Sunday Editorial Roundup: Brownback Doesn't Understand Games

October 8, 2006

Arch-conservative Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) has proposed the Truth in Video Game Ratings Act which, among other provisions, would require games to be played in their entirety as part of the rating process. A House version has been introduced by Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL).

Shankar Gupta, writing in MediaPost, says that Brownback's bill shows just how out of touch many elected officials are witht he video game medium:

The bill is sponsored by a bipartisan group of old men in the House and Senate - including possible presidential contender Sam Brownback. In all likelihood, none have ever played a modern video game in their lives.

This kind of moral posturing is to be expected in an election year, and video games are an easy target to score points in the family-values column...The bill fails... because it doesn't understand how video game content differs from a TV show or a movie...

Requiring the ESRB to play every game all the way through and punishing it for failing to do so means one of two things: It is either ignorance, or a calculated attempt to destroy the organization.

Posted in People Politics & Legislation Video Game Critics

Comments

Submitted by Chalts (not verified) on Mon, 10/09/2006 - 14:52.

Oh boy, yet another vain attempt to regulate gaming. When are these politicians going to realize that this isn't endearing them to their bases, it's just annoying them?

I'm glad I don't live in Kansas... Oh, Geez, I hope Corker isn't one of these anti-game activists.

Submitted by Mattsworkname on Sun, 10/08/2006 - 11:45.

As I've said, this bill will fail, as all others have. I could list the reasons, but I don't wanna be redundant.

The fact is, this is simply more moral posturing from what I consider an Amoral asshole looking for cheap votes. I'll tell you this. He's not getting mine if he runs for Prezident.

Sam Brownback, You are a pathetic old man scared of change and ingnorant of the media you attack. You will FAIL, as everyone before you has.

"My name is Lenerd Church, and you will fear my LASER FACE"

Submitted by Bissel (not verified) on Sun, 10/08/2006 - 12:12.

maybe we should just buy a "governmental copy" of certain games. You know... Final Fantasy 6, Metal Gear Solid, World of Warcraft... (although the last may end up with more hot senator-on-teen action...) you know, some of those games with huge playtimes, a bit non-linear.... few hidden things...

Submitted by Me 14 (not verified) on Sun, 10/08/2006 - 12:21.

Ha ha the artical is true they don't know about video games

Submitted by Toxic_Offender (not verified) on Sun, 10/08/2006 - 12:27.

"Brownback Doesn’t Understand Games"

*GASP*... No, really? I had no idea!

Submitted by niceaznguy721 (not verified) on Sun, 10/08/2006 - 13:08.

I bet Brownback cant even beat level 1 on pacman

Submitted by Ace of Sevens (not verified) on Sun, 10/08/2006 - 13:19.

Arch-conservative is hardly unbiased journalistic language.

Submitted by gamepolitics on Sun, 10/08/2006 - 13:42.

Ace - why would you say that? Here's the ditionary meaning:

arch·con·ser·va·tive (ärch

n-sûr

-t

v) KEY

ADJECTIVE:

Highly conservative, especially in political viewpoint.

Would you disagree that Brownback fits this definition?

Submitted by Brer (not verified) on Sun, 10/08/2006 - 14:56.

Now that the ESA has a lobbyist (He was in an article here some time ago but his name escapes me), what he needs to do is get together with the ESA and host a one day "symposium" at a local conference center hotel, and just get these politicians to sit down and get A) hands-on experience playing games both controversial and non-, and B) explanations carefully laying out the nature of such occult mysteries as "mods", "total conversions", "procedurally-generated content", "freeware", "digital distribution", and "unfinished/unused resources left on the disk".

Submitted by Bass (not verified) on Sun, 10/08/2006 - 15:28.

Brownback is the same senator which created the "Increase FCC fines 10-fold " bill. That bill passed and was signed by the president. You can look it up on the PTC which he is a member of. So this bill is still a threat.

Submitted by Kyouryuu (not verified) on Sun, 10/08/2006 - 21:25.

Brownback makes the fine people of Kansas look like foolish Luddites. And it's 100% ignorance. To say it's anything more than that gives Brownback way too much credit.

Submitted by Jordan (not verified) on Sun, 10/08/2006 - 22:42.

Yeah, Senator Brownback must think Space Invaders just came out.

Submitted by Shadow2100 on Sun, 10/08/2006 - 23:19.

Brownback is just another brainless loser who knows next to nothing about videogames, or anything for that matter. Glad I don't live in this guy's state.

Submitted by Kincyr (not verified) on Sun, 10/08/2006 - 23:56.

saying that Brownback doesn't understand games is like saying that water is wet.

Submitted by grls-r-gamers-2 (not verified) on Mon, 10/09/2006 - 08:19.

Water is wet? OMG! @_@

Okay, I can't really say much without being redundant, so I'll just comment on what Bass said...

Are you sure that this bill is still a threat? I mean, so far no other bills (as far as I've heard of) have gotten signed into law. But if you're really sure... *imagines dark future without games, then curls into the fetal position* There goes my career of choice...

Submitted by Some Guy (not verified) on Mon, 10/09/2006 - 09:54.

a calculated attempt to destroy the organization.

Submitted by Heil Halo (not verified) on Mon, 10/09/2006 - 20:14.

