A poll of U.S. consumers has generated an unexpected wave of controversy in the video game sector.
The hubbub began yesterday when public relations firm Hill & Knowlton released the results of a survey which indicated that 60% of U.S. consumers favored government regulation of violent and/or M-rated games.
In addition the survey reported that 51% felt that the government should regulate the content itself (aka censorship). 54% of those with kids at home believed that violent or mature game content could affect a child's behavior.
Even those who self-identified as gamers were surprisingly pro-government involvement. 55% felt the government should regulate sales of games with violent or mature content while 44% believed the government should regulate the content itself.
Of the results, H&K exec Joe Paluska said:
While the industry is reinventing itself by broadening the content and the category, society still tends to view gamers as one-dimensional. The industry’s [bad] reputation centers on mature content due to the sensational nature of the content and subsequent publicity. As a result, our survey suggests that there’s an appetite for more government oversight even among the maturing Atari generation who now have children.
The other shoe dropped later in the day when the Entertainment Software Association, which represents the interests of U.S. game publishers, revealed that the H&K research had been dangled in front of the ESA a few months back as part of a business pitch by Hill & Knowlton.
An ESA spokesman told GamePolitics:
The research released today was conducted by Hill & Knowlton for a proposal the agency made to the ESA this summer... Hill & Knowlton’s decision to release these findings was both unprofessional and unethical and its timing is questionable.
The research was... only performed in an effort to help Hill & Knowlton win our business. In addition, the release of only part of the findings paints an inaccurate picture of the entertainment software industry.
The ESA was also angry that H&K didn't release other, more positive results, including:
-More than two-thirds of 18-34 year olds currently play video games;
-Less than 1 in 5 Americans think playing video games is a negative way to spend time with friends and family;
-More than half of families think that video games are a positive way to spend time together
-Educational video games are perceived to provide more learning than TV or DVDs.
GP: As we understand it, it's not uncommon for PR firms to commission research to use in making pitches to prospective customers. Does it help a public relations firm to win business if the numbers indicate that the would-be client has a problem? It would seem so.
Frankly, I don't put much faith in polling, especially when it's put out by corporations. Having read No Excuses: Confessions of a Serial Campaigner by longtime Democratic campaign manager Bob Shrum, it's pretty clear that a good pollster can make the numbers sing whatever tune is desired.
The larger question remains, why did H&K choose to release this data at this time? Neither Paluska nor another H&K exec have so far returned my calls and e-mails requesting comment on the ESA's allegations.
Comments
Actually that's not a terrible number for a poll if you randomized your sample well enough. What should definitely be a dead give away is the fact that, as a publicity firm presumably attempting to get the ESA to solicit their services, they have a highly vested economic interest in seeing those numbers fall in such a way to make the ESA believe they need the services of a publicity firm, and as Dennis has pointed out, when you're conducting a poll you can make the results look anyway you want them to. It's like someone who knows nothing about cars taking his car to a mechanic to find out that it apparently "needs" some expensive service that will cost the car owner a couple hundered bucks and lo and behold the mechanic happens to be an expert at just that service.
@Lost Question
Dammit I was going to say the same thing you did, I definitely think a good number of people mistakenly believe it to be a crime for a movie theater to let a kid into an R rated film.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hill_&_Knowlton
For example:
"In 1953, Members of the Tobacco Industry hired the firm to help counteract recent scientific findings that suggested cigarette smoking led to cancer. As a result “A Frank Statement” was released to nearly every major newspaper and magazine, misleading readers into believing that cigarettes had no verifiable links to cancer."
And also:
"Coppertone, a company that creates and sells sun care products, enlisted H&K in 1994 in order to boost profit. H&K exaggerated scientific reports of a depleted ozone layer to encourage the general public to protect themselves from skin cancer by using Coppertone's products"
They seem to be a sleazy propaganda outfit that sells there services to the highest bidder. Including "Baby Doc" Duvalier, the dictator of Haiti.
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-12529888.html
If youre that worried about the content of video games then maybe you should pay more attention to your child.
Dont fuck it up for the rest of us, ok?
