Where Politics And Video Games Collide

As I am unable to figure out who to send disparaging emails to, I shall instead post the needed text here and hope the idiots in charge will read them.

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Dear "idiots in charge",

Allow me to clear up a few things which you seem to have no understanding of, as evidenced by the recent conversation quoted on Game Politics. There are many different types of games, but for simplicity's sake, we'll narrow it down to two: Those games that are commercially released, and those that are free for download (usually made by one or two people, no corporate involvement). The "columbine game" which you have probably never even seen, is actually named "Super Columbine Massacare", and is one of the latter types of games - no commercial release, and therefore no ESRB rating. The game "Bully", as it is known in the USA, is a commercially released game from Take Two interactive, and is rated T for Teen by the ESRB.

"The Columbine Game" can never be regulated effectivly, as it is free, and while tasteless is not overtly objectionable enough to fall under a profanity or pornography law. Discussing this game during business hours is a waste of tax-payer dollars.

"Bully" is already industry-regulated, and is rated 'T' because of its cartoon-like violence. The theme is about standing up to bullies by being violent back to them (which in my experience WORKS, as opposed to the new-age crap recommended by most so called experts). The only other content that anyone would find objectionable is the possibility of homosexuality, which is only available if the player choses to persue the game in that manner - the issue is not forced upon the player. In that regard, a gay teen playing the game is actually more able to persue the game in a manner agreeing with his sexual preference, which broadens the game's appeal to that demographic. Beyond this, however, the farthest any relationship in the game goes is kissing, and awkward kissing at that - there's nothing in that that isn't shown in television market towards the same age group.

Please, PLEASE get your facts straight before making decisions - doing otherwise makes you look like a self-important wind bag, ego so over-inflated you can't be bothered to do five minutes of research - literally, five minutes is all it took to read this far, and that's if you read slowly. Legal decisions are your ballywhack, so I wouldn't dream of telling you which way to decide on the issue, but at least get the damn facts straight before making that decision, lest you make the wrong one.

Sincerely,

Mnementh2230