If the California video game bill passes I'm afraid of world wide censorship.

With violence in video games in the US basically banned (since stores will treat violent games the same as AO rated games and choose not to stock them) I'm afraid that game developers would make one super toned down version of the game. This would be sold everywhere since it would be too expensive to make an uncensored European version and an edited US edition. Do you think this will happen or do you think Europe will get an uncensored PEGI version and America would get a toned down light T to E10 rated game?

It is my understanding that the US releases are fairly violent, and it is places like Germany who censor them. Do you have a reference to this California bill?

California attitude-Smoking pot is great..... but those dirty video games....

:P

Googled it and only found this:

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/04/26/us-supreme-court-to-weigh-california-game-law/

Im pretty sure its wrong but it states that minors can't buy violent games.

Its not gonna happen, obama wont let it happen!!!!

Googled it and only found this:

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/04/26/us-supreme-court-to-weigh-california-game-law/

Im pretty sure its wrong but it states that minors can't buy violent games.

shadow13702

And it's going to be shot down. Same reason as it always has been - "unconsititutional".

Come to australia. Im 19 and told what games I can and cant play.hotfiree

When I import games customs check to make sure I'm not getting overseas copies of Left 4 Dead 2 or Aliens Vs Predator. Awesome! Don't chek for drugs or weapons... you keep checking my video games to make sure I'm not going to see any nasty imagry that might hurt my fragile 34 year old mind!

So yeah, Australia has censorship and it hasn't gone world wide... I wouldn't worry. I doubt it'll even go CA wide!

[QUOTE="hotfiree"]Come to australia. Im 19 and told what games I can and cant play.Chickan_117

When I import games customs check to make sure I'm not getting overseas copies of Left 4 Dead 2 or Aliens Vs Predator. Awesome! Don't chek for drugs or weapons... you keep checking my video games to make sure I'm not going to see any nasty imagry that might hurt my fragile 34 year old mind!

So yeah, Australia has censorship and it hasn't gone world wide... I wouldn't worry. I doubt it'll even go CA wide!

What amuses me is when I see the phrase "ban on violent video games" which inevitably gets spouted every time people bring up this topic.

It just bans the sale to minors, adults can still buy them and we will still get the same games. MoonMarvel

Isn't that why you have to be 17 to buy M games though?

[QUOTE="MoonMarvel"]It just bans the sale to minors, adults can still buy them and we will still get the same games. magnax1

Isn't that why you have to be 17 to buy M games though?

THeres gonna be a lot of angry people. I really dont see it passing too farSarahDanger

Games like GTA already get classified as 18 in the UK (so in theory they can't buy them, tell that to the parents), so it's not likely to make a huge difference here. If this does become and stay legal, things won't change that much - games are already restricted for sale if they're violent (etc etc.), so the overall effect wouldn't be as big as some people imagine.

dont worry they still make R rated movies and stuff and the video games are still protected by freedom of press and are too big of an industry for them to ban them... It may cause riots if they do that

It just bans the sale to minors, adults can still buy them and we will still get the same games. MoonMarvel

[QUOTE="MoonMarvel"]It just bans the sale to minors, adults can still buy them and we will still get the same games. reason58

And yet, R-rated movies still seem to sell just fine, both on dvd and in the theater.

As long as video games aren't rated AO, they won't get boxed, because it's explicite sex that keeps certain games from being sold in retail stores, not violence.

And yet, R-rated movies still seem to sell just fine, both on dvd and in the theater.

As long as video games aren't rated AO, they won't get boxed, because it's explicite sex that keeps certain games from being sold in retail stores, not violence.

Greyfeld

Its not really that though. Its just that Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft will not approve AO games on their consoles for licensing. They arent sold because they pretty much dont exist, except for the PC. And most arent boxed, not because store wont carry them, but because its cheaper to distribute digitally rather than boxed and most AO focused games have super low budgets to begin with.

It's not censorship. It's just saying that kids can't buy adult games. Companies can still make and sell these games, it's just that stores can't sell them to children. The gaming press has blown the issue way out of proportion and imo they've done this because a large amount of their revenue comes from advertising, marketing and covering adult games for kids.

[QUOTE="MoonMarvel"]It just bans the sale to minors, adults can still buy them and we will still get the same games. reason58

They will likely still sell them because they are M, not AO. Even though retailers don't carry AO games doesn't mean they won't carry M games just because they can't sell them to minors. I can't imagine any retailer refusing to stock the next Halo game, do you? Also, even if it does pass, this is one state, not the entire country.

