Betrayal! Law of the Game columnist explains how to pass game legislation

by Alexander Sliwinski { May 8th 2008 at 8:58PM }

Friends, we have a traitor in our midst. Our very own Law of the Game columnist, Mark Methenitis, has given the enemy a point-by-point plan on how to regulate games. He thought we wouldn't find it on his personal blog, and many Bothans died to bring us this information, but here is a small sample of his treachery.

"1. Forget the idea that you're only regulating games: If you want a regulation to stick, targeting one media without credible proof of the difference between that media and all of the other things kids are exposed to isn't going to fly. So, if you want to regulate games, the bill needs to also regulate movies, maybe music, and potentially even books. It needs to be a universal approach to put parents in control. ..."
"5. Forget the 'AO' rating for games: The argument is often made that some games should be rated 'AO.' Forget it. An 'AO' rating is basically banning the game from sale, or classifying it with the most hardcore pornography. Unless the game is some sort of sexual simulation, it shouldn't garner an 'AO' rating. In general, the sexual content in an 'M' game falls short of what is in many R rated movies or even what is on television. Arguing that a game like GTA IV should be AO is just an effort in futility."
"9. This should be a fine only offense, and only a fine against the store: It is the requirement of the store to perform their due diligence on each sale. Keeping that in mind, this isn't injecting heroin into the veins of children. The idea that it should be a criminal offense is just silly, and the idea that individual cashiers should be punished is equally inane. If a store has a problematic cashier, then the store should be held accountable and be allowed to deal with the cashier as they see fit."

There are six other points of treason! To reward Mr. Methenitis for his disloyalty we have dispatched our battle cats. May Cthulhu have mercy on his soul.

[Thanks, geonex88]

Tags: law, law-of-the-game, law-of-the-game-on-j..., legal, legislation, mark-methenitis

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Lone Starr @ May 8th 2008 9:03PM

WiiFTW @ May 8th 2008 9:09PM

FEED THE TRAITOR TO THE RANCOR/LOLcats.

Sora267 @ May 8th 2008 9:09PM

GOOD IDEAS?!?! OHNOES!!!!!!

Demaar @ May 9th 2008 2:02AM

Exactly. I'm failing to see how making good points makes him a traitor.

Haggard @ May 9th 2008 2:58AM

Yeah, they all sound like very reasonable and fair ideas - all of which would give ammo to arguments against 'GTA IV IS CORRUPTING THE CHILDREN' types.

Tim The Enchanter @ May 9th 2008 11:02AM

I think they're more just pissed at losing so many Bothans. They were keeping them for another post.

mcatrage @ May 8th 2008 9:43PM

Protecting the children may help politicians when it comes near election time but the movie industry has some deep pockets and they already use them to protect the game industry just in case what do you think will happen if you go after them directly.

xGeneral DEATHx @ May 9th 2008 9:49AM

Punctuation, plz.

Co @ May 8th 2008 9:54PM

I want a kitten.

Blue_Falcon @ May 8th 2008 9:55PM

Those kitties are making me hungry.

nomnomnom

Ethan @ May 8th 2008 10:05PM

I thought it said "nomination" which, as domination through nom, felt quite appropriate.

Mark Methenitis @ May 8th 2008 10:15PM

I also apparently can't count. There are only nine points, despite my original count of ten.

Yourself @ May 8th 2008 10:25PM

He's a witch! Burn him!

zkey14 @ May 8th 2008 10:29PM

The Joystiq crew sure are bustin' out their vintage internet memes with alarming frequency nowadays.

Save a few of those images and let them age at least until your next weekly reminder that Portal is GOTD (Game Of The Decade(The caeK is a lie ;)))

ApolloIV @ May 8th 2008 10:41PM

This article is filled with intelligent things. I like it.

Imadogg @ May 9th 2008 1:21AM

Well said.

Great points. This guy is good.

BPM [SSBB: 5026 4120 1186] @ May 8th 2008 10:44PM

No! Not the battle cats!

Seriously, I think he makes some good points that could even shut up most politicials about 'dem ebil vidya gaems.

The Doctor @ May 8th 2008 10:46PM

See what you get when you try to reasonable? A giant octopus-shaped/dragon-shaped/man-shaped non-euclidian thing out to eat you after it has driven you and your love ones to madness. When will people learn?

Jeff @ May 8th 2008 11:25PM

Betrayal, like the Mystik Spiral song.

rTwelve @ May 8th 2008 11:41PM

"many Bothans died to bring us this information"

is it one of those days we should be looking for Star Wars references again?

