← →

California congressman thinks certain games warrant “warning labels”

January 12th, 2009 at 4:10 pm · 10 Comments

by

game-warning-label-banner

Politicians are some of the most loathsome individuals on the face of the Earth. There are some decent, honest ones, but many of them are selfish, ignorant twits who push their own agendas. That, or they waste valuable time by introducing unnecessary or ridiculous legislation. U.S. Rep. Joe Baca (D), who, as GamePolitics points out, is no stranger to game legislation, wants to slap a “health warning label” on certain game software. This information would supplement the ESRB’s letter-based age ratings that appear on disc-based games. Though, digital titles would also be required to carry the label.

What would this proposed warning say?

According to a report from the San Bernardino County Sun:

The Video Game Health Labeling Act of 2009 creates a new rule within the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which forces games with a Teen rating or higher to be sold with a warning label, reading: “WARNING: Excessive exposure to violent video games and other violent media has been linked to aggressive behavior.

Honestly, this bill seems completely unnecessary. The ESRB’s rating system is quite clear; any individual unable to comprehend words like “Mature” and “Teen” can gather additional information by visiting the organization’s official site. Though, as I have suggested in past, I feel that sloth, not stupidity, is the real problem.

With the ESRB’s rating system in place, do we really need this label? I would hope that elected officials would have more important matters to discuss. You know, because our economy isn’t doing so hot right now.

Also, the proposed warning seems to suggest that there is indisputable evidence that children who play violent games will automatically transform into nasty ****heads. I know that there have been numerous reports confirming that theory, but there have also been some that have denied that such a link exists. If you ask me, there would be less bad apples if negligent parents would actually pay attention to their kids.

Baca’s track record with game legislation is comparable to the number of Super Bowl rings on my fingers. According to GamePolitics, Baca hasn’t had a single game-related measure pass. Regardless, the California congressman continues to chug away. When will elected officials learn?

Source: San Bernardino County Sun via GamePolitics




Related posts:

  1. WARNING: PS Home scam doing the rounds
  2. Geeks and Otaku, What Nintendo really thinks about you…
  3. Rothbart’s Rant #33 – "Please Keep Your Arms And Games Inside The Window" Edition
  4. 56. Steam community competiting directly with Microsoft’s games for windows
  5. Fighting Games: Part 3 – The Future

Tags:
Categories: Editorial · News

  • Gir15

    Well California has a budget crisis right now, so the politicians shouldn’t care about videogames. Only GTA has been proven to cause excessive behavior not every game T and higher

  • Habadasher

    “WARNING: Excessive exposure to violent video games and other violent media has been linked to aggressive behavior.”

    I think among psychopaths should be added in there…
    I firmly believe that you’d have to be fairly messed up already to play a game like manhunt and think that seemed like a fun thing to go out and do!

  • dtcarson

    I think:
    * that this statement “Excessive exposure to violent video games and other violent media has been linked to aggressive behavior” is absolutely true and has been proven, though certainly very variable based on age and personality of the person, and other counter balancing content; however, “aggressive behavior’ does not necessarily mean “beating people with a bat”, there are many types of aggressive behavior.
    * as long as the games are still rated and labeled appropriately, there’s no need for any additional labeling;
    * I would not be averse to legislation stating “minors must have parental permission to purchase M-rated games”, although most retailers are diligent about self-policing that;
    * politicians need to worry more about making their legislation Constitutional and beneficial to the entire country than visible and pointless.

  • Cornman89

    The “Congress has more important things to talk about” argument is way over-used, and probably fallacious anyway. I cringe every time I hear someone use it.

    That doesn’t mean I disagree with you in general, though, Havok. It’s very disheartening to see politicians start grasping wildly at hot-button issues in order to paint themselves as some sort of champion of traditional family values. It’s enough to make a guy queasy.

  • Gareth89

    WARNING – Pushing your ignorant agenda onto video games can cause you to lose your job.

  • http://stupiditycanbeamazing.blogspot.com Electric Version

    @ Gareth89

    haha, nice!

    Well anyways, I’m getting annoyed by people trying to slam down on video games because they can’t read a little label on a game that says what the game contains. If people are trying to do this, why don’t they do it to movies? Movies can be even more violent then any video game could be, yet somehow “Murder the entire school with a chainsaw” gets less attention then a video game who’s only violence is a small slap to the face. I hope one day these people will just stop, and face some real issues, like why I can’t have a million dollars.

  • blue cobra

    The Dark Knight, with a menacing Joker, running around Gotham, planting explosives inside of people, burning people with gasoline, and cutting their mouths with knives seems much more violent than any video game (though GTA might be arguable). No one is saying to put a banner on movies that says this exposure to violence could cause aggression; they just slap on a rating, like with video games, and give it great reviews whilst raking in revenue.

  • thatguykalem

    ““WARNING: Excessive exposure to violent video games and other violent media has been linked to aggressive behavior.”

    Notice the part that says “LINKED to aggresive behaviour.”

    Saying that something is LINKED to something else is as good as guessing, legally. I can say that eating hamburgers is linked to death. In reality, everything is linked. Playing video-games can also be linked to finding a cure for childhood cancer (See: Extra Life).

    This article is linked to retarded politicians. Retarded politicans are linked to their family members. The family members have been linked to obesity. Is this article then about obesity? No.

    I rest my case.

  • KPP45

    I mean common.. really.. this is just getting ridiculous. If the all the politicians got there way we would not have any video games at all, or we would have labels covering the whole box ?warning? of false accusations that once you are your kids play this game you both will become super mutant killers?. err.. I mean come on guys, kids are def going to be more violent because of videogames not because there parents can?t control or discipline them?. Right?

    Well done article despite the topic

  • Spoony Bard

    @Thatguykalem: Epic, epic, win.