I know they are M but they would have the same age rating as AO which IMHO would ban them from stores.

Look up the Hays Code and the Comics Code Authority and this is what this will bring if it passes.

[QUOTE="reason58"][QUOTE="MoonMarvel"]It just bans the sale to minors, adults can still buy them and we will still get the same games. Greyfeld

And yet, R-rated movies still seem to sell just fine, both on dvd and in the theater.

As long as video games aren't rated AO, they won't get boxed, because it's explicite sex that keeps certain games from being sold in retail stores, not violence.

Maybe I'm just not playing the right games, but I've never played a video game that has the violence levels of certain R-rated movies. Could be because video games are pixels so the violence doesn't gross me out, but compared to certain scenes from mob movies: Casino, Goodfellas, etc. and then other scenes from Tarantino movies, Pulp Fiction, Inglorious Basterds, along with many other random movies, 300, Pan's Labryinth, Kick-Ass...video game violence is just not close to their movie counterparts. Think of the violence in M-rated games like Call of Duty, Mass Effect, Orange Box, Just Cause, Assassin's Creed, even Red Dead Redemption and Bioshock. None of those games' violence compares to the violence seen in many R-rated movies.

Then on the sex forefront video games have a ways to go before they even come close to movies and their explicitness. Few video games even feature a real sex scene in which the screen does not go dark(not that they need one just pointing that out). Then look at all the R-rated movies with lots of nudity and or sex. Just a small list off the top of my head of films that come to mind along with others I've seen recently. The Goods: Live Hard Sell Hard, Gangs of New York...pretty much every American Pie Film, The Heartbreak Kid, The Kids Are All Right, CashBack, The 40-Year Old Virgin, SuperBad, Knocked up...I can think of many more, but I think I've proved my point. Many R-rated movies are also much worse in this department than M-Rated video games.

Lastly the whole language argument. This is the only area where they are sometimes even. Still there are many many many R-rated movies that feature the use of the F-bomb 100-200 times in a 2 hr period. There are hardly if any video games that even use the F-bomb 25-50 times in a 20 hr span. Still video games do use the F-bomb so the graphicness of language in games equals that in movies, but it is often used less with the exception of games like GTA and RDR.

Anyway, I guess my point is that when you look across the board at all the topics considered "inappropriate" in our culture movies should be considered far more controversial as they often exhibit graphic violence, which makes most video game violence look mild, explicit sex that hardly any video games can compare to, and frequent use of language that greatly outweighs that used in video games.

I honestly don't think video game violence needs to increase I don't really need to see graphic torture scenes, and innards spilling out in my games, quite frankly I'd rather not, video game violence is perfectly fine where its at, but the people against it need to realize that where it stands right now it is very rarely anything horribly bad.

Just like with violence I don't need to see tons more sex in my games, unless it is extremely relevant to the story video games do not need sex period, but again its worth pointing out that even as we stand video game sex is usually very mild (if its even shown) when compared to the sex seen in the cinema.

Lastly strong language, I feel that language can be used as necessary no point using it just for the sake of putting it in a game, but if it fits the character's attitude i.e John McClane, or Staff Sgt. Dignam (The Departed) then it makes sense to use it, also maybe use it briefly to express a particularly intense or powerful moment in the game.

I suppose what I'm trying to say and taking a rather long time to get out, is just leave video games alone...Ik this California bull, excuse me, bill is just about the sales of video games to minors so it doesn't really affect censorship, but the whole thing portrays gaming in a negative light.

As for developers theres really no reasons to push the limits of video game violence or sex, at the moment both are certainly done realistically enough so that things make sense. Making either more explicit will only create more negative press aimed at games and unless your game features an extremely deep Oscar-caliber story that incorporates extreme violence and/or sex into the struggle and plot it makes perfect sense to keep things at the level they are at.

I find it funny how people get more offended by sexual content than violent content re: Mass Effect, GTA Hot Coffee etc etc.

Surely killing someone is less acceptable that having sex?

Almost every game i own involves killing someone or something in one ay or another, and despite ratings it is acceptable for parents to let their kids play this, but if you see a nipple the game was made by the devil.

Interesting, no?

There's going to be a lot of angry people?

Who? Kids? So what?

I hate to break it to ya - kids don't get to make these decisions - they don't know enough.