How on on earth do they expect the ESRB to play each game complely through? it's like making a politician (well, most of them) tell the truth, or having A mountain climber climb every mountain on earth. It's impossible. Does anyone think anyone can completly play through HUGE games like Elder scrolls IV? It's impossible!!!
What a whackjob.

Submitted by x(wai)x (not verified) on Tue, 10/10/2006 - 04:47.

"I’m glad I don’t live in Kansas…"

Why? This bill is in the federal senate, not Kansas's state senate.

Submitted by Shankar Gupta (not verified) on Tue, 10/10/2006 - 10:37.

Arch-conservative is hardly unbiased journalistic language.

It's an opinion column.

Are you sure that this bill is still a threat? I mean, so far no other bills (as far as I’ve heard of) have gotten signed into law.

Like I said in the column, we can all just hope that, like other federal game legislation, the bill just languishes in commitee. But regardless, the bill demonstrates intent--the feds very much want to regulate our games, and just because their first couple of attempts fail doesn't mean they'll just call it quits. It pays to be aware about these things.

Submitted by Shankar Gupta (not verified) on Tue, 10/10/2006 - 10:38.

And thanks for the link, GP. Always appreciated.

Submitted by deathwagon (not verified) on Tue, 10/10/2006 - 13:20.

politics now are so corrupt and hypocritical. sleeping with underaged kids then turning to the gaming industry and saying that the material is to revealing or obscene. well it should fall to the parents to control what their kids are playing not the government and the game industry shouldn't be aheld accountable for a gamers actions. they were never told directly to kill their parents and step sister. proposing a bill for ersb rating to be decided after the completion of a game is obsurd how is/are someone/people supposed to complete a game that is ment to never be completed for example PLANESCAPE TORMENT seriously the game can be played forever and still never be completed how is the question i have for them people dont play a game to learn how to kill someone they play it for fun it doesnt affect their brain it just passes time politics need to leave the game world alone and if they want to stop video game and simulated violence stop training soldiers using simulation and teach the few that remain after experiencing non simulated violence

Submitted by ZippyDSMlee (not verified) on Tue, 10/10/2006 - 15:23.

Ignorance is bliss to keep the sheeple from knowing is to protect your station in life...if they cant fane ignorance then how do they stay professorial career politicians ............... we really need to set into place 1 man can not have roe than 2 years in office...that would fix alot of this BS....power corrupts and every one of these bastards are corrupt in some way or another.....

Submitted by Margarita Roberson (not verified) on Thu, 04/17/2008 - 21:33.

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Shout box

Andrew Eisen: That article is over five years old, Uncharted. A fun blast from the past though.02/12/2012 - 10:47pm

Uncharted NES: Critics: 'Left Behind' game glorifies violence- http://tinyurl.com/wu64s02/12/2012 - 4:34pm

Zen: I felt Brutal Legends was a funny & beautiful look at the world of rock from Double Fines point of view. The only parts I wasn't hot for were the RTS bits as it felt forced. Otherwise fantastic.02/12/2012 - 1:34pm

DorthLous: Passed 1.5M$. And I'd also say that Brutal Legend is far from being a bad game. I just think it was a few levels under what people expected from the people working on the project.02/11/2012 - 8:25am

Technogeek: Brutal Legend wasn't bad so much as "marketing had no idea how the game actually played", causing it to suffer accordingly.02/10/2012 - 10:38pm

RedMage: It looks the CIA's website has been DDOS'ed. Anon?02/10/2012 - 7:52pm

RedMage: Brutal Legend.02/10/2012 - 7:52pm

ddrfr33k: Has anything Tim Schafer ever made been of crap caliber? I'm struggling to think of one...02/10/2012 - 7:37pm

Guamish: I think it is in good hands. Tim did a game for the GDC award show and that was fun for how short it was.02/10/2012 - 12:22pm

Andrew Eisen: It'll be tragic if the game ultimately sucks.02/10/2012 - 12:17pm

james_fudge: $1.3 million02/10/2012 - 11:32am

Uncharted NES: Germany Says It Won't Sign ACTA [Update: ... Yet]- http://tinyurl.com/7r2twrg02/10/2012 - 11:21am

Andrew Eisen: Damn. Double Fine's Kickstarter fund has already passed a million dollars.02/09/2012 - 8:16pm

Andrew Eisen: Audrey didn't quote the sassy parts. Here's IGN's article: http://wii.ign.com/articles/121/1218359p1.html And here's my original post: http://tinyurl.com/7y68a3902/09/2012 - 7:50pm

james_fudge: I hope you some said something sassy! Where's the link?02/09/2012 - 7:46pm

Andrew Eisen: Hey, neat. IGN quoted a blog I had writen only two hours earlier. I certainly timed that one pretty well.02/09/2012 - 7:38pm

Andrew Eisen: Toki Tori has been added to the Humble Bundle for Android.02/09/2012 - 5:11pm

james_fudge: Thanks for the heads-up DorthLous02/09/2012 - 4:33pm

DorthLous: Will do, my apologies.02/09/2012 - 4:14pm

Andrew Eisen: I appreciate the heads up but please keep typo alerts to the specific article's comments or PMs.02/09/2012 - 3:33pm

All shouts

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