Thursday, September 01, 2005
Moral Decay In Video Games, Part II: Ride of the Idiots
This post is rated M — Mature: Contains content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older.
The article Fogelmatrix posted brings up a good point. Why is it that you can steal cars, shoot cops, murder hookers, deal drugs, shoot gang members, and that’s an M rating. But the second you get a blowjob, it’s Adults Only? Did I miss something? How is a hummer worse than all of that?
Here's a couple of tidbits I picked up on the hot coffee mod:
"In New York, a class action lawsuit has been filed by Florence Cohen, an 85-year old grandmother who purchased the game for her 14-year old grandson. Cohen's lawsuit claims that Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive, the publisher of the game, are guilty of deception, false advertising, fraud and abuse. The accusation of deception is based on the change from M-rated to AO, meaning according to the lawsuit that the original rating was a deceptive practice."
I don’t know anything about Florence Cohen. This old lady could be the nicest, sweetest grandmother in the world. Her house could be filled with cookies and milk. She could be kind to puppies and kitties. Her breath could have the sweet scent of cinnamon rolls. It’s just too bad she’s a fucking idiot.
Okay, first of all, the game is called GRAND THEFT AUTO. Use your freakin’ head lady! What the hell did you think it was about? Picking daisies in a field?
Secondly, they’re stating that the game should have been an AO rating, instead of an M. Did it escape anyone’s attention that the kid she bought it for was 14? Does it not say clearly on the box "M — Mature: Contains content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older?" The kid shouldn’t have been playing the game in the first place.
Here’s what happened. Grandma fucked up. She bought a game for her grandkid that she really shouldn’t have. There were all manner of warnings about the game’s content (including the game’s title). She didn’t pay attention, and now she wants someone to pay.
Well Grandma, it’s your fault. The ratings are there for you. There is no way they could have made it simpler, short of tatooing the ratings to your forehead. If you want to blame someone, look in the mirror. I am so tired of people not taking responsibility for the raising of their kids (or grandkids).
"U.S. senator Hillary Clinton has jumped into the fray by suggesting new regulations be put on video games sales. The ESRB is also conducting an investigation into whether the game's publisher lied about the game's content in an attempt to avoid the Adults Only 18+ rating. Also, Congress just passed a resolution to have the Federal Trade Commission investigate whether Rockstar intentionally undermined the ESRB by having the content in the game."
Hillary Clinton is really pissing me off with this. This is why I'm ashamed to be a Democrat. This is bullshit political swaggering. She's making a run for the White House and is trying to position herself as moral and separate herself from past scandals.
First of all, the ESRB ratings are not required by law. They aren't mandatory at all, just like the movie ratings. The ESRB is not a government organization. They set up the rating system as a way of self-regulation in order to keep the government out of their business.
Secondly, it’s subjective. All rating systems are. Ever see a movie and wonder why the hell this was only PG-13? Why the fuck to Democrats get all hot and bothered when it comes to civil liberties, but keep jumping on the censorship bandwagon. (I’m lookin’ at you, Tipper Gore.)
Aren’t there bigger issues that Hillary should be looking at? Isn’t there a war on or something?
