %
Back in the day, making a LAN was much more work than just plugging in an ethernet cable. Growing up, we learned a lot about computers and networking from playing games. And I can't say I've seen todays games get much more gory or adult themed than Doom or Duke Nukem.
Thank goodness our parents didn't really think what we were doing is evil. Out of our group of gamers, I am a programmer, one runs and offsite data storage company, two are network admins, and another is a representative for the offsite data storage company.
Without video games, we'd all be pretty lame today.
I could think of little better to be a family experience than games. Not only are they an excellent chance to address uncomfortable subject matter without a really awkward atmosphere, but they are also a great way to introduce kids to high-level computing skills they will likely need in their future. And BTW, they are fun.
Than again, I do take over for the network admin when he is out on vacation, so I do know how little some people (even that work with them all day) know about computers. And to a great many people, something new or unknown is assumed scary and threatening.
Second, The whole Video Game Industry is not responsible for marketing. It's mostly the retailers, then last on the line on the way to the consumer. I'd say it's more the clueless parents who buy it for their kids and then go, "oh, wow I didn't know this was so violent! I was tricked!" Do some research! Being inept with technology is not an excuse to be inept at being a parent. It's not like your job as a parent doesn't include other responsibilities, say like learning and keeping up with the times.
Third, how did the video game industry, "subject millions of children to sexually graphic material" when it was a hack that only a few hundred probably did. And a bad hack at that. And come on, have these people really even seen that scene? It's a joke!
Fourth, and final point:
Video games imitate real life. There's violence in real life, so GTA:SA mimics it, and PARODIES it. It's not the other way around. While I can't say it's impossible that a VG has influences someones violent decision, it's the exception, not the norm. Which is more likely to make you lash back: A person punching you in real life, or a video game avatar punching you on your "Wii"? Which is more likely to train you to fight back: Pressing a button repeatedly on your console, or training with a punching bag?
The whole game, and most others are poking fun at how our world works. It's a break from the real world, where you think, "Why do people do this?" In Video Game land, you go "This is so ridiculous!" That's the whole point.
People take that game (and many more) way too seriously, when it is taking real life to it's logical extremes, which don't make any sense. And it's all for entertainment! It's the same reason you go to the movies, to see stuff that's extreme, that you couldn't do in real life. That doesn't mean that everyone wants to do it in real life.
Ugh, somewhere in there I had a point.
"Any public servant who cashes a check from the video game industry will be exposed by the PTC as taking a stand against families"
What the *honk*
Uh oh the PTC seems to want to censor me too.
Well how does accepting video games make you anti-family? Do they think that video games will make you stop having kids or getting married or something? Do they think that they tear apart the rights of existing families making it harder to raise their children in a safe and comfortable environment? (Sadly I don't think I am too far off on this one)
"The video game industry continues to fight meaningful accountability for selling inappropriate material to children. The industry has been exposed repeatedly for its reprehensible behavior and now they are looking for ways to buy friends in the government…"
1. They are not the ones who sell the material, that is what retail/online stores are supposed to do. They make the material, but they don't intend to market to kids unless its a KIDS game.
2. Repeatedly? Hot Coffee maybe, but even that is a stretch, and still that is a grand total of 1.
3. Why not? Every other industry does it. Everything would get a bad rep if they didn't pay off politicians.
"The [ESRB] has offered little to prevent companies like Rockstar Games from subjecting millions of children to sexually graphic material as they did with Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. More recently, when it was revealed that Manhunt 2 still contained horrific violence that was thought to have been completely removed, the ESRB was missing in action."
4. Their job is to rate games and nothing else, the only thing that they can do is put a rating on a game that fits the content. With HC they made amends by re-rating the game to suit the material until Rockstar removed said content. Rockstar was also fined IIRC.
5. Removed? All Rockstar did was add a filter over the kills, and like people said it could only be viewed uncensored via ILLEGAL modding. That is not the responsibility of either the ESRB or Rockstar for that simple reason.
"Congress has asked for accountability and Sen. Brownback’s ‘Truth in Video Game Rating Act’ would require the ESRB to actually play the games they are rating, yet the industry appears threatened by this and is looking to procure votes in Congress to keep it from becoming accountable…"
6. That is nonsense. If they had to play 100% of every game,it would take anywhere from weeks to decades. The next WoW expansion would be held back to around 2025, give or take a few years.
I felt like tearing this apart, how did I do?
"The video game industry continues to fight meaningful accountability for selling inappropriate material to children. The industry has been exposed repeatedly for its reprehensible behavior and now they are looking for ways to buy friends in the government…"
Once again they decide that video game companies are at fault because little Jimmy's parents bought him GTA for his birthday. I would like to see where he got his information about the companies being exposed for repeatedly reprehensible behavior. Ten to one he will only sight Hot Coffee if called on it.
I am not surprised at this new account of stupidity brought to use by the same group who had to pay the WWE a few million dollars after they spouted nothing but lies about the Corporation and it's owner Vince McMahon.
