Poll: Government Should Censor Games

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I posted this link in today’s Gaming News section but it really deserves a post of its own so that you guys can read it, digest it and discuss it. Do polls mean anything? Did this researcher do the ESA dirty? Should games be regulated?

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.
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I don't remember them asking me my opinion....anyone else get a call for this survey? :rolleyes:
 
Hell, the government can't even regulate themselves.
 
54% of those with kids at home believed that violent or mature game content could affect a child’s behavior.
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Well, that's meaningful. Drinking a Coke affects a child's behavior probably more dramatically in a given amount of time than playing a violent game.
 
You know, the movie industry is 10x more "perverted" than the game industry is, why is everyone screaming for government regulation on the lesser of two evils? :rolleyes:
 
What's Up All,
As far as I'm concerned, the government has no business getting involved with "game regulation" when they can't even take care of it's own country! God bless the USA and abolish government!....
 
Yay for FUD spreading it's ugly wings across the minds of the non gamers
 
Goodbye, First Amendment. It's been nice having you around all these years, but with everyone taking cheap shots at you nowadays, I doubt you'll be around for much longer.
 
41 year old father of two here.

This is BS... People need to learn to parent...
 
If it's for the kids, half this nation would wholeheartedly welcome turning the US into a fascist regime.. The government controlled media FUD has scared the populace into basically not caring about their rights or the constitution anymore.

Extreme? Maybe. But if people like that come out in force, it will slowly turn that way. Not overnight.. Kinda like a really slow assfuck, don't notice its going in until it's too late.
 
Demographic??? Ages???? Sample size????
Bogus in my opinion. Just more FUD.
 
Gotta love an 'unbiased' (my @$$) survey. The movie industry gets away with more and more at PG-13, and is not government regulated, so why should video games be regulated? I see kids getting into R rated movies all the time. So much for Freedom of Speech protection.
 
Oh yeah, having 17+/18+/M ratings on the freaking box isn't enough for these idiots.

It clearly states that some games are rated M and are for adults only. Does that stop parents from buying them for their kids or allowing them to play them? That's right.

Yeah, censored games are what we need, not responsible parents who can give their kids a proper education. I love how the US government always has tons of "great" ideas, but none that involve anyone taking the blame for their uneducated kids.

If a game's rated "M" and kids still play it, it's not the game developer's fault and the game shouldn't be censored. The problem lies somewhere else and that's what these people need to figure out.
 
Sigh, how about this dirty little word: R E S P O N S I B I L I T Y. Granted some of the stuff is trash and certainly has no reason to be played by kids, but it is not the governments job to protect us from "evil video games". WTB less government.
 
Wow what a bunch of shit. Firstly i didn't ask anyone to have kids in the first place, so don't make me and other gamers suffer for the so called "Protection" of children. Most kids these days are more dumb than a fence post and have manners that would have gotten me killed in my youth. It is so easy to blame all sorts of media to explain why your DEE DA DEE kid can't find his ass with both hands, while shit like this is being used as a scapegoat and movies and TV show WAY more violence, bigotry, and hatred than any game ever would. They leave movies and TV alone pretty much because they make WAY more money than games do IMO.
 
it's all up to parenting. You don't need the damn government to put a law, just better parents monitoring their children.
 
Does anybody else think Hollywood might be behind all the news and polls regarding how the video game industry is ruining America? Think about it for a minute. Who else has tons of money, has huge leverage in the political arena, and loses money every time a new game comes out because people are sitting at home with family and friends instead of sitting in a dark room with overpriced snacks?
 
I don't think they can regulate content (aka "censorship"). Like it or not (I like it), it's protected under free speech. If we regulate a game, what is next? Books? Movies? Other forms of information and entertainment? It must be protected.

The warning stickers do just fine, if the parents/stores pay attention to them, there's no issue. Even console makers are working towards making it so the parent has more control with onboard rating protection (much like the TV-parental ratings) and timers.

It's just another soundbyte topic to get voters.
 
There are a few things that decide the outcome of a poll.

One is how the poll question is phrased.
Possible example of poll question: "Are you for or against protecting the children from violent video games". For the most part, only those educated enough on the issue to know the real score are going to answer no.

Another is where you take your poll. A poll about gay rights taken in San Fransisco is one way to rig a poll in favor of gay rights. Or in our video game example, take the poll to a bible belt state and you are going to skew towards the anti-video game side of the issue.

Another is who you poll. Poll middle aged parents of teens and preteens and you prolly end up skewing the results towards the anti-video game side of the issue. Poll on a college campus and the opposite will occur.

Polls are pure shit as often as not. Don't like the outcome of the first poll: rephrase, relocate, and target a different demographic, til you get the results you want.

Interestingly enough, this issue's villains, imho, seem to be very bi-partisan in their makeup. It scares me greatly when we have both Democrats and Republicans agreeing that the first amendment should be ignored.
 
I know the wii has some parental control on it, never looked at it as I am single and don't have a need to configure any such settings. I am going to assume that allows you to set what type of games can be played without needing to add a code. Do either the PS3 or Xbox360 have this? I know that Windows Vista has a control that lets you setup something like that for games. There is another thing parents can do, look the systems from playing M rated games.
 
AMD_RULES said:
they outta do what they do with tobacco, must be 18+ to buy it.
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do you think thats going to stop anyone, I'm 17 and frequently buy cigarettes. whats to stop a kid from shoving his ID into a scanner and changing some dates. or a kid getting a parent to get the game.
 