Banning the sale of violent video games to minors sounds like a good idea

There's going to be a lot of angry people?

Who? Kids? So what?

I hate to break it to ya - kids don't get to make these decisions - they don't know enough.

Banning the sale of violent video games to minors sounds like a good idea

Born_Lucky

[QUOTE="Born_Lucky"]

There's going to be a lot of angry people?

Who? Kids? So what?

I hate to break it to ya - kids don't get to make these decisions - they don't know enough.

Banning the sale of violent video games to minors sounds like a good idea

reason58

I figure it's the same reason that minors can't drink, vote, own homes... You know - that stuff... It's a problem with maturity unless you don't think that has anything to do with kids dropping f-bombs on Halo.

No one is going to touch the movie industry because no one has the funds to take them down in court - not even the president of the United States - unless they need to go COD on em... Porn industry? Even worse odds; Video games? It's a rather new media and is much easier to take down because only kids are stereotyped as playing them. So you have a bunch of old guys that have only played one minute of GTA and assume every game is the same. What's worse is that the judges are - you guessed it - old...

The ironic thing is that the only people that could actually make a difference in the decision are the kids though. All people really have to do is get an appointment at city hall (or wherever the local congressmen debate) and make a serious argument. Right now the "kids are stupid" argument is working and that will get the bill passed unless some kids actually go down there and prove otherwise.

I'm just 20 but if they pull that crap over here I'm goin downtown.

Well... ESERB puts ratings on games butparents ignore them then insist the government must protect them from their own stupidity.

There is no point for this bill to be passed. Kids are just going to ask their parents to buy the games for them. In the end its the responsibility of the parents to oversee what their kids play. Besides I have seen movies that are much more violent then any game I have played.

Well... ESERB puts ratings on games butparents ignore them then insist the government must protect them from their own stupidity.

MagnumPI

That's the scary part. The government starts small by overthrowing the parents' authortity here. Then they see how far they can take it.

There is no point for this bill to be passed. Kids are just going to ask their parents to buy the games for them. In the end its the responsibility of the parents to oversee what their kids play. Besides I have seen movies that are much more violent then any game I have played.

HaLoMaStErJT

Exactly.

It's the responsibility of the parents and only the parents. I remember when I got Rainbow Six for my birthday when I was about 10 or so, and as soon as they saw that it involved killing people (don't know why they didn't read the back of the box) they took it away and uninstalled it from the computer. Was I mad? Yes. That's life, however. I know now that my parents did their job in taking that game away from me, because they deemed that I wasn't quite ready to be killing virtual people. I found Nerf: Arena fun at the time anyways.

My point in that story is that parents really need to do some research on a video game that a kid wants. There's a multitude of ways to do this in a very short amount of time. The most obvious is looking for the ESRB rating. Other things include looking at the game's official web-site, watching Youtube videos posted by the company or players, asking someone at the local video game store, etc. It's real easy to know what a game is like before you buy it. I think people need to be focused on raising awareness of these methods instead of trying to do away with any video game that is "violent."

Another thing I find interesting in this whole thing is the word "violence." What makes a video game violent? Mario destroying the floor Bowser is standing on so that he falls into a pit of boiling lava (and in one case, watches and his skin is melted away until only bone remains) can be considered as violent as a multiplayer match in MW2 if you ask the right people. Does a video game have to have the SAW level of violence to be violent, or does it only have to have a plumber with a hammer smashing barrels to be violent?

[QUOTE="Chickan_117"]

[QUOTE="hotfiree"]Come to australia. Im 19 and told what games I can and cant play.Greyfeld

When I import games customs check to make sure I'm not getting overseas copies of Left 4 Dead 2 or Aliens Vs Predator. Awesome! Don't chek for drugs or weapons... you keep checking my video games to make sure I'm not going to see any nasty imagry that might hurt my fragile 34 year old mind!

So yeah, Australia has censorship and it hasn't gone world wide... I wouldn't worry. I doubt it'll even go CA wide!

What amuses me is when I see the phrase "ban on violent video games" which inevitably gets spouted every time people bring up this topic.

[QUOTE="magnax1"]

[QUOTE="MoonMarvel"]It just bans the sale to minors, adults can still buy them and we will still get the same games. MoonMarvel

Isn't that why you have to be 17 to buy M games though?

I know that, what I'm saying is that they already had measurements installed to prevent people to young people to buy games that people don't think is appropriate. This is very pointles.