About the same time the ESRB slapped an AO rating on Manhunt 2 a special interest group called the CCFC (Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood) demanded the AO rating be upheld stating "harmful effects of ultra-violent video games on children will be magnified by playing them on the interactive Nintendo Wii system." [more info] Then yesterday I read an article about a new study that showed kids not only like violent video games, they have little trouble getting access to them. [more info]

I think what annoyed me about these kinds of articles, studies, ignorance, etc. is how the word "video" is tacked on to the front of the word "games". The truth is, kids (particularly boys, who are also the primary target group from these kinds of studies) like playing violent games, period and it's actually encouraged. So, it's only natural that the same mindset is evident now that playing games has gone digital. But while special interest groups, parent organization, politicians, headline seeking "reporters", and self-promoting, attention whoring lawyers focus on video games the nerf weapons, cap guns, plastic swords, knives, and nunchucks stay fully stocked on store shelves, never sticking around long enough to collect dust.

Honestly, I don't care about those things, because I expect parents to be responsible enough to properly monitor how and what their children play (even though personal experience seems to indicate otherwise). I also have this bad habit of considering kids to be intelligent enough to know when a toy is just a toy. **shrugs** I keep my rose colored glasses in a protective, fire-proof, hardcase tucked neatly into the space between my "everything is rosey" life perspective books, and my stack of greenpeace shirts.

[ Please Note: I ask that each of you re-read the forum rules before you post. I have no qualms about editing posts liberally, or shutting down the thread if need be. Thanks for understanding. ]

Haha, I could see attorneys and such trying to ban toy guns and knives despite the fact they've been used for decades and sold all over.

Well.. playing devil's advocate here.

In violet video games the act actually takes place and, in most games, you see the outcome in the form of bloodshed and other realistic effects.

Running around screaming 'Bang bang! You're dead Timmy! Stop running! I got you!' tends to be lead to a scraped knee at worst.

And I can attest to the different between implied acts and actually witnessing them.


That said, the ESRB rating system is there for a reason, yet parents continually ignore it. Why? Well.. there's a lot of parental choices people make that make my head spin.

Where's my cap gun?

Pulling the trigger on an item that actually looks like a gun and the other kid falling to the ground "dead", seems like a realistic effect to me.

Its just... political... leverage BS.
Unfortunately for us gamers, we have to deal with the constant battery of insults to the thing we love most. Our gaming culture. Why? Because its new. And a convenient excuse, rather than poor parenting. (Or, heaven forbid, your child is TRUELY messed up.)

It just... arg... eats at me. I really wouldn't care so much if I didn't actually fear the loss of freedom to play video games. It sounds rediculous, but its truely what could ultimately be at stake.

Having grown up in those terrible days when we actually had guns with little plastic bullets that shot out, makes me wonder how any of us ever survived. And yes my son plays some of the violent games, but we are there also, we talk to him, and I think he has a good head on his shoulder. Am I a bad parent? Who knows.

To me what is worse than these games is the evening news and how graphic they are getting lately.

Bad/Non-Existent Parenting > Violent Media, that's something that really grinds my gears, but oddly enough the lady in the cartoon has persuaded me to her side and I can't seem to figure out why.

Originally Posted by Shade0591:

Haha, I could see attorneys and such trying to ban toy guns and knives despite the fact they've been used for decades and sold all over.

Most schools have a zero tolerance policy in regards to (play?) guns now. Even a little boy pointing his index finger with his thumb in up position at another child has been a punishable offence. As is the drawing of a gun in art class.

lol, violent toys?
when i was a kid my brothers and i would make spears out of 6 foot reeds, compleate with sharpened points,(they come out of the ground that way), and play chicken by throwing them at each other.
not to mention rock fights, boobytraps in the woods, (pit traps are your friend), and all of this without a single videogame in site(as in the 70's videogames wern't around unless you want to count pong, now that was a violent game. that poor dot got the snot beat out of it)
if only there were some way to turn these special interest groups on each other, then they could waist their time bothering each other with their nonsence, instead of hastling the rest of us.

Originally Posted by Daenerys:

Its just... political... leverage BS.
Unfortunately for us gamers, we have to deal with the constant battery of insults to the thing we love most. Our gaming culture. Why? Because its new. And a convenient excuse, rather than poor parenting. (Or, heaven forbid, your child is TRUELY messed up.)

It just... arg... eats at me. I really wouldn't care so much if I didn't actually fear the loss of freedom to play video games. It sounds rediculous, but its truely what could ultimately be at stake.

I can just see the bleak time of video games becoming a black market item... I weep for the future.