Saying that you'd rather have your government censor a form of entertainment to ensure it's doubleplusgood rather than take a half second to consider whether or not something entitled "Manhunt" is appropriate for your kid, is a logical extension of that.
And even if the question wasn't loaded, well, this is precisely why the US isn't a democracy. ;)
2) PR firms commissions a poll that coincidently paints said industry in a bad light.
3) Industry tells PR firm no thanks.
4) PR firm releases negative poll results and hurts the public image of the industry that refused it's services.
Basically, what we're dealing with here is pretty much extortion, ableit extortion that would probably be impossible to prove. At least that's how I see things.
Can you add to your list of Big Lies? I'd say the false notion that the MPAA (etc.) carries the force of law qualifies as the root cause of this whole survey.
It's the main hurdle to real progress, as the movie industry is quite happy to remain silent on the misconception because then they are no longer under fire. I spend most of my time explaining that one fact when I discuss video games with people think it's OK for the government to have a hand in ratings.
~~All Knowledge is Worth Having~~
Ah, yes, I used to believe that the movie ratings were enforced by law myself. I was surprised to learn how wrong I was. I was also surprised to learn that video game ratings were better enforced. (At the retail level, there's no video game version of theatres to compare to.) And the enforcement of game ratings has improved since then, to the point where they now match theatres even. Funny how those who quote the "40%" figure to bash the game industry convienently forget to point out the enforcement of other forms of media.
"Game ratings enforcement is poor", they say. It's poor compared to what?
The sad thing is, I still can't get an M game by myself at the stores nearby, it's always up to my parents. But I can go to any movie store and get any movie I want (besides pron), without being asked at all.
i want to know details about the survey population as well as the actual survey itself and record on the information gathering and the creation of reports.
Anyways, if America wants a constitutional amendment that overturns the bill of rights, then I'm sure we can then accommodate the censorship of video games.
Keep that in mind when you vote. Every time you vote FOR a politician with another another "social" program, you are telling the government you want them to run your life.
I haven't read it, but I think I've heard a little bit about it.
I remember one such example using two different brands of toothpaste. Crest and Colgate. Out of ten dentists, if four prefer Crest, the other five prefer Colgate, all you gotta do is take the four that like Crest, take only one dentist that likes Colgate, and say "FOUR out of FIVE dentists recommend Crest".
- Homer Simpson
Actually, here in Texas they shatter that illusion in about the 8th grade.
Anyone can get these kinds of numbers when you take a poll right outside an AARP meeting that just got out.
This is obviously skewed.
Penn & Teller BS Season 4 Episode 9 Numbers had a good example of this.
So will our congress.
Wait, let me rephrase that: the vast majority of "us Americans" believe it's a crime--many even believnge it's a federal crime and a law enforced by our highest courts--to be CAUGHT letting a child into the theater to watch movies rated too high for them.
To make such results mean anything at all would have required that the questioner ask the same question about movies and other media forms, or else inform those questioned that movies are not governmentally regulated. I much prefer the latter, since too many of us are uneducated about such matters, but for the sake of scientific enquiry (i.e. in order to not bias the responses to match up with what they've been told is the case for movies), the first method might be best. With a caveat that the response be based on how they think restrictions should be made on each medium, regardless of current restrictions, if any.
When I go into message boards for example the Final Fantasy boards they released and retranslated the old Final Fantasy games you see hardly any outrage at the new kid friendly translation and the 1950s type of dialogue.
It seems more and more gamers tend to feel that what they see and play should be censored….. I as a gamer and a consumer would unfortunately then be forced to buy Video Games and import them from other regions and play that version and since they region lock many games, I’d have to get a corresponding system.
I think we might be going into a Dark Age of Video Games sadly.
No governing body should have the power to censor any aspect fiction, ever. Due to the fact that entertainment fiction poses no direct harm to a person, moral values in the realm of fiction do not exist, and it remains responsibility of each individual to govern their own morals and standards. One is begging the question if they assume that their own personal interpretation of decency should govern the standards of others; in addition, such actions are clearly prohibited by our Constitution. I understand that religious hate and unwarranted faith motivate others to rape the freedom of their peers, but do not understand how these people can claim that the US embraces freedom and the individual at the same time.
