NY Governor Spitzer spitting mad about games

Um, aren't there already laws like this? I agree that M-rated games should be kept out of the hands of minors, but really it's the parents that should learn a little more about the ratings system and what games their kids are playing.

I don't think you can restrict speech. Am I wrong? Is the rating system for movies enforced by the government?

The hot new drinking game everyone's playing: One drink every time a politician proposes an anti-video-game bill.

#1: What rock have you been hiding under? All of the laws like that keep getting struck down by the courts as unconstitutional.

He's going after video games because it's a cheap way to score family values points with a constituency that leans heavily moderate-left. It's free moral points, because the gamer demographic is notoriously thin at the polls.

http://eat-sleep-game.com/news

Let's ban the Bible. It's single-handed influenced not only governments to go to war, but religious zealots to kill and maim as well.

Seriously, not only should games that are violent (GTA/GRAW/GEARS etc..) be kept away from minors, but there should be heavy fines FOR being sold to kids. I would go as far to fine parents that buy these types of games for their kids.. I've seen a mother in VA beach buy GTA san andreas for her 8-10 year old son... and my boy drew who was working there was like "y'know this is a very violent game... its has guns and gangs and stuff.." She looked at her son, the kid went "I want it!!" -And she brought it without hesitation!!!

#2. In the US, movie ratings are NOT enforced by the government (And neither is music's "parental advisory").

Restrictions on pornographic movies are, of course, enforced by the government but that falls squarely in the category of porn and has nothing to do with movie ratings (ie. 'X' and 'XXX' are not real movie rations.)

If you don't know who Spitzer is, be nervous. He was New Yorks atourney general. He did such a good job, he's now governor.
you should read about him. He is a smart logical man.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliot_Spitzer

What a lot of posters here don't realize is that minors are not afforded the same rights as adults, they can't vote, drink etc. They're not as responsible for their actions either and even have their own courts. Parents are responsible for minors behavior to some extent. Since parents generally don't want this responsibility (because teenagers can be difficult), the government steps up and takes responsibility.

As games get more graphic one can see the obvious restrictions on games with excessive sexual content the same way pr0nography is restricted.

I have no objections to M and AO rated games not being sold to minors. You can't see an R rated movie if you're under 17. It makes sense to apply similar logic to video games, considering that in this day and age, they're more like an interactive movie.

Spread wide your legs and wallets, NY taxpayers.

The governor (who you elected) will now spend precious time and your money to get a unconstitutional bill thrown out of the courts! Doesn't this make you proud our elected officials? Maybe you're too busy thinking about that exciting new tax bill or feeling that soreness between the legs, but I can say that this makes me damn proud of our governors and lawmakers.

@11 b.a.m.n
Maybe they didn't want to get black balled like Kotaku.

b.a.m.n 's comment just got removed. What's up with that? Fervent hope that the real moral people win the elections.

@Abscissa

Thanks, didn't think so. The day the government starts restricting free speech is the day I buy a gun. It almost seems like 1984 isn't that far off.

It's wonderful that while we're knee-deep in some of the worst corruption and human abuses America has likely ever seen our politicians still find time to lay blame at something, ANYTHING, other than a potential flaw in society.

/soapboxing

http://blog.myspace.com/nohithair

I don't see how this is any way a bad thing, minors being shielded from buying obscene content should have been done a long time ago.
And for those of you who don't know Spitzer has a long history of fighting corruption as the attorney general I don't agree with him on everything most things in fact, but he does something most American politicians are afraid to do and that is stand up to corruption wherever he sees it.

I dont get this whole selling to minors thing. In england if a game is rated 18 (M) then it is illegal for somebody under 18 to buy it, is this correct in the US? If it's not law then why not? why do gamers have a problem with this? if a game is violent enough to be rated M then it shouldn't be sold to a minor, end of story. why all the upset, just let theses guys make it law then they'll get of gamers backs, really, who does it effect? kids who can't buy GTA 4? tough luck, grow up a bit.

There is nothing wrong of what spitzer is trying to do. HE is only making it illegal to sell mature games to minors.

The only people i can see who would have problems with this are people under 18.

Its not like he is tyring to ban the games all together.

Spitzer is a prick, but New York politics are so screwed up we elect a carpet bagger to DC, and this dolt, who REFUSED to enter into ANY debates into Albany.

@2 Oi! The rating system is not enforced by the government and carries no force of law at all.

Spitzer isn't sitting mad about anything, this is just a publicity stunt on the wake of the VA shootings. The timing is way too perfect not for it to be anything else.

It doesn't matter if the state will eventually strike down the law in the courts and will have to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay legal fines, Spitzer will still look good in the eyes of the ingorant masses. Hell I'll wager that if that actually did happen most people wouldn't even notice that the law was striked down, since you know better that this would of never been put on any mainstream news outlet.

People are sheep, and Spitzer didn't get his head where it is now not knowing that. Spitzer gets to be the good guy by attacking an medium that the sheep know very little about, lose a little bit of the tax payers money, and then even if the laws is struck down people will still see him as the good guy. It is a win-win for Spitzer, all because people are too stupid not to see this.

The only person who is actually out to get video games is Jackie Thompson, and we all know that he is way too stupid and religious to attack them in a organized, effective manner. Be glad that Jackie is the only one who hates us for no discernible reason.

