Where Politics And Video Games Collide

Something that everyone should remember, and I feel stupid even needing to say this.. is that the UK is not the US..

We do not have the same culture, nor the same government, nor the same idea of rights and freedoms that you guys do.

Now, I think that is people in the UK started banning games outright, and yet allowing movies through that had the same content... such as the Manhunt 2 debacle.. then things would be done, like they have been about Manhunt 2. We have systems in place to make sure that unjust ratings are sorted out, and they appear to work.

However we have legal repercussions for selling movies to people younger than they should be, just like we have repercussions for selling them knives, cigarettes, porn, and a variety of other things.. when I asked some friends of mine if they thought they same should apply to games, the answer was "umm... yeah.. duhh".

The fact of the matter is, we don't mind, for the most part. We don't mind and many of us in fact welcome the idea that the government would back up the ratings with law. Even the gamers. Generally speaking however, our system also has a tendency to stop stupid things such as the wholesale banning of video games from happening.

Its just a difference in cultures, which I think is something that the US posters here do not understand.. just because you would not accept it as a good thing for you're country, does not actually mean those in the UK will not accept it as a good thing for theirs. As far as most of us is concerned, having a rating system but NOT doing something to enforce is is contradictory. It sends the message "yeah, you SHOULD follow it.. but eh, don't worry!"

If you want an example, look at guns. A central part of your society, uproar ensues if people even suggest controlling or requiring safety features on them. In the UK, they are pretty much banned ouright, and nobody minds that I know off.. making lethal weapons illegal so that the police knows anyone holding one got it illegally? Cutting down on the numbers of weapons out there? "umm, yeah, duh".

Wouldn't work in your country, different culture, worked in ours.