US Senator Proposes a Ban on "Manipulative" Video Games

I would imagine that a psychologist or psychiatrist could make such a determination.

Would that be required as part of a certification process for whenever a game comes out? Maybe per update released? Sounds expensive. "Certified Non-manipulative" make it golden like the licensed nintendo seal of approval.
 
Would that be required as part of a certification process for whenever a game comes out? Maybe per update released? Sounds expensive. "Certified Non-manipulative" make it golden like the licensed nintendo seal of approval.


Not necessarily, but I imagine that any number of the child advocacy groups has more than one volunteer shrink on staff
 
Not sure I agree.

Look, there is nothing these guys are doing that doesn't exist in other forms in the world. I think the children angle is shallow and without merit. Who's giving their kid unfettered access to a credit card? If they are, then they deserve what they get.

What needs to happen here is people need to learn some self control. If you ask me, this is a great way to learn it. Add to this the fact that if you allow the government to do this, you'll be hiring another 500 government servants to manage this "regulation", and they'll do a crappy job of it anyway.

Oh, and that guy looks like a pussy

Yeah man just pull it out in time, no problem.
 
Wait up, where's the proof that this is really a problem, aside from a few news stories that cry foul against these game devs while casting stupid people as victims?

This is just more of the same dumb shit, trying to make the world "safe" for people, blaming the big evil nasty profiteers for people's stupidity and gullibility.

People need to learn some fucking self control.

Kids don't need access to a credit card and when kids do stupid things that's a learning opportunity, not a wake up call to the nanny state.

And if people can't control themselves and continue to be stupid with their money, then this is a damned good time to invest in EA.

Look, we're mostly all gamers here to one degree or another. And most of us don't like some of the industry trends and how they effect the gaming experience. I'm there too. But I'm not looking to use make believe "think of the children" tactics to use the federal government to enforce a change in my preferred entertainment platform.

I know it sounds good on the surface, and that we could hope for better games again. But this isn't the way to it. People need to look at games like this and just not buy them, or refuse to make micro-transactions. No mo money means no more of these shitty practices, people wised up, the run is over. The assholes will move on and try something else, but others will adjust and settle back on decent paying models and those will be the long term winners, for all of us.

I think you're forgetting a number of things. Not every parent has the time to understand all the ins and outs of phones and apps and app stores and app store payment, just like random construction workers probably don't understand all the ins and outs of the wear patterns, chemical makeups, and failure models on construction equipment tires. They still have to use them. So you have a regulatory body that *does* know about those things and makes sure the tires aren't leading to major problems. All it would take is having some kind of parental controls be *standard* on some apps, or made more obvious, so kids aren't just tapping into their parents accounts accidentally. Also, it's not just about credit cards, it's about the actual known vulnerabilities of the human mind, especially developing human minds, to psychological manipulation and addiction. I feel like you're just being daft about whether children deserve some kind of protections from predatory companies, and whether or not companies will target kids. We know they will, unless forced not to. Again, we know there's people who would physically enslave kids for profit, let alone through psychological manipulation.

I'm an educator (10 years in a the classroom, plus another 7 in research and collegiate education support) and I find it incredulous (and incredible) that people are so sure that *they* wouldn't get duped or manipulated, and only "stupid" people will get taken advantage of. The smarter people think they are and the better they think they are than "the rest," the more vulnerable they are. That includes you and me.
 
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