If anyone wants a good chuckle go to their website and look at their information about "The evils of video games" They state and child can go into a store and buy an AO game without a problem. Last time I checked AO games were only sold on the internet.
Unfortunately it's been shown to be effective. It's been well documented how they've gotten their members to artificially inflate the number of complaints to the FCC regarding a show they find offensive and subsequently caused them to levy fines as unfoudned or ludicrous as they may seem.
And unfortunately, polticians will listen to them, iff only because they've been around longer and thus apparently have more of a political presence. And we all know in politics it isn't as much about common sense as much as it is how much your reputation can stand to suffer in the public eye. And if the PTC promises top make your life a living hell if it appears you support video games, you can bet they have the means to do it.
This makes the PTC no better than any group of thugs who go around extorting neighborhood businesses for "protection money." It's low and despicable and shows them for what they really are. And the sad truth is that most politicos will more than likely heed their threats. The ESA had better launch a counter-offensive, and fast.
Actually, GTA:SA was a satire of the early 90's riots in Cailfornia.
How many parents are gamers?
I think the scales are tipping the other way real soon now, if it hasn't already.
To me, it wouldn't really matter if video game companies did sell M rated games to kids, or if Rockstar actually did represent the gaming world.
Those are smokescreens used to cloud the real issues, that pesky first ammendment and the lack of parental responsibility.
Video games present no real danger to anyone and the government has no right to regulate it.
On a list of things to worry about with kids and family, an M rated game or R rated movie is pretty far down the list.
Fangamer
Still a willful liar to further his own agenda.
The founder of the PTC:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._Brent_Bozell_III
it's the PTC. nuff said.
The long and short of it, is that even if they are well-known, they have no power. They are the single angry mother who sits outside the school trying to protest tater-tots or something equally pointless, only to give up 20 minutes later when no one panders to their constant attention-whoring.
The only issue here is that they keep spreading lies, and using propaganda and false rhetoric to try and defame the games industry as a whole. How many times have we heard the phrase, "...selling inappropriate material to children." (feel free to swap inappropriate out with extremely violent, or sexually explicit)
Sorry, I just assumed that the ESRB functioned in much the same way as the BBFC (see this interview with them here for full details). My mistake - although IMHO, maybe it would be a good idea if the ESRB did play the games they are meant to rate in the same way the BBFC does. However, that's not to say the ESRB should have any more legal standing than as an advisory rating.
I do agree with both you and Nightwing when you say that any US politician who accepts money from them or any other similar organization ought to be exposed as the anti-free speech pundits they are. It seems to me that the American electorate ought to be diametrically opposed to the patriarchal politics espoused by the PTC, its associates and its supporters.
What baffles me is what the PTC have to gain by all this. They hardly strike me as an entirely altruistic agency working for the good of/on behalf of American parents everywhere. I may be on the wrong track entirely, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if somebody, somewhere was making (or at least channelling) money/power out of this furore. It has the stench of far right, neo-con Christian fundamentalist morality slapped all over.
PS: I am not Pandralisk (where is he anyway?) and that is not meant as a slight against all Christians, merely towards those politically-motivated fascist religious fundamentalist types.
Just because you're for videogames doesn't make you anti-family. That's just a dodge for the real issue, which is and always has been parental accountability. Its high time we called them on this sort of thing.
The only question is who do we nominate to be our voice of the written word?
Why?
All my friends who are young parents actually THINK FOR THEMSELVES.
They do, however make great fodder on how NOT to think and behave.
This reminds me of the fuss over the video nasties in the 80s. Nothing much changes, we just find another scape goat 20 years down the line.
EZK: I believe that threatening any person is a crime. But doing so here is Ban Hammer fuel.
My god, i laughed when i read this, thats how bad it is.
January 18th, 2008 at 11:47 am
How many parents listen to PTC?
How many parents are gamers?
I think the scales are tipping the other way real soon now, if it hasn’t already. "
I'm not so interested in how many Parents choose the PTC method of raising their own children, or the CSM method, or the direct ESRB method, or Gamerdad method, etc.
It's the fact that the PTC wants to FORCE those who DON'T follow their methods to actually follow their methods.
The ESRB is informative and can be followed or not followed by any individual or Parent.
GamerDad is informative and can be followed or not followed by any individual or Parent.
And so on.
BUT, the CSM and PTC and others not only want to be informative to those who voluntarily choose to follow them, but want THEIR method to be FORCED on Parents and individuals. They do it by stigmatizing anyone who doesn't follow their methods. They do it by stigmatizing any politician who doesn't follow their methods and try to regulate their methods by government decree. They do it by attempting to violate the Rights of individuals and Parents who don't agree with them.
That's the only place I have a problem with them. If someone thinks that the PTC's methods or CSM's methods are more appropriate for them or their family, fine and dandy. That's their Right.
So I'm not concerned with how many listen to them. Just their attempts at FORCING everyone else to obey them.
Nightwng2000
NW2K Software