Republicans and Democrats United Against Video Games
Well, it finally happened. Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) has authored a suspicious-smelling piece of legislation that would force the ESRB (the video game ratings board) to play all video games completely before issuing a review. Brownback claims that any other method of reviewing games is not “meaningful and worthy of a parent’s trust.” Here’s the thing, Sam: playing a video game “completely,” as you might suggest, still doesn’t catch everything. It wouldn’t have caught Hot Coffee, the big scandal in GTA: Vice City. It wouldn’t have prevented the nudie mod that caused the change in Oblivion’s rating… that was a fan-created mod, or modification. That’s right, people, not everything in a video game is actually put there by the developers and programmers! Shock and Awe!
Then there’s the whole problem with MMOs and their ilk. How do you “completely play” World of Warcraft, City of Heroes, or Final Fantasy XI? You don’t. The games are huge, complex, largely defined by player interaction, and updated and patched on a monthly, weekly, or even daily basis, not to mention expansion packs. RTSes are a similar problem. What about fan-created (or even authorized) map packs and additional content? Is that “The Game” or is it “Something Else?” And how does the legislation deal with this grey area?
But what really frustrates me about this whole thing is the “threat” that accompanies it, which reveals the true motivation. The bill, which has not yet had its final wording released to the public, threatens to form a federal agency to take over the duties of the already self-regulated ESRB. When will this happen? When the ESRB fails to play through every game completely before it reviews it. Which shouldn’t take long, since you can’t physically accomplish that task. So it won’t be long before the government itself gets to decide what is and is not acceptable in the realm of electronic entertainment, if this legislation passes.
Of course, Lieberman, Clinton, and other Democrats have tried to push for similar censorship initiatives in the past, so we can’t believe that this is a Republican-only scheme. No, one of the few things that crosses party lines is radical, poorly-thought-out legislation to “rein in” the ESRB. Welcome to America, where we can’t agree about anything but censorship. Good job, kids.
None of this matters, though. The legislation is as unconstitutional as the day is long. Once it gets challenged and hits the Supreme Court it’s all over but the shouting. Not that that’s going to stop Brownback and other pro-censorship legislators from passing this sucker through the Senate.
I find your lack of faith disturbing…
Matt #1
