Where Politics And Video Games Collide

@ potatojones83, Clever
Of COURSE the MGS series should be banned! How can a torture porn murder simulator that encourages us to critically question US government policy have any political value?

As for this law...*headdesk* The only good thing about it is that it doesn't drag in the ESRB ratings. Let's take a closer look, shall we?

"RESTRICT THE SALE OF VIDEO GAMES WIH VIOLENT CONTENT"

Lack of spellcheck does not inspire confidence.

"matter is harmful to minors if it is obscene"

There is no factual basis for this. Also note how no definition is provided for "obscene", it just goes without saying.

"or, if taken as a whole, it (1) [is a porn game] (2) [offends the standards of a few adults who want to ban the game for the rest of us] (3) is patently contrary to prevailing standards of adults in the county where the offense was committed"

What "offense"? The "offense" of selling a "harmful" game to a minor? But if it's counted as an offense, then isn't it already presupposed to be "contrary to prevailing standards"? This clause is either unnecessary or could be used to show that any game is "harmful to minors".

"and (4) lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value for minors."

The sad thing is, even if a violent game (say, MGS4) has SLAPS, under this law your average retailer will look at the cover and the M rating, assume it's another Generic First [sic] Person Shooter, and refuse to stock it. I know that was my first impression of the MGS series. And how can a game HAVE SLAPS for adults but not for minors?

Also notice the "And" clause joining (1), (2), (3), and (4). Under this law, then, almost all M rated games would be exempt due to not having any sexual content...or the word is actually meant to be an "Or", which could be used to ban ANY game, violent or not, deemed to be lacking SLAPS.

Why am I ranting? It will never pass anyway.

Speaking of which, does anyone know the status of Ahhhnold's appeal to the Supreme Court?