its certinaly is a good thing there own system isnt implimented, as we could see heavy forces placed down on content and it could of been an end to gaming as we knwo it, but i think its refreshing that they have highlighted both sides of concern and this could reduce the panic over violent games.

Their concerns I'm tired of hearing. But beyond making citizens arrest of such parents and calling in The Spanish Inquisition, I think the games industry is already doing enough to address this ratings awareness.

Truth of the matter is most parents don't care about the ratings enough, to check and police their rugrats. Politicians obviously don't want to ever accuse parents though, as they need parents votes and money. Typical. Beyond tv, cinema and internet ads, I really don't see what else can be done.

Problem is if these monkey had their way, all mature games would be banned, in the name of the children, undermining the industry and setting us back to what their idea of games is, Mario, Pong and Pac Man. Games are so much more than that, and its unfortunate the ignorance of legion, cloud the true perspective of the issue and games.

w0rd.

Its so much easier just to ban all mature games than it is for parents to actually say "no" to little Johnny. I'm sick and tired of hearing about what parents need, or what children are being exposed to...the tools and information are out there...spend half as much effort on utilizing them or heeding it as they do on righteous indignation and they'd have no cause to complain. Go watch the original Charlie and the Chocolate Factory until it sinks in...

PARENTS. YOU ARE ULTIMATELY RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT GETS INTO YOUR CHILDRENS HEAD. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE THE COURAGE OF YOUR CONVICTIONS THEN PERHAPS YOU ARE NOT FIT TO BE RAISING A CHILD.

Frankly I'd be more worried about Bratz dolls and Paris Hilton than violent video games. Boys will be boys, but teaching little girls to dress and act like tramps...I find repugnant.

While i agree for the most part Roi being a parent i have to shwo slightly differnt opinion on some points,

Firstly you are right it is ultimatley the responsibility of the parent to monitor what a child is exposed too, but there are times when that is out of the hands of the parents no matter how hard a parent tries a child will get some exposure to the Media and the media being what it is, they will at least see or hear,

Nudity, Sex, Violence, Swearing or Bad Behaviour, i Think your right in stating that there are the tools and information out there to inform and protect children by becoming an informed parent but some responsibility does lie at the hands of

1. The Government
2. The Creaters (Movies Producers, Music Labels, Games Developers)
3. The Suppliers (Stores, Pulishers, Studios)
3. The Media (TV, News, The Internet!)

1.The Government

They firstly are here to protect what we are exposed too, now i disagree 99% of the time what they say but if we didnt have these rules then who would govern what is avaliable to view and when, ie: what would stop us seeing actual Deaths/Murders being Commited and Hardcore porn during daytime TV? SO although Uturn Brown wont be playing halo and defending the Gaming Minority i still agree that some level of censorship should exsist but in a state where only that censorship is not banned but regulated

2. The Creators

Here creativty should be allowed to flow but creativity doesnt mean we have to see unwanten violence and sex, but it doesnt mean it should be banned, from the start creators should make very clear to who ever needs to know what kind of content will be included and also take part in at least recommending what should be reviewed and look upon before any authority makes decisions, also advertising should be used accordingly and correctly (GTA ads comes to mind these were fine but this was down to point 4 the media (faux news))

3. Stores

This is simple, anything that has been rating should be should according to those laws responsbility shoudl be placed on whoever does follow those rules, and it would hurt for a sale rep to just advise something that isnt sutible for children.

4. The Media - this is where the problems really begin, the Media needs to educate its self and not try to educate the country on false information and factless sensationalism, to many people belive what the read and hear and see its easier to believe murdochs stories of bollox than actualy research themselfs, tighter measures should be placed on the news outlets and they should be made responsible for misinformation.

its so hard for me to try and justify gaming and parental concern at the same time, i do my upmost and 90% of parents also do, but tyes the small amount of parents who dont are the ones to point fingers first, either for easy suing money or just for media attention.

But while those parents and news outlets attack us, i think gamers find it all too easy to attack them also, i have said this so many times before but as gamers maybe if we are bigger and step back and look at the situation and try to understand why some legit parents are concerned we might see taht there not attacking us because they want too but because they just want to understand.

I ask one question, if manhunt 2 was released and it got into the hands of a child that child then acted out a scene on a fellow child and caused death, forgetting who is responsible for the game getting in to the childs hands, but banning the game could of stopped this from happening would it be worth the ban?

ban a game save a childs life but take away our freedom and rights?

let the child die but maintain our rights?

which do you choose?



please dont flame me people i swear i am a gamer through and through i love and protect my kids and im stuck in the middle with this issue sometimes!

edit: sorry i forgot to mention this important point, its not just a responsibility to stop a child seeing bad things but to let the child understand what they have seen this is more importannt than just stopping them seeing things.

Uhm, NO. NO. NO. a thousand times NO.

At least not hereabouts...the Nanny State doesn't fly in these parts...its antithetical to the First Amendment...the Govenrment's primary responsibility is not that of Censor. Government censorship might be a neccessary evil...IT IS NEVER, EEEVER A DESIREABLE FUNCTION.


You don't have to see anything, you as an adult have a choice about what you are exposed to...and aren't they already doing that?

Yes, no argument here, don't sell the naughty bits to the kiddies.


I agree that they should be held accountble for potentially damaging misinformation.

NO. And forgetting who is responsible for getting the game into the child's hands? Why would you want to...all that does is free the person actually responsible for this to shift the blame elsewhere than where it belongs.
Its a hypothetical, and a misleading one...extend that argument to every media and you'd have to ban everything...plus if the kid is dumb enough to pull some s**t like that he'll pull some s**t like that under other influences than video games. Is it the really even the games fault? I've yet to see a convincing case where you could unequivocally say that a game has caused harm to come to a child, therefore I completely oppose abridging my rights in favor of some maybe, could be, but probably isn't...

Should we ban roller coasters? I KNOW for a FACT that children have died because of them...and they wouldn't have died on the Ferris Wheel...can't say the same about video games.



You aren't though, you just choose to be by buying into the scare tactics that the anti-gaming people use. You have the power and responsibility to protect your children. full stop. Its not anyone else's responsibility, its yours. If little Johnny's mom bought him GTA and you don't want your kid to be exposed to it, its your responsibility to find this out and take whatever steps are neccessary, even if it means being "uncool" and having to listen to your kids whine.

My rights are not subject to your convienience, which is what I feel this boils down to.

My rights vs. their desire not to have to say "no."

Everything else is just fearmongering, which apparently you're buying into.