Washington State Attorney General Reminds Parents to Check Video Game Ratings
Washington State Attorney General Reminds Parents to Check Video Game Ratings
May 17, 2008
Apparently in response to recent complaints about violent and sexual video game content, Rob McKenna (R), Attorney General of Washington, has issued a press release reminding parents to check video game ratings for their children.
McKenna said:
A Washington state law requires retailers to inform consumers about video game ratings. Parents need to be aware that some of the most popular games contain content that is potentially harmful for youth and may be deemed offensive. A rating of ‘M’ for mature can include intense violence and sexual scenes.
Grand Theft Auto IV came in for a brief mention in the press release, which also noted objections to the game lodged by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).
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Posted 11/08/09 at 09:02am
DarkSaber: http://tinyurl.com/yez7jyo
DarkSaber: http://tinyurl.com/yez7jyo
Posted 11/08/09 at 09:01am
DarkSaber: Oh for gods sake, the Gearbox pres is gobbing off about Valve again
DarkSaber: Oh for gods sake, the Gearbox pres is gobbing off about Valve again
Posted 11/08/09 at 08:53am
JDKJ: But cheer up, Austin. If the unemployment rate continues to double-digit as predicted for the next few years, your half-dozen stands a better than likely chance of returning to power.
JDKJ: But cheer up, Austin. If the unemployment rate continues to double-digit as predicted for the next few years, your half-dozen stands a better than likely chance of returning to power.
Posted 11/08/09 at 08:46am
JDKJ: @DS: If he had added the line about "or hiring illegals aliens under the table to work as nannies," it would have been a completely perfect descripition. And, yes, it's about the same difference between a six and a half-dozen.
JDKJ: @DS: If he had added the line about "or hiring illegals aliens under the table to work as nannies," it would have been a completely perfect descripition. And, yes, it's about the same difference between a six and a half-dozen.
Posted 11/08/09 at 08:31am
DarkSaber: My god, that description makes them sound almost Republican. Still what did you expect, Obama is only marginally more left than republicans.
DarkSaber: My god, that description makes them sound almost Republican. Still what did you expect, Obama is only marginally more left than republicans.
Posted 11/08/09 at 01:07am
Austin_Lewis: Health insurance, brought to you by the same kind of bureacrats who couldn't, in timely fashion, investigate the comments of any of the men Obama appointed Czars. Or their past. Or their history of not paying taxes.
Austin_Lewis: Health insurance, brought to you by the same kind of bureacrats who couldn't, in timely fashion, investigate the comments of any of the men Obama appointed Czars. Or their past. Or their history of not paying taxes.
Posted 11/08/09 at 01:06am
Austin_Lewis: Yes, and what a piece of crap it was. Arresting and fining people just because they don't make a personal choice to buy healh insurance, creating over a hundred new bureacracies, and worse.
Austin_Lewis: Yes, and what a piece of crap it was. Arresting and fining people just because they don't make a personal choice to buy healh insurance, creating over a hundred new bureacracies, and worse.
Posted 11/08/09 at 12:24am
ZippyDSMlee: JDKJ:the only trouble is a bunch of witless hacks wrote it....its going to be a train wreck....
ZippyDSMlee: JDKJ:the only trouble is a bunch of witless hacks wrote it....its going to be a train wreck....
Posted 11/07/09 at 11:33pm
JDKJ: BREAKING: In a photo-finish at the wire, House passes health care reform bill. Relatedly, in a fit of pique, Austin Lewis kicks innocent dog.
JDKJ: BREAKING: In a photo-finish at the wire, House passes health care reform bill. Relatedly, in a fit of pique, Austin Lewis kicks innocent dog.
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:27pm
ZippyDSMlee: man I got alot of junk and dup files too >< god I need orginization...and no not the knee capping media mafia kind :P
ZippyDSMlee: man I got alot of junk and dup files too >< god I need orginization...and no not the knee capping media mafia kind :P
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:26pm
ZippyDSMlee: replaced :P
ZippyDSMlee: replaced :P
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:23pm
ZippyDSMlee: beemoh:hey its like 60GB porn,400GB anime 100GB games and crap I have took from all my DVDs, I hate waiting on dvds to install stuff..... oh and 40GB of my porn was in the found.000 folder...mostly corrupted.... least I got names of wut needs to be repa
ZippyDSMlee: beemoh:hey its like 60GB porn,400GB anime 100GB games and crap I have took from all my DVDs, I hate waiting on dvds to install stuff..... oh and 40GB of my porn was in the found.000 folder...mostly corrupted.... least I got names of wut needs to be repa
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:18pm
beemoh: @Zip: ...and you'd have to spend all that time re-downloading that porn?
beemoh: @Zip: ...and you'd have to spend all that time re-downloading that porn?
Posted 11/07/09 at 03:34pm
ZippyDSMlee: ggrrrrr......vista lost one of my hard drives and I had a heart attack thinking I lost 1TB of data....
ZippyDSMlee: ggrrrrr......vista lost one of my hard drives and I had a heart attack thinking I lost 1TB of data....
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:58am
JDKJ: Which could be explained by both (a) and (b).
JDKJ: Which could be explained by both (a) and (b).
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:56am
Austin_Lewis: JDKJ: You forgot C) the fact that, for some reason, every time he did something that would suggest he shouldn't be in the military, let alone an officer, higher ups ignored it or let it slide.