@REP96st

You are going to start fining parents for purchasing a game for their child? How are you going to enforce these laws? Do you raid homes to see if the game purchased is being played by the child? Better yet cameras should be installed in every home so law enforcement can always check on the gaming habits of minors. Really parents are not to be trusted right out of the gate; all children should be round up right after birth and sent to government run behavioral programming facilities to be sure they are instilled with the proper moral foundation.

The idea that parents should not have the right to decide whether or not their own children should be allowed to play a video game is absurd. Parents are the only people that should be making that decision, not politicians or law enforcement. Comparing cigarettes and alcohol to video games is completely irresponsible and in the end only trivializes the dangers of smoking and drinking.

This is a bad, bad idea. As a local law, this could quickly spread to national policy, which would have grave implications for the game industry.

1.) The ESRB Rating for M is 17+, not 18+. Spitzer is saying he knows more about game content than the ESRB.

2.) This is backdoor censorship. By making it illegal to sell to minors, less retailers are going to carry M-rated games at all, which will discourage publishers from making them. This happened when the Parental Advisory sticker happened on music (which wasn't enforced by law)- retailers like Wal-Mart wouldn't carry labeled music at all- causing artists to invest extra dollars (and maybe lose some integrity) into an edited version of their album, or not be carried in the biggest retailer in the country.

3.) This, if it went national, could kill independent designers and publishers who don't have their games rated by the ESRB and distribute their games online. Without an ESRB rating, who decides what games are acceptable for minors? And we all know how good the internet is at keeping underage folks away from objectionable material.

4.) The ESRB rating system, like the MPAA film rating system, is nowhere near perfect. Does everyone remember when Elder Scrolls IV was changed from T to M? How would that situation work under Spitzer's plan? And there are games like Fable or Socom that are rated M when they should probably be rated T. Once laws get involved, it will encourage the publishers to cut even more content from their game to get it under the M rating, and allow for the ESRB to effectively "kill" a game it doesn't like by slapping it with an M rating.

I trust the ESRB as a general guide to content, but wouldn't let them be a legal gatekeeper. Check out the film "This Film is Not Yet Rated" to see how the MPAA rating system destroys art- often based on the personal vendettas of its board members.

@felixlighter

"Really parents are not to be trusted right out of the gate; all children should be round up right after birth and sent to government run behavioral programming facilities to be sure they are instilled with the proper moral foundation."

They already are- it's 12 years of compulsory education.

I kid. Excellent points, though. We keep children away from smoking, drinking, guns, cars, etc. because of the clear, proven, demonstrable danger damage those things can do to their bodies (although we could argue that point when it comes to alcohol). Video games pose no inherent threat to the physical health of the player. It's not the government's job to protect my mind (or my "soul" for that matter) from the dangers of corruption by evil media.

Another point that I forgot to make in a previous post- You can walk into any Barnes & Noble in the country and buy any book you want, no matter how replete with sex and violence it is, regardless of how old you are. A 6-year-old can buy 120 Days of Sodom if they want, but not God of War? Give me a break.

Spitzer Rocks!

info@spitzer2010.com if you want to email and let him know (rationally and politely) about all the other laws that have been struck down, all the taxpayers money wasted, the fact most parents support the ESRB, that games ratings work better than movie ones, and that the average voter is quite likely to also be a vieo game player.. so this probaby won't win him the votes he expects...

@ginnal

Who defines obscene content? The ESRB, an industry self regulatory organization? A government controlled rating board? Why is he not pushing legislation to prevent children from buying tickets to rated 'R' movies? Or prevent children from buying "obscene" books or music? This is political grandstanding plain and simple. He is taking advantage of a generational gap issue that plagues the videogame industry. The older generations, who are more likely to vote, usually have never played a videogame and have little understanding of the medium. These laws are, without a doubt, unconstitutional and any law passed will be struck down by the courts and the New York taxpayers will pay for it.

Parents are the people who should be deciding what media is and is not appropriate for their own children, not the government and the constitution agrees with me.

Games that are rated M or Unrated already require a parent to rent from such establishments as Blockbuster. I think games should be regulated. While movies are not enforced by the government, same with Music, retailers CAN limit such products regardless of free speech. Walmart and Blockbuster are notorious for editing music and movies in stock, which are available for public rental/purchase.

Retailers such as GameStop and organizations such as the ESRB want to avoid such demanding restrictions as this puts more responsibility in their lap.

The sad fact of the matter is that parents are going to continue buying their kids these games because they are clueless as to what the games contain within. When I was a kid my parents bought me games such as Mortal Kombat without so much as a second thought, and I turned out alright, which is why the purchasing of these games by adults, who then give them to minors, will probably never be illegal; Because they absolutely do not turn kids into murderers.

I don't think we as gamers have anything to worry about right now as far as our rights are concerned. There is a war going, and violent video games are literally being pushed to children by the United States Army via the game America's Army. It would be somewhat hypocritical for any politician to get on a soapbox and really take an anti-video game stance, with our own government actively condoning such materials.

This from the governor of a state where you can walk into a sex shop in the middle of NYC, and purchase blatantly illegal pornography featuring everything from 15-year-olds to goats?

Get your priorities straight, New York.