AfterDawn: News

'Violent videogame' bill signed by NY governor

After passing in the NY senate last month, the so-called "violent videogame" bill has been signed into law by NY Governor David A. Paterson meaning once-voluntary ratings will now be mandatory and monitored. The state will also conduct more studies on the negative effects of violent videogames on children.

The bill calls for an "advisory council" to be established that can conduct studies on the connections between media and real-life violence in children and teens. All consoles sold in NY will now be forced to feature parental lockout controls and all games must clearly display ESRB ratings.



"We have the obligation to be constantly vigilant about amending our laws to protect the residents of New York State. Many of these bills will do just that by closing loopholes or creating new laws to enhance the quality of life for all New Yorkers," added Governor Paterson.

"The first duty of government is to provide a safe society for our resident to live, work and raise their families. These new laws will enhance the protections afforded to the citizens of this state and will address gaps in protection that have existed for years. I applaud the Legislature for working with me and my staff to reach agreements on fixing these problems."

Of course parental controls and ESRB ratings have been on every game and console since as long as I can remember but they have always been voluntary additions by the console makers and game publishers. This latest bill makes them mandatory. It is now the state and parents responsibility to listen to the ratings or use the parental controls and we hope they do.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 23 Jul 2008 16:19

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• 25 comments

• ugc

  this is a good thing

  23.7.2008 16:59 #1

• tgok

  With violent crime down in the US, and the ESRB / parental controls already being present in all consoles and on all games...not to mention the numerous studies already done which don't provide any factual relationship between violent behavior and video games, the only thing I see this advisory council doing is wasting tax payer's time and money on something parents should be monitoring themselves.

  23.7.2008 17:18 #2

• mike.m

  Hope this carries on in other countries and that they really enforce the age restriction for games such as 17+. There aint nothing worse than playing a 17/18+ game online and having to listen to kids with very high pitched voices talking over and over again. But it is still the parents responsibility as to what their children play hopefully this makes the parents more aware of what their child is doing.

  23.7.2008 17:35 #3

• mostopher

  See, the problem these days is that games are still seen as kids toys by many parents. in my experience, when most parents buy a game they don't even bother looking at the box, never mind the age rating. This is a good thing for gamesplayers as long as it is enforced properley.

  23.7.2008 18:02 #4

• DXR88

  Ironic NY one of the most crime rated states, wants to enforce the ESRB rating. that way we can keep little timmy away from the digital snub nosed .38 and put a real one in his hands.
  
  its no problem for me,

  23.7.2008 18:15 #5

• DVDBack23

  Originally posted by DXR88: Ironic NY one of the most crime rated statesNY is actually one of the more safer states now, and NYC one of the safest of the large cities :)

  23.7.2008 18:39 #6

• Pop_Smith

  "Studies" are always back and forth, they say violent videogames effect kids and then the next one says it doesn't.
  
  With this:
  Quote:The state will also conduct more studies on the negative effects of violent videogames on children.Most of the time, if you are looking for something you are going to "find" it.

  23.7.2008 19:17 #7

• canuckerz

  Originally posted by mike.m: Hope this carries on in other countries and that they really enforce the age restriction for games such as 17+. There aint nothing worse than playing a 17/18+ game online and having to listen to kids with very high pitched voices talking over and over again. But it is still the parents responsibility as to what their children play hopefully this makes the parents more aware of what their child is doing.You took the words right out of my mouth, I really dont care about violence because of video games because thats a load on its own the real problem are those annoying little kids online otherwise known as squeakers. They ruin the game for everybody else when they shouldn't even be on the game in the first place.

  23.7.2008 19:48 #8

• 7thsinger

  Maybe i'm off the mark here, but here's my two cents.
  
  Trying to link violent video games to real life violence is the equivalent of trying to link listening to rap music with bad grammar.
  
  Again, maybe i'm off the mark.
  
  I'm not saying i don't think there should be a little enforcement of the age to content ideal, just saying the reasoning may be reaching a little bit.
  

  
  
  Learn To Backup DVDs Here
  And Here.

  23.7.2008 19:52 #9

• pcrazy99

  This is another great example of government passing useless laws. It's the parents responsibility to monitor what their child is watching, reading, listening to or playing. This law is not going to do any good if the console has parental locks on it and the parent does not even pay attention to what their child is playing on it.

  23.7.2008 21:48 #10

• susieqbbb

  So Does This Law Stop 18 year old kids from buying the games for minors.
  
  No
  
  Does this stop kids from modding there consoles and stealing illegal games on the internet.
  
  No
  
  Does this stop a small child who is mentally unstable and shouldn't be playing these games
  
  No
  
  Good job NY looks like another piece of _________ law that you cannot enforce.

  23.7.2008 22:19 #11

• klemperal

  This really is a good thing. Maybe as the result of this, and similar laws sure to follow, I won't have to listen to so many out of control little kids on xbox live.

  24.7.2008 00:12 #12

• DXR88

  Funny people talking about little kids on live. whats stoping Rick Jr. from down loading gears of war, when MS launches its digital game Download service in 09. that would be mommy's credit card number, or one of those fancy visa gift cards grandpa buys you.
  
  like others have said its a crap law, its already being Enforced quite well at game specific retailers, every time i walk into game stop the ask me for ID and age.
  
  i look older than i am i bought beer and cigs for friends when i was 16.
  
  if anything this law will do more damage than good.