For those who support regulation and censorship:
If you wish to rape gamers of their freedom, then allow us to assault your own freedom. Let us censor your hateful religious tradition that encourages the defilement of liberty. Let us inject different moral value systems into every level of your life. Let us protect children from learning about obscenely complicated superstitious hate at an age when they can barely understand basic texts. Let us tear down every form of entertainment you value and replace it with entertainment that encourages intellectual development and diverse thinking. Unlike you, we would never want to take away the freedoms described above. We value your right to choose to live how you wish, no matter how foolish or superstitious you may act. Perhaps if your own beliefs were exposed to be the subjective nonsense they are, and the freedom that defends your values was stripped away (as you are claiming ours should be) you might realize the value of liberty.
Video games have been in a dark age for sometime and the air remains as cold and dark as ever.
There, fixed that for you.
LOL that is pretty comprehensive list you got there.
That's just heinous. No way is that true.
- Benjamin Franklin
A frightening amount of people actually believe that.
My 10th Grade Civics Teacher was telling the class that the MPAA is government-run and that censorship of films is government-imposed.
@ Darth
Stupid teachers are common and fun to deal with. And yes, any teacher whod oesn't fact-check "common sense" knowledge BEFORE giving it to students is stupid, regardless of actual intellect or skill. That stuff just gets propogated to heinous extents if teachers spread misinformation like that, and they don't get the privelege of the excuse of ignorance when it's a subject they TEACH.
If the easy way--just pointing out, in class so that everyone else knows your teacher is ignorant or else in private if you feel they deserve that respect because it was an honest mistake, correct them privately and let them inform the rest of the class of their error later--but a mistake on this scale, in a subject on which they ought to possess some expertise, is likely just due to laziness and errant assumption; so they really don't deserve such respect, although you may choose to give it to them anyway so you can maintain the sense of being the better person.
In case this isn't enough to fix the underlying problem (for example, if the teacher doesn't care what quality of education students get or constantly makes mistakes due to sheer incompetence or ignorance), publicly discredit the inadequate teacher. Get parents and kids (as many as possible) to--preferably all at once--send formal letters to the principal if you believe that would help.
If not, then address them to the local newspaper complaining about the poor quality and lack of preparedness, which of course gives the parents good reason to fear that such ignorance is common to teachers in [whatever the school name is] and therefore, that the school wastes their taxes. Covince them to demand a review of current teacher education or hiring practices and/or a complete overhaul of the same. Delicious irony would ensue if you get the PTA not only involved but up in arms about this failure on the part of the education taxes go toward quality teachers and schools.
Make sure to send by both snail and email so you can cc the school's principal and have the mailboxes filled up if the e-mails are ignored. Nothing motivates a principal to sack, replace, or "re-educate" teachers who have no idea what they're talking about like public outcries that make him/her look like he/she doesn't care about the quality of the education those parents' taxes go to provide. It's easier to fire teachers than to risk getting fired.
That said, our society gives far too little credit, pay, and education to its teachers, no surprise when public schools are in the same boat. Thus for the record, if you're not in a school with enough money, good luck getting any improvements that don't come through parental involvement and teaching rather than from the school. If making the principal look like an idiot who doesn't deserve his/her position isn't viable, the lesser options tend to be ineffective, and you'll probably learn more playing online games than listening to ill-tempered, underpaid and sorely underqualified, teachers with very low expectations and ability.
But if you are in a decently funded school, pointing out every mistake the teacher makes right there in class is more fun when you bring hard evidence of his/her ignorance and present that in class, too (the next day is ok but not as satisfying, if you didn't come prepared, although you do look good for jsut knowing, offhand, what the teacher didn't know). Then you have to deal with potential biased-grading issues, but if the teacher honestly lets something like that influence his/her grading, at least you'll have evidence of unfairness to such an extent the teacher is proven unfit to hold the position, the sort of evidence that can even break tenure.
Can we get that machine now so I don't have to see their faces?
But as for everything else id say they paid people to vote one way or the other...
or just picked people who they knew wopuld react the way they wanted
or just made up the statistics so they could steal our rights without looking bad by playing the half of your own want us to regulate
Note its probably that last one