US Supreme Court considers violent games rules case

[Sky]

Like many have said above, the only thing laws like these change is marketing and availability.  Perhaps that's what the watchdog groups are after.  

But if you change the marketing and availability, you change the game design. If a studio is looking at an M rating that's enforceable by law, they'll cut the content back to a walmart-friendly level (or rather, be told by their publisher to do so, because EA sure the fuck doesn't want to lose it's cut). Just like movies have to, to keep things R. Thus, creative expression (one might say free speech) is curtailed, and shitty parents are still shitty parents who have deviant piles of shit for kids.

[ghost]

Thus, creative expression (one might say free speech) is curtailed, and shitty parents are still shitty parents who have deviant piles of shit for kids.

This pretty much sums it up, I think, and is a pretty strong argument for requiring a license to procreate. 

[AutomaticZen]

I agree which is why I prefer the PEGI system of rating rather than the ESRB system. PEGI tells you what things are in the game that you might want to consider before purchase - sex, strong language, gore etc rather than simply giving it an age rating - the age ratings are also there but the reasons for the rating are provided on the box.

All ESRB ratings on the back of the box look like this.

How is that not giving reasons?  It's not PEGI's weird little icon system, but it's there in plain English with as much detail.  The systems aren't that different.

[Sir T]

And frankly, plain English is more understandable than little icons that can be easily ignored or not bothered to learn what they mean in the first place.

[Furiously]

I wonder what the demographics for the majority of software piracy is? Somehow this all seems too...hypothetical.

[Koyasha]

Like many have said above, the only thing laws like these change is marketing and availability.  Perhaps that's what the watchdog groups are after.  

But if you change the marketing and availability, you change the game design. If a studio is looking at an M rating that's enforceable by law, they'll cut the content back to a walmart-friendly level (or rather, be told by their publisher to do so, because EA sure the fuck doesn't want to lose it's cut). Just like movies have to, to keep things R. Thus, creative expression (one might say free speech) is curtailed, and shitty parents are still shitty parents who have deviant piles of shit for kids.

This happens already with just the rating system.  Anything that would get the title an AO is already required to be cut by most of the major publishers.  But yes, it would be much worse when that system is enforceable by law.  Not to mention the bureaucracy of the system would increase tremendously, and cost a great deal in the then necessary establishment of government oversight and regulatory agencies.

Plus, if done by government, it has a much harder time adapting over time.

[UnSub]

Just like movies have to, to keep things R. Thus, creative expression (one might say free speech) is curtailed, and shitty parents are still shitty parents who have deviant piles of shit for kids.

This would mean a lot more if the creative expression was in things other than blood splatter physics.

[tgr]

This would mean a lot more if the creative expression was in things other than blood splatter physics.

This would probably be A Good Thing, since I find the current movies direction of MORE GRAPHICS and BIGGER EXPLOSIONS to be boring when the cast and story is about as 3D as a wooden plank. Where are today's Bad Boys [12]?

[DraconianOne]

I'm half expecting Broughden to defy his ban and turn up to start lecturing people on How Parenting Should Be Done. Those were always fun discussions.

Anyway, ratings are all bollocks. My wife has never seen Wizard of Oz and put it on for the kids the other day on the basis of it being a) old, b) a fairy tale and c) rated "U". It scared the shit out of them and certainly made her feel like a shitty parent. She's always been a bit concerned about Star Wars too - burning skeletons, severed arms, shooting and implications of torture. That's rated "U" too.  Pixar's Cars, on the other hand, is a "PG" but my son loves it.

The judges in this case are awesome though. Some of their comments and putdowns are hysterical.

[HaemishM]

The flying monkeys in the Wizard of Oz scared the shit out of me as a kid.

[ghost]

The lobotomized guys in the Beastmaster scared the fuck out of me when I first saw it. 

[Sir T]

I still think that Witch was one of the scariest and most effective villains Ive ever seen. Margaret Hamilton should have gotten an Oscar for that role. Then again she was up against the people in 'Gone with the Wind' so....

[Furiously]

The flying monkeys in the Wizard of Oz scared the shit out of me as a kid.

I guess I'm still a kid then.... /shudder...

[UnSub]

... just so we are clear that kids being exposed to certain images are left with no lasting impacts, k? 

[SurfD]

Pfft.  The Dark Crystal.  Now there is some shit that will cause your kids to never look at muppets the same way again.   Same thing with Watership Down and rabbits.

[naum]

The flying monkeys in the Wizard of Oz scared the shit out of me as a kid.

The Oompa-Loompas in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory delivered me repeated nightmares.

[Morat20]

Pfft.  The Dark Crystal.  Now there is some shit that will cause your kids to never look at muppets the same way again.   Same thing with Watership Down and rabbits.

Goddamn Skeksis. Creepy ass Chamberlain. That scene where he loses th battle with the General still freaks me out.