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Mitt Romney cleaning up dirty video game water
Former one-term governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney is starting his campaign off on the great motivator of fear. Using the ocean as a metaphor based off something Columbine related, he speaks of how "deeply troubled" he is by the culture our children grow up in today. Romney says, "I'd like to see us clean up the water in which our kids are swimming. I'd like to keep pornography from coming up on their computers. I'd like to keep drugs off the street. I'd like to see less violence and sex on TV and in video games and in movies. If we get serious about this we can actually do a great deal to clean up the water in which our kids and grandkids are swimming." Senator Brownback of Kansas says Romney is just a little late to the culture wars.Brownback, who's already busy with his own battle on video games, says that Romney is a hypocrite because while he was on the board of Marriott International (hotel chain) he was paid $100,000 a year by a company that makes millions of dollars a year from in-room pornography rental. Raise your hand if you like yummy gooey irony. As we move into high gear on what will be the longest US presidential election campaign cycle ever, it'll be interesting to watch how many times video games come up as talking points when, well, it's pretty clear there are bigger issues going on. But darn it, video games make for much easier talking points.
ESRB takes notes from MPAA, recruits parents
The ESRB is looking for a few good adults to rate games. They want people who have experience with children, interest in and familiarity with video games, strong communication skills and live in the New York City area. Hopefully this doesn't mean the ESRB will turn into a secret society like the United State's Motion Picture Association of America's rating board. Currently the system is pretty cut and dry. We'd be nervous to see morality and emotionally subjective concepts begin to influence ratings.GamerDad, who happens to have an advertisement for the positions on his site, says, "I'm really excited about this, we're getting the opportunity to make sure GamerParents have a say and guarantee that gamers and GamerParents will be better represented by the rating you find on the box. Will this change the rating? No. Except in cases, as above, where the ratings board missed offensive content in a game like Oblivion."This move seems like a reaction to Senator Brownback's "Truth in Video Games Act" and the possible expectation that the ESRB will have to finish all games, all the way through, before giving a rating. And parents will be the ones doing this? We still can't imagine the army of parents necessary, not to mention the cost, of fulfilling the needs in the bill if it passes.
Senator Brownback brings back game bill
Presidential hopeful, Kansas Republican Sen. Sam Brownback, has re-introduced a bill that would require the ESRB play every game, all the way through, before assigning a rating. Every nook and cranny of that Thomas' English gaming muffin would have to be explored before slapping a rating on the title.Feel that generation gap widening? This all goes back to our own issues of not being able to finish games. Forget good games, what about having to finish the bad ones? The very idea of playing a game all the way through before assigning a rating shows how completely out-of-touch the Truth in Video Game Rating Act is. Will Brownback explain on the campaign trail the tax hike required to fund the army necessary to ferret out all the info from these games? The bill would also require the Government Accountability Office to the study the effectiveness of the ESRB and evaluate the potential for an independent system not involved with the video game industry. Imagine if the ESRB said they just couldn't afford the manpower required. The U.S. government would have to make the Department of Video Game Rating Security.
