AfterDawn: News

Indiana video game bill moving forward

Even though a bill proposing gaming regulations was stalled in Indiana before legislators could vote on it last year, lawmakers are once again proposing restrictions on video game sales. Senators David C. Ford (Republican) and Vi Simpson (Democrat) have introduced a bill that would ban the sale of video games with an M (Mature) or AO (Adult Only) rating to minors.

This week, the Senate Committee on Economic Development and Technology recommended it be passed by the Senate in a 5-2 vote. Before voting, committee members had been shown controversial footage from video games, that reportedly included characters "urinating on victims and setting them on fire" and "gunning down people in a church."



Another video game rewarded achievements by showing footage of strippers. A representative of the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) argued before the committee that the bill was unconstitutional like many others struck down across the United States. In response, Ford said he would continue work on the bill to make it constitutional.

Source:
GameSpot

Written by: James Delahunty @ 20 Feb 2007 15:28

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• 16 comments

• limelight

  Isnt this the whole point of the videogame ratings sytem???
  
  They should have done this 10+ years ago when the ratings were first introduced. DUhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

  20.2.2007 17:56 #1

• croy00

  It's caled self control. The general population has become weak. I will not buy into the political garbage. God gave you eye lids to close them if you can't stand the fact that before global entities man had to fend for himself however rough that may be. Violence is violence. We kill more animals on this planet and eat them than any other species on this planet. It is the media that has corrupted us telling me what I should watch. I think not. I hate to think that we are turning future generations into fairies it's not natural back in the day it was only the strong survive now it seems as though the strong must bow and make acceptance to the weak. They make me sick not stabbing a fictional character made of polygons in a video game. Wake up it's life at the door it says eat or be eaten.

  20.2.2007 21:09 #2

• georgeluv

  i remeber marching into my local eb and buying resident evil when i was like 12.

  21.2.2007 10:25 #3

• ZippyDSM

  the point of this "bill" is to feed polis their crackers and hope they win the next election while degrading a persons right to have a right to anything.... if you legislate media you are banning it if you are banning it you are controlling what and what not the populace dose with the media they wish to buy...this is called "censorship" and its bastard child book burnings.

  21.2.2007 12:00 #4

• wetsparks

  Quote:i remeber marching into my local eb and buying resident evil when i was like 12.Back when I was 12, my neighbor (also 12) and I could go to a store and get Mortal Kombat, Doom, and Quake and the cashier never thought twice about it. The only time they even stopped to think if it was alright for me to buy something was when I was buying a Snoop Dogg CD and they asked if my parent was there and I pointed to my neighbors Dad and he gave permission for me to buy it.

  22.2.2007 17:59 #5

• ZippyDSM

  Quote:[quote]i remeber marching into my local eb and buying resident evil when i was like 12.Back when I was 12, my neighbor (also 12) and I could go to a store and get Mortal Kombat, Doom, and Quake and the cashier never thought twice about it. The only time they even stopped to think if it was alright for me to buy something was when I was buying a Snoop Dogg CD and they asked if my parent was there and I pointed to my neighbors Dad and he gave permission for me to buy it.[/quote]this was before the poli's gave a damn.

  22.2.2007 18:07 #6

• Rikoshay

  Quote:...included characters "urinating on victims and setting them on fire" and "gunning down people in a church."When is a little indecent exposure followed by arson inside of a Baptist church ever bad? :P

  22.2.2007 18:25 #7

• ZippyDSM

  Quote:[quote]...included characters "urinating on victims and setting them on fire" and "gunning down people in a church."When is a little indecent exposure followed by arson inside of a Baptist church ever bad? :P[/quote]well they do like their Hellfire and brimstone *dodges incoming rocks and thigns*
  :P

  22.2.2007 18:28 #8

• denbid

  what's the point I know of parents that will buy the games just to shut the kid up. Make better quality games oh wait that won't work cause you can't make a profit. Don't you think it's time to rethink some of these so called video games.

  23.2.2007 12:18 #9

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by denbid:what's the point I know of parents that will buy the games just to shut the kid up. Make better quality games oh wait that won't work cause you can't make a profit. Don't you think it's time to rethink some of these so called video games.SO games become movies and everything will be bland and shallow?
  