Austin_Lewis: JDKJ: You forgot C) the fact that, for some reason, every time he did something that would suggest he shouldn't be in the military, let alone an officer, higher ups ignored it or let it slide.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:51am
JDKJ: Part of the problem is, I believe, that (a) the Army had a lot of time and money already invested in him and which they were unwilling to simply write-off and (b) an increasing need for the type of skills and services he provided.
JDKJ: Part of the problem is, I believe, that (a) the Army had a lot of time and money already invested in him and which they were unwilling to simply write-off and (b) an increasing need for the type of skills and services he provided.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:48am
JDKJ: And that even if he was begging not to get cut loose, he was apparently a real good candidate for being cut loose, anyway.
JDKJ: And that even if he was begging not to get cut loose, he was apparently a real good candidate for being cut loose, anyway.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:11am
JDKJ: @chada: And while Kennedy once noted that there's usually more than enough blame for everyone to get a slice, the possibility that the Army was unwilling to cut loose someone who was asking to get cut loose could be a factor.
JDKJ: @chada: And while Kennedy once noted that there's usually more than enough blame for everyone to get a slice, the possibility that the Army was unwilling to cut loose someone who was asking to get cut loose could be a factor.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:07am
ZippyDSMlee: *noms on his feet*..nomnomnomnom*droooll* ...wuuutttttt uuu looking at?
ZippyDSMlee: *noms on his feet*..nomnomnomnom*droooll* ...wuuutttttt uuu looking at?
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Game Politics and Game Politics logo are trademarks of the ECA.
Comments
I think the sort of people who buy games for their kids without even stopping to think about ratings and suitably are not going to listen to or even hear about the advice of a politician.
those people shouldn't have kids in the first place
Completely understandable, and fair. He's focusing on the parents, and the law only stipulates that the ESRB rating information be present somewhere in the store. All in all, this is fairly tame by the standards we are use to seeing. Frankly, I'd rather see more of this than...well, practically all the other knee-jerk nonsesne we have seen thus far.
Didn't I read this about three weeks ago? (Not the same politician of course.) It makes me curious why this kind of press release is brought up every time it's made.
---- There is a limit for both politicians against video games, and video games against politicians.
We should all listen to this guy, because we all know kids will become killers after playing violent video games. *eyeroll*
Eh, he doesn't even say that..
Besides the "sex scenes" bullsh#¤, all he really did say was "oh there's a law, sure, but parents; DO SOME PARENTING!"
Umm the sex scene part is right. They wont be as bad as what you find in a R movie, or an AO game, but there CAN be sex scenes in games.
But sex isn't bad. It's not evil. It's natural. So why are you all afraid over it.
Oh, you are just the most naive little boy in the world, aren't you? Everyone knows that female nipples emit a radio signal which makes men stupid and vulnerable to mind control from those Goddamn stinking communists. Seriously though, blood and guts are considered perfectly fine, but if a kid sees a booby, someone's gotta get lynched. F$#king awesome.
-GRIZZAM PRIME(c)is property of the U.S. Marine Corp. Wetworks Dept., and also The Incredible Hulk-GRIZZAM PRIME is not to be associated with GRIZZAM 512 or any other GRIZZAM entity under penalty of law, so sayith ZARATHOS.
He's still using the "harmful to minors" schtickt.
-GRIZZAM PRIME(c)is property of the U.S. Marine Corp. Wetworks Dept., and also The Incredible Hulk-GRIZZAM PRIME is not to be associated with GRIZZAM 512 or any other GRIZZAM entity under penalty of law, so sayith ZARATHOS.
Though a nice message about paying attention to raitings, The message got lost and destroyed when he went on about the potential harmful affects. Parents will probably pay attention tothat part instead of the first part.
While I commend anyone that reminds parents to pay attention to the ESRB, and not force it upon them by law, I have a comment on the "Washington State Law" that the guy brought up. It says:
Every video game retailer shall post signs providing information to consumers about the existence of a nationally recognized video game rating system, or notifying consumers that a rating system is available, to aid in the selection of a game if such a rating system is in existence."
The ESRB is privately run and funded. It is not "nationally recognized" or supported in any way by federal law or oversight. So, while I would like for every store to have the ratings posted, the State governement cannot enforce this in any way.
Actually the ESRP rating can be considered "Nationally recognized" because most retailers have signs posted about the ratings and as far as I can tell every piece of game software has a rating on the package, most often on both the front and back lower right corner of the box, and again on the disk/cart. itself.
Either way, i'd rather hear someone saying "There is a rating system, please LOOK at what your buying your kids before you buy it." then idiots like Thompson spouting nothing but inane nonsense and vitrolic stupidity.
Hunting the shadows of the troubled dreams.
Ah, but law is all about semantics. Both of us are technically right. You're right in that it is "recognized" by most people in the US. I'm right in that it isn't "recognized" (not officially) by the federal government. So, if anyone decided to challenge this law (I don't see why, it's a perfectly sensible regulation), then they would probably win.
Ahh there is the crux of the problem, Politicians these days don't want SENSIBLE, they want something that they can say "Look! I'm protecting you (whether or not you need or even want me to) from all those "Bad Things" out there that we don't want to understand so you don't have to consider or even THINK about what we are saying."
Hunting the shadows of the troubled dreams.
Yep... Up for re-election this year. Can you tell?
Ugh.
Mr. McKenna may I remind you that your state in which I reside includes the likes of Microsoft, Nintendo, and Valve along with many, many other video game companies in this state. Do us all a favor by shutting up and getting to real issues. This statement is nothing more than your way to get some free press, put your name in front of the public, and try to appeal to the "save the children" type voter.
-Loudspeaker
"Volume helps to get a point across but sharp teeth are better."