John McPoop @ May 8th 2008 11:59PM

We just got a kitten thats a dead ringer for that little scrapper on the left ... The old lady named her Tigre (Tee-Gray)

John @ May 9th 2008 1:02AM

I don't know about being a traitor.

What it looked to me like he's doing here is actually providing the counterarguments that we always give and are summarily dismissed by the people always pushing for these laws, only doing it in a way that makes it seem he is on their side.

1. Other media children are exposed to is as bad if not worse than gaming.

2. AO ratings are not equally applied as the "X" rating in movies. The same content on the silver screen would be rated lower than on the game screen.

3. Fining the store: This one take a lot of the "Batshit Insane" out of the proposed laws. Most stores don't allow the sale of mature games to underage kids anyway, I know when I worked at CC we had to do a computer based training module on it.

If you read the link, everything was just basically putting into a written law what stores and the ESRB is already voluntarily doing.

Personally, I think it's fuckig retarded that we'd need a law for it in the first place because I'm a firm believer in personal freedoms and respobsibility. I think if we just enforced the laws already on the books for COMMITING crimes, we wouldn't need all this bullshit in the name of preventing future criminals.

EdZ @ May 9th 2008 6:47AM

I've always been curious about the 'AO rating = death-knell' problem. Here in the UK at least, 18-rated games regularly make the bestseller list, despite our laws making it illegal to sell them to those under 18 (liability falls on the store clerk who sold the game).

Mr Khan @ May 9th 2008 9:06AM

cultural thing, probably. In America, "Adult" is a byword for pornography, and no one, not the console makers nor the stores, wants to be associated with an "Adult" labeled product, which makes it a de facto banning. Only on PC would this be allowed, because no one has control over licensing and they can be easily distrubted online

FSK405K @ May 9th 2008 3:02AM

Don't call him a traitor. He's carefully and logically laying out what all these reactionary fear-mongers need to hear. And it makes sense. Not that I want there to be any laws about games, obviously, but I would be quite entertained for someone to put forward the "Media Child Protection Act" and for libraries to go berserk.

ALH @ May 9th 2008 4:33AM

"Unless the game is some sort of sexual simulation, it shouldn't garner an 'AO' rating."

Haha, oh america, your sexual puritanism still amuses even today. while i agree with the AOing of something like super hentai bondage raper 7, whose entire purpose is to tittilate, the fact extreme violence isnt mentioned alongside simulated sex is a lulz.

Exodus @ May 9th 2008 4:57AM

Not all of us are sexual purists. For the most part all this crap is coming from the Christian Fundamentalists that believe that everything that isn't in accordance with the bible must be Satan. I mean if someone created a game where Jesus kicked the shit out of Nazis or something and there was tons of blood they'd probably buy it for their children. Or a game where Jesus made babies and stopped the mother's from having abortions. This is all about people trying to have power over things that they shouldn't. Seriously stop F'ing with my video games and buy you kid a nice toy...I heard legos doesn't portray grisly murders and sex.

Rususeruru @ May 9th 2008 7:32AM

He mentioned books... umm books have been the one sacred medium in American culture since it's inception. Judicial decisions and legislations have set up special provisions to protect books from censorship and keep the government from snooping into what you've been reading. Because of this games have been protected, but as a matter of tradition I doubt that anything curtailing the availability of a book to well anyone really would fly.

*note pornographic periodicals/magazines are not considered books though they have been protected under freedom of speech stuff generally.

Rususeruru @ May 9th 2008 7:33AM

*legislation -- CURSE MY INABILITY TO TYPE AT EARLY HOURS!

LaughingTarget @ May 9th 2008 9:15AM

He is a traitor, not just to games but to what America stands for. He is suggesting legislation where none is necessary. The only reasonable intervention already exists in the form of false advertising. If a game/movie/book/etc is sold on the premise it is safe for a 10 year old then proceeds to toss out beheadings and full-frontal nudity, they can step in and slap the publisher for misrepresenting the product.

It is not the Government's place to tell us what we can and can't consume. A store should be able to sell GTA4 to a 16 year old without being fined. That "kid" may have a job, we can't dictate how that "kid" can spend legitimately earned money. If a store choses to sell based on rating recommendations (emphasis on recommendations) to build a public image of responsibility, that's their choice as well.

Legislation on this subject goes beyond the scope of what Congress can do. Industry ratings are not legal requirements and they should not be treated as such via fines.