  24.7.2008 00:25 #13

• Blackjax

  Quote:The first duty of government is to provide a safe society for our resident to live, work and raise their families.Funny I thought it was to take every hard earned penny they could from your pocket. Then to continually interfere with parents raising their children because they feel you were only smart enough to start the process not finish it...
  
  I could go on but it would only be a waste of time you get the point!

  24.7.2008 00:49 #14

• xSModder

  only to keep the public happy. regret the fact that someone might be just genuinely evil and have a will to destroy, and pretend "yep it was the video games"
  
  pathetic.

  24.7.2008 04:01 #15

• ikari

  Look, if every game has the rating already, does a law need to be created? I think this is a political move more than a move to "help protect our children".
  
  What's next, board games get their own verison of the ESRB or do we already have something like this already?

  24.7.2008 15:41 #16

• psplvanub

  its just a scapegoat.
  if a kid is violent and behaves badly then it is the way they are being brought up not Niko Bellic blowing up a police car on GTA 4.
  I'm one of GTA's hardcore fans, im a teenager and im turning out OK.

  25.7.2008 07:19 #17

• psplvanub

  Obviosly its not just GTA, I just chose that because governments have pretty much dubbed it the worst thing since "The Yorkshire Ripper"

  25.7.2008 07:22 #18

• Mr_Pink

  Originally posted by DXR88: Ironic NY one of the most crime rated states, wants to enforce the ESRB rating. that way we can keep little timmy away from the digital snub nosed .38 and put a real one in his hands.
  
  its no problem for me,Where are you from? 1976?
  
  From 2005 - 2007, NYC was named the safest big city in America:
  
  2005: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14910822/
  http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/19/nyregion/19crime.html
  
  2006: http://www.nyc.gov/portal/site/nycgov/me...8&rc=1194&ndi=1
  
  2007: http://www.govtech.com/gt/370385
  
  Violent crime in the nation continues to rise while it declines in NYC.
  
  And you are absolutely right. I am from NYC.
  
  As for the news article, everything I already said about this new bill was already said in the original post when this news broke. There's nothing wrong with mandating these provisions. Will this stop young children from playing inappropriate material? Obviously not, but this is a step in the right direction.

  25.7.2008 11:12 #19

• klemperal

  I'm still not sure why people are upset about this--assuming that the people upset are old enough to buy whatever game they want. The law makes it harder for young kids to buy violent video games in NY. Why is this a bad thing again?

  25.7.2008 14:54 #20

• Mr_Pink

  Originally posted by klemperal: Why is this a bad thing again?It's not.
  
  But people like to say "no" to things like this just for the sake of saying "no." What's funnier is when you become engaged in a debate with such a person and you realize that he or she has no idea what they're talking about.
  

  
  
  Video games are for adults, not children
  Learn to backup your DVDs here!
  Latest AnyDVD to rip > VOBB to blank the unwanted on a DVD > Shrink to compress > ImgBurn to burn = Never starting a thread asking how to backup a movie

  26.7.2008 00:04 #21

• DXR88

  im not upset at what this bill is trying to do. im upset at the fact that this bill is really mundane and not necessary, save unless its some how tied into the extra studies trying to link violent video games to real-life, which is again stupid in unnecessary.
  
  i remember what video games where made for, they where made to have fun by doing stuff you could never do n real life.
  
  this whole fiasco started when some dumbass was to scared to go to prison for killing people so he blamed it on video games, tying to get a get out of jail free card.
  
  there is no relation,if you ask me i think its a government ploy to get more control on video games.
  
  you don't see people saying oh Texas chainsaw massacre made me do it, do you?

  26.7.2008 01:07 #22

• borhan9

  Quote:The bill calls for an "advisory council" to be established that can conduct studies on the connections between media and real-life violence in children and teens. All consoles sold in NY will now be forced to feature parental lockout controls and all games must clearly display ESRB ratings.I thought that this was already in place. well its a great thing to have this in place. I think all countries need bodies like this and this way the countries will also see less liavle issues due to this matter if they procceed with it the way they are.

  26.7.2008 17:09 #23

• Hardwyre

  Yes, I would LOVE to see those 11 and 12-year-old limited access to games like GTA IV. I hate getting online and hearing them over voicechat.
  
  But someone DOES have to let these guys know that over 70% of gamers are over the age of 23. We don't want this to get out of hand.

  30.7.2008 13:43 #24

• SuperXL

  i say it's a matter of how the child is/was raised. i've been playing 'violent' videogames since my teen years. i've never committed any crimes. people are trying to make excuses for insufficient/ineffective child-rearing. everyone knows right from wrong, and if you dont, then you're potentially mentally unstable. if that is the case, then you dont need to be exposed to that. but at the same time, we have tv shows based on police drama where people are getting shot/killed or whatever, but no one has anything to say about that because it's not considered 'violent'.
  
  you know what... what the hell ever. violence is everywhere. people like violence, and that is what sells. if you dont like the violence, dont expose yourself or your family/children to it. that means no videogames, no police drama, and sometimes not even the news.

  26.11.2008 09:31 #25