ESRB Ratings Promoted by Georgia Attorney General 44
fiorenza writes "At least one state is forgoing the process of cooking up gaming legislation only to have it thrown out in the courts.
Georgia is working with the ESRB to educate parents in the state about game ratings, with the state's Attorney General leading up the charge. The obvious question is, why wasn't this tried first, before the mad rush to pass laws that never stand judicial review on account of first amendment issues? The article suggests that similar cooperative announcements from other states may soon follow."
an excuse to pass the laws? (Score:1)
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This year it was violent video game legislation. Who knows what it'll be in 2008.
In the case of Georgia... (Score:2)
Re:In the case of Georgia... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:In the case of Georgia... (Score:4, Informative)
Hell, I can go on and on - read a report here. [timeinc.net] We may not be Silcon Valley, but the tech community here is the largest in the South East. And we do regularly pull talent from out West and up North.
Being that we have such a technically savvy, young population - it makes perfect sense that we would try this( the median age here is 33). Atlanta is almost completely populated by the gamer demographic - our reps know this. Also, being a southern state, our reps have had had to deal with Federal gun control laws - they personally know what it's like to have restrictions thrown on them. They aren't to quick to do it themselves.
Oh, and I'll pit a Georgia Southern Belle against any Manhattan Socialite or West Coast hottie any day - AND rumor has it girls outnumber the guys almost 2 to 1 in Atlanta.
I LOVE it here.
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Now if only the parents would cooperate... (Score:2, Insightful)
I think the sad part of American culture right now is that I'm probably not the only one to think that's not s
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Again, who's being hurt by either of those actions? The kid wants it, and if the parent allows it, it's none of your business what they buy for him.
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If someone wants to buy their kid a game or a movie or a book, that is their own prerogative. But if you buy the kid a game, then complain about it [msn.com] then you are just dumb. And in that situation, you obviously did not want your kid playing such a game, yet you bought it anyway, even t
No more scapegoat? (Score:1)
Kudos to Georgia! (Score:2)
Georgia DOES have some intelligence! (Score:2)
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Also, ho does this screw him, anyway? Like you are going to take away his internet access so that you can go quickly vandalize his wikipedia page and he won't be able to do anything about it for a while?
And if the people you are referring to (Tech students) take down the whole backbone for the internet in the southeast, wouldn't that screw themselves (being nerds after all), f
I saw it in action this Tuesday (Score:4, Insightful)
The clerk, backed up by at least one other clerk on duty and a little shaken by the situation, said she was just trying to do her job, and that was the policy of the store. I applaude the store and I applaude the clerk.
Knowing that stores will not routinely sell mature games to minors helps me feel that I have backup. Knowing theatres won't routinely let underage kids into see R rated movies helps me feel I have backup. It's easy for me to override these hurdles. I just buy the game or I take her to the movie. But it's my choice.
I know that many times they get ratings wrong. It's an imperfect system. But it gives me someplace to start, a default position if you will. If I see the game is labled as mature, I can then investigate furhter to see if I'd really find it objectionable. My daughter is 17 so this is no longer really an issue for us, but I would have been somewhat miffed if she had been sold Grand Theft Auto when she was 14. On the other hand, I routinely let her play Unreal Tournament at an even younger age because by my personal standards, its less of an issue. That's my choice as a father, the choice to allow my daughter to use media of a mature nature, or to just say no. The ratings help me do that, and I'm glad they're helping others as well.
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obligatory "oh snaps, a female!" reaction (Score:2)
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I don't know about GTA, but every iteration of Unreal Tournament that I have played has had parental controls over the blood and guts. I don't know its ESRB rating but let's just assume it's rated for 17 year olds because of the violence and gore. If you can reduce this in the game (and lock it down with a password the way UT does) then it would probably pass as acceptible for a 14 year old according to ESRB criteria. My point is that we, as parents, must evaluate the games for ourselves using the ESRB rati
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Um, she's seventeen. I think the large majority of her life has been out of your hands for quite some time now.
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-Rick
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Also sir, I would like to take this time to ask for the opportunity to court your video-game-playing
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Oh come on (Score:2)
The only requirement to understand them is that you are able to read. So I guess the ESRP ratings have a 8+ rating themselves.
Any game that has an M or Ao rating might not be suitable for kids (but this is up to the parents to decide).
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Here's hoping that mo
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Ah, some sanity for a change. (Score:1)
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Because (Score:4, Insightful)
Because rational thought doesn't earn votes.
Game Ratings (Score:2)
Face it - what 12 year old has $50 to spend on a video game. The parents are the ones shucking out the $$ for the games and most of them would never buy their kid a Playboy but they'll get him the BMX XXX without batting an eye because it's "just a game".
Besides the gaming console is not a baby sitter. PS/X-box/etc is not a subsitut