  ==============================
  Bill has been put on hold
  http://gamepolitics.com/2007/02/23/indiana-on-hold/

  23.2.2007 12:34 #10

• denbid

  Look I don't mind shooting aliens or war games but we don't need to go to the extreme do we. Setting people on fire shooting people walking down the street or urinating on people is that really needed in video games? Some on lets apply some reasoning here. We need morals to be a big part of a childs life even early teens.

  24.2.2007 09:01 #11

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by denbid:Look I don't mind shooting aliens or war games but we don't need to go to the extreme do we. Setting people on fire shooting people walking down the street or urinating on people is that really needed in video games? Some on lets apply some reasoning here. We need morals to be a big part of a child's life even early teens.And thus you fail to understand, the "Game" is not for "kids" its for thos of the age of 17+,even then its protected under US law ,Video games ARE media and thus no different than movies,once you start limiting what they can and do in media then what ever political force of the year that in power will ban things just because they don't like or understand it,this is never a good thing.
  
  
  
  What can be done is having the industry and retail and the polis work together to teach parents and the populace about the rating system,the rating system itself can use some fine tuning
  
  Refined rating for games /Movie /ESRB(Current game rate system)
  3-6 for learning gamers /G /Everyone
  6-9 for growing gamers /PG /Everyone 6+
  10-12 for kid gamers /PG /Everyone 10+
  13-15 for teen gamers /PG13 /Teen
  16-17 for mature gamers /PG13 /Teen
  18-up for adult gamers /R /Mature
  19-R for mature adult gamers /NC17 /AO
  19-r or 19-by region
  
  
  Now since Mature has been broken into 2 levels a game like postal 2 can be rated as 18 and stores can sell hem only to thos 18 and older
  
  Postal 2 is also not a "retail" game and its unrated to boot,sure a few stores tried to sell it but its a bad seller and no one wanted to keep it in stock,the game suxs on more levels than its apparent content its a poorly thought out "sand box" fps.
  
  
  there are ways to effectively control media without BANNING or restricting stores to carry it,that said Porn Games is a different issues because Porn was found to be "harmful" in the courts and by "science" it needs a basic age of 19 and then by region ,because porn is treated deffiretly in every other state.

  24.2.2007 09:57 #12

• denbid

  Oh please NO ONE needs need all that garbage,yea I feel the same way with movies don't need all that garbage. Ratings will never ever stop anyone from getting ahold of those movies or games or magazines. Education will not stop it either.

  24.2.2007 13:16 #13

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by denbid:Oh please NO ONE needs need all that garbage,yea I feel the same way with movies don't need all that garbage. Ratings will never ever stop anyone from getting ahold of those movies or games or magazines. Education will not stop it either......rriiigghhtttttt....while we are at it lets remove the tules on drinking and drugs and killing people....

  24.2.2007 13:22 #14

• lxhotboy

  Quote:Look I don't mind shooting aliens or war games but we don't need to go to the extreme do we. Setting people on fire shooting people walking down the street or urinating on people is that really needed in video games? Some on lets apply some reasoning here. We need morals to be a big part of a childs life even early teens.Honestly not allowing people to enjoy a videogame is going to the extremeApplying reasoning to this, the simple fact is if you are looking to learn morals from a video game you are not being real. Morals are suppose to be taught by parents or guardians etc.... If that area is handled it doesnt matter what kind of video game a early teen is playing.
  
  Ex. I am a nurse. I conduct myself on my job in a professional manner but that doesnot mean i cant listen to rap music on 2 subwoofer after i leave my job b.c my parents raised me with the sense to know what is acceptable and when it is or isnot acceptable.

  24.2.2007 17:51 #15

• ZippyDSM

  Quote:
  Honestly not allowing people to enjoy a videogame is going to the extremeApplying reasoning to this, the simple fact is if you are looking to learn morals from a video game you are not being real. Morals are suppose to be taught by parents or guardians etc.... If that area is handled it doesnt matter what kind of video game a early teen is playing.
  
  Ex. I am a nurse. I conduct myself on my job in a professional manner but that doesnot mean i cant listen to rap music on 2 subwoofer after i leave my job b.c my parents raised me with the sense to know what is acceptable and when it is or isnot acceptable.Heres my question should media on any level be restricted to minors or kids for any reason?
  
  there is a reason we have ratings its not to bid by the narrow minded holyer than thous but to give a general mearusering of what a kid can mentally handle,this also helps parents guide their kids by not letting stores sale them anything.

  25.2.2007 06:24 #16