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Calif. Sen. Yee urges parents not to buy M-rated games


California State Senator Leland Yee gave a little poke to parents saying they shouldn't buy M-rated games for their children. But, like a good politician, he made the statement on Monday, three days after the official start of the shopping season, so we figured we'd follow his lead and report it a few days after that. As is typical of Yee, his heart is in the right place, but his message always sounds a bit too Thompson-ish.

Yee says 60% of children ages 8 to 17 list M-rated games as being their favorite (we don't doubt that) and says parents should consider the content of the games before purchasing them (we agree!). That all sounds very reasonable. Then he goes on to say Manhunt 2 has "accessible content designed for an Adults-Only (AO) rating." There's a half-truth. He also says that Manhunt 2 is on many children's wish lists. That's a lie -- and if true, is merely a sign the parents need to seek counseling for their child. He also says that in many top-selling games, players are "rewarded for violence, including killing police officers, maiming elderly persons, running over pedestrians, and torturing women and racial minorities." Looking over a list of the top-selling games in October, and even the last few months, we don't have a clue what he's talking about.