Congressmen Want Warning Labels on All Games

[exfileme]

If the bill is passed, video games with an "E" rating and above will be treated like a pack of cigarettes, sporting health warnings.

Congressmen Want Warning Labels on All Games : Read more

 

[wmalinowski]

Maybe we warning label on congressmen for stupidity......

 

[AznCracker]

lololol.. do they honestly think those huge labels on cigarette boxes actually deter smokers?? Why would it work on video games? If a person wants something, they will buy it.

 

[_Cubase_]

"Warning... Gaming may result in congresspeople!"

If I read that I might have to give up gaming and take up smoking!

 

[erunion]

Of course these silly labels aren't about deterring consumers. These congressmen lack the power to censor video games so they are looking for other routes to menace the video game industry.

 

[alidan]

sure, they can put the lable on the game boxes, only if they shave off 10$ a game because they are ruining the box art

you know, i put up with small lables, but if this goes through, 1/4th the box will be devoted to a retarded lie.

 

[Devoteicon]

This will not inform the unformed parent. It will instead do nothing but mislead them. It'll make them think that every game has some sort of violence in it and therefore should not be bought. What's wrong with the current rating system? If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

[bystander]

I always have to wonder about these steadies about violent behavior and video games. If they simply take a look at gamers who play violent games and compare them kids who don't play violent games or video games at all, how are they to know if the games caused violence or if kids who are more violent by nature like to play violent games?

You'd have to force kids to play violent games against another group who was forced not to, in order to come up with meaningful data. All the comparisons I've seen have not been done this way, which leaves you with the "what came first, the chicken or the egg" type of question.

 

[klavis]

When something physically impacts your health, no questions asked, like cigarettes a warning is reasonable and the responsible thing to do. Something like this for video games is ludicrous, as most people here would agree. You might as well put a warning label on anything. Butter eating to much will cause clogged arteries. Salt, eating to much will cause higher blood pressure. This is a waste of everyone's money and time.

 

[pythy]

While they're at it, why don't they put labels on everything else:
Kitchen Knife - Have been known to cause bodily harm if used incorrectly
Alcohol - Consumption may cause liver and brain damage
Motor Vehicles - Known to cause harm to human lives and property damage
etc...

 

[klavis]

I'm tempted to write my congressman to tell him to tell the other congressman to shut the hell up and work on something important. Actually I'm more than tempted, I will write a letter, but I'll be a bit more polite.

 

[klavis]

Hell, I think I'm going to write a letter to my congressman to tell that congressman to shut the hell up and work on something else, something actually important. I will probably word it a bit better though.

 

[ch9199]

I've been playing violent video games off and on for 30 years, but things have changed in the last few years. I think the level of realism now makes games fundamentally different with regard to how they affect players, especially young players.

Decades ago the military changed from using regular targets to using man-shaped silhouettes because they found that soldiers would freeze in battle when they had to shoot an actual person. The man-shaped silhouettes fixed this to a significant degree.

It seems reasonable to infer that spending hours a day training to eviscerate real-looking and screaming characters in a video game would also make it easier in real life.

The unbelievable gore now is a lot different than the spray of red pixels from games when I was a kid. I'm not sure warnings will help, but we should probably start looking more seriously at the issue.

What I would really like to see, are industry standards on some system which allows the gamer to control the level of gore in games from the menu, from none to whatever the designers dream up. Add meaningful parental lockouts to that, and then we could all decide for ourselves.

 

[weatherdude]

Really now, "E" and above? Oh those sad sad American congressman. I wonder if they own computers or any window into the wider world. I really hope they're just politicking for votes because the idiocy of labeling a video game rated below "M" and the non-existent "AO" as harmful is beyond belief.

Perhaps the label should just say "WARNING: Playing this video game may lead to mild to moderate mental stimulation. Critical thinking and problem solving has been linked to early death."

Sigh... please tell them to do something more productive.

 

[A Bad Day]

Change: "Politicians are like diapers. They need to be changed often and for the same reason."

-Quoted from Despair Inc.

[citation][nom]pythy[/nom]While they're at it, why don't they put labels on everything else:Kitchen Knife - Have been known to cause bodily harm if used incorrectlyAlcohol - Consumption may cause liver and brain damageMotor Vehicles - Known to cause harm to human lives and property damageetc...[/citation]

I've seen a blender with a warning of "Do not stick your hand into the blender while its operational."

Also, several years ago, my mom mentioned that some of Caterpillar Inc's lawyers recommended adding warning labels to the machinery, stating, "Caterpillar is not responsible for any misuse or abuse of the machinery.", due to fears of someone weaponizing a bulldozer and an idiot suing CAT for the property damages and loss of lives.

 

[ch9199]

I've been playing violent video games off and on for 30 years, but things have changed in the last few years. I think the level of realism now makes games fundamentally different with regard to how they affect players, especially young players.

Decades ago the military changed from using regular targets to using man-shaped silhouettes because they found that soldiers would freeze in battle when they had to shoot an actual person. The man-shaped silhouettes fixed this to a significant degree.

It seems reasonable to infer that spending hours a day training to eviscerate real-looking and screaming characters in a video game would also make it easier in real life.

The unbelievable gore now is a lot different than the spray of red pixels from games when I was a kid. I'm not sure warnings will help, but we should probably start looking more seriously at the issue.

What I would really like to see, are industry standards on some system which allows the gamer to control the level of gore in games from the menu, from none to whatever the designers dream up. Add meaningful parental lockouts to that, and then we could all decide for ourselves.

 

[ch9199]

As far as the general tone of comments goes. Pretending there is not a real issue here does nothing to solve it and makes an unreasonable solution more likely when it finally comes.

You could make arguments similar to the above for letting young children into porn movies, but it would still be a bad idea.

 

[omega21xx]

Putting a sticker or label like this will do nothing (although maybe make some uninformed parents panic about all games since there are plenty of E rated games with no violence)
Anyone looking to buy cigarettes know what they are, what they will do, and so on. If they didn't know yet, they learn before they can even buy them since they teach you this in school.

 

[kewlmunky]

Aren't the current rating labels there so parents know what their child is being exposed to... oh wait I forgot we don't live in a world where parents take responsibility. My mistake.

 

[drwho1]

Game Warning: Enjoy at your own risk.