Comments on: Self-regulation and video games http://www.yazadjal.com/2005/12/01/self-regulation-and-video-games/ Sat, 17 May 2008 09:58:40 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.1 by: PSP Games http://www.yazadjal.com/2005/12/01/self-regulation-and-video-games/#comment-60516 Wed, 30 Apr 2008 13:36:31 +0000 http://www.yazadjal.com/2005/12/01/self-regulation-and-video-games/#comment-60516 Nice post, interesting info Nice post, interesting info

]]> by: Evenstar http://www.yazadjal.com/2005/12/01/self-regulation-and-video-games/#comment-5548 Sun, 18 Dec 2005 06:36:31 +0000 http://www.yazadjal.com/2005/12/01/self-regulation-and-video-games/#comment-5548 I am glad I stumbled across your page. There's so much to read here, I will be back fursat se :-) I am glad I stumbled across your page. There’s so much to read here, I will be back fursat se :-)

]]> by: Ck http://www.yazadjal.com/2005/12/01/self-regulation-and-video-games/#comment-5251 Thu, 01 Dec 2005 19:46:20 +0000 http://www.yazadjal.com/2005/12/01/self-regulation-and-video-games/#comment-5251 I am all for self regulation - the parents should be the ones responsible for what their children play but the sad fact of the matter is: 1. parents don't have the time or the knowledge to know what their kids are playing. 2. 'Games' are automatically assumed to be something appropriate for children What if if somebody introduced nicotine infused candy and sold it right alongside regular candy in the store. There was no warning or indication though nicotine is mentioned in the fine-print of the ingredients. Is that responsible? As someone who has played a lot of games and still plays them regularly - they are indeed truly violent and graphic. These are not the games from a decade ago with badly pixelated 'monsters' and 'villains'. The graphics these days are excellent and the games them selves look more like movies than computer generated images. And the content can also be very disturbing. For example in Grad Theft Auto you can grab a prostitute off the street, have sex with her and then are given bonus points for beating her to death with a baseball bat (chainsaw also available for added gore)instead of paying her. All this not in some crummy pixels but is full 32-bit rendering with surround sound effects. Now I am no expert in psychology but common sense tells me that a 10-year old playing this sort of game for 4-5 hours a day may have some problems differentiating between this and reality. Now there might be ultra liberal parents out there but I'm guessing that most parents would not be comfortable with their 10-year old playing this game. So whats wrong with a little label in the corner that warns them that Grand Theft Auto is not a car racing game (as the cover would seem to suggest) but also contains sex, decapitation of policemen, violence against women and ritual cannibalism. Nobody is asking for a ban on these games - freedom of speech - create whatever content you like if there is a market for it - just inform the customer first - how does having informed customers hurt the market? I am all for self regulation - the parents should be the ones responsible for what their children play but the sad fact of the matter is:
1. parents don’t have the time or the knowledge to know what their kids are playing.
2. ‘Games’ are automatically assumed to be something appropriate for children

What if if somebody introduced nicotine infused candy and sold it right alongside regular candy in the store. There was no warning or indication though nicotine is mentioned in the fine-print of the ingredients. Is that responsible?

As someone who has played a lot of games and still plays them regularly - they are indeed truly violent and graphic. These are not the games from a decade ago with badly pixelated ‘monsters’ and ‘villains’. The graphics these days are excellent and the games them selves look more like movies than computer generated images. And the content can also be very disturbing. For example in Grad Theft Auto you can grab a prostitute off the street, have sex with her and then are given bonus points for beating her to death with a baseball bat (chainsaw also available for added gore)instead of paying her. All this not in some crummy pixels but is full 32-bit rendering with surround sound effects. Now I am no expert in psychology but common sense tells me that a 10-year old playing this sort of game for 4-5 hours a day may have some problems differentiating between this and reality.

Now there might be ultra liberal parents out there but I’m guessing that most parents would not be comfortable with their 10-year old playing this game. So whats wrong with a little label in the corner that warns them that Grand Theft Auto is not a car racing game (as the cover would seem to suggest) but also contains sex, decapitation of policemen, violence against women and ritual cannibalism.

Nobody is asking for a ban on these games - freedom of speech - create whatever content you like if there is a market for it - just inform the customer first - how does having informed customers hurt the market?

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