UrielDagda said:
If it's for the kids, half this nation would wholeheartedly welcome turning the US into a fascist regime.. The government controlled media FUD has scared the populace into basically not caring about their rights or the constitution anymore.

Extreme? Maybe. But if people like that come out in force, it will slowly turn that way. Not overnight.. Kinda like a really slow assfuck, don't notice its going in until it's too late.
Click to expand...



Many are already half way down that road in the US.A few more Patriot Acts and you be just fine !
 
Yeah, sure.... just as soon as they start regulating PRON.... how hard and for how long and in what orafice... cough.

Meantime, Im gonna need ALOT more blood in my games. Crysis leaves alot to be desired, as does the Army game. There should be blood spatters and blood pools, etc.

Rate it M and that let the screen run red with blood :eek::rolleyes::p

"Heart's a gotta be HOT we're gonna SLIT THROATS today!!!!"
 
The Null said:
do you think thats going to stop anyone, I'm 17 and frequently buy cigarettes. whats to stop a kid from shoving his ID into a scanner and changing some dates. or a kid getting a parent to get the game.
Click to expand...

Sorry to say but you're a prime example of a child parents never supervised.

What are you trying to prove with your boasting? That you get away with breaking the law? Are you saying the law doesn't apply if no one's watching?
 
over half support censorship? wow... I guess half the country doesn't like the constitution then, since censorship is down-to-rights a First Amendment freedom of goddamn speech violation.

hence, those people can go suck my rooster.
 
So does government control of video games sound to anyone else like communism? We can't have public heath care but we can have government in media control? What about movies, books, tv, radio, internet? I, for one, can think of more important things to bankroll our taxes on.
 
So half the fucking citizens in this country are stupid? I would have thought that number would be much higher.
 
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.
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"Hi, I'm a parent, and I am too lazy to take enough part in my child's life to actually parent them and protect them from content I do not want them to see. I believe the entire population of the United States should suffer for my lazyness."

True story.
 
"In other news, 51% of Americans have never heard of the First Amendment and are sickened by free speech."
 
Polls like this make me want to steal cars, kill cops and slap hoes around.



:rolleyes:
 
So much stems from parents not fit to parent or just being lazy and not parenting, and congressmen/senators/mayors/whoever publicly spout about this kinda shit and not taking on anything REALLY meaningful and serious. Every year now this kinda shit gets in the news, and people running for office or trying to keep their office goes after this dumb, easy shit. Its this fake child protection rather than doing anything that really needs fixing.

And its not as if violent acts from youth never happened before...what 1994 (Doom/Duke Nukem?) and never before. We're a violent, aggressive species, from young ages to old, violence has happened throughout our history without our little games to blame.
 
This poll is nothing but FUD, and all those who are responsible for it should be strapped to a table with their eyelids taped open and be forced to watch Hairspray and the Street Fighter movie for the rest of their natural lives.

Stories like this make me sick to my stomach, along with the American public's ignorance and laziness for not actually bother taking an active role in being a good parent and monitoring what their kids do, and instead asking the government to strip away more of our rights in the name of "saving the children." So please excuse me while I go to the bathroom and throw up.
 
If we let them censor games,where does it stop? Movies,books,newspapers? We need less government control of our lives,not more. Who was included in this poll,the same mindless sheep who bought Bush's WMD BS?
 
GORANKAR said:
There are a few things that decide the outcome of a poll.

One is how the poll question is phrased.
Possible example of poll question: "Are you for or against protecting the children from violent video games". For the most part, only those educated enough on the issue to know the real score are going to answer no.

Another is where you take your poll. A poll about gay rights taken in San Fransisco is one way to rig a poll in favor of gay rights. Or in our video game example, take the poll to a bible belt state and you are going to skew towards the anti-video game side of the issue.

Another is who you poll. Poll middle aged parents of teens and preteens and you prolly end up skewing the results towards the anti-video game side of the issue. Poll on a college campus and the opposite will occur.

Polls are pure shit as often as not. Don't like the outcome of the first poll: rephrase, relocate, and target a different demographic, til you get the results you want.

Interestingly enough, this issue's villains, imho, seem to be very bi-partisan in their makeup. It scares me greatly when we have both Democrats and Republicans agreeing that the first amendment should be ignored.
Click to expand...

Has to be a biased poll. Let me ask the question the way it should be worded, "Do you want the government taking away the right to free speech?" Let see the results then.
 
In NY selling tobacco to a minor and getting caught employee gets nailed with a $250.00 dollar fine for the first offence store/company gets hit for $500.00



A buddy of mine was dragged out of his job in handcuffs for selling a hustler to a minor :eek:
3 weeks before the kids 18th B-day

Set some rules and enforce them


The government should turn this into a scam sting operation like they do with cigarettes and alcohol

send minors into buy the games hit the employee with a fine and nail the store with a larger fine


The Null said:
do you think thats going to stop anyone, I'm 17 and frequently buy cigarettes. whats to stop a kid from shoving his ID into a scanner and changing some dates. or a kid getting a parent to get the game.
Click to expand...

Simple nail the parents with a $500.00 dollar fine for the first time a minor is caught smoking underage

A few years in a Juvenile facility for identity fraud

Most parents will start raising there kids right


In FL if a minor is caught smoking they lose there license until there 21

They even take away your license if your caught cutting class to drive around :eek:
 
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