Why is it that games are fast becoming a scapegoat for everything? Okay, more of a scapegoat for everything? You’d think in this age of Brain Training and Generic Wii Sports Game 2096 that the general public would have become more accepting of games in general. We’re certainly not getting that impression and, especially in the UK, there have been plenty of misconceptions as of late.
Aaaand they’re getting worse, with a new suggestion that violent, mature games are levied with extra tax simply for being violent. Read up on why it won’t work over the jump, and mouth off for yourself in the comments…
The suggestion that violent games are made to cost more has come from Brit Richard Taylor, father of murdered schoolboy Damilola Taylor. While I’m all for respecting his ideas – after all, he is an official adviser to the Prime Minister and the man lost his son because one teen thought it’d be a great idea to carry a knife around – I can’t help but feel that using games as a cover excuse for everything else is wearing a little thin.
What’s more, levying a tax of £10 (or possibly less; anything more is far too extreme) probably won’t have much of an effect on the sale of mature games like Grand Theft Auto and whichever other one you want to pluck out of your bag of “media-friendly usual suspects”.
Parents, let’s face it, are – by and large – gullible when it comes to buying games for their kids. I’m not saying they all are, but the less savvy among them will simply nod and accept that the big ‘18′ sticker on the front of Saints Row 2 is a measure of skill level, even if it’s identical to the ‘18′ sticker on the front of the Hostel DVD in the next shelf.
Extra charge or not, some parents will still be roped into paying over-the-odds for whatever game their kid desires. If this theoretical taxation is theoretically there to stamp out this sort of thing, I can guarantee that the theory behind it is bullshit.
What’s more, it’s unfair on people who are legally entitled to these games. Find out why (and why people seriously need to stop using games as a smoke screen for real problems) over the page.
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I sympathize. The state of Utah has proposed a bill as part of their “Truth in Advertising” campaign that would penalize any retailer of video games if they sell mature-rated titles to minors (18 under here as well). While this doesn’t sound like such a horrible thing, even the ESRB has sounded off against it. I’d post links here, but then my post would have to be approved. I’ll throw them up on Twitter – OMG_chris.
Thanks Yamster, I totally agree with you. We need to work on our own families as a world, even if that means your family won’t play violent/mature video games, that’s got to be your choice.
“I turned 18 last month…
…If that’s the case, why would you force us to pay more than we really need to for games that we are – as the law dictates – entitled to? ”
You mean like they already do with tobacco, and alcohol? Makes total sense to me, if they just come up with some good convincing evidence that games are actually dangerous I’d be willing to pay the tax, so long as it was to be re-invested in industry.
You’re forgetting that violent games aren’t dangerous, right?
what a (as AVGN would say) f*ck load of sh*t! as if our government doesn’t already make enough money off cigarettes, alcohol and fuel! arrrrgggghhhh! I hope that this doesn’t go through games are expensive enough as it is! and me, being the type that has to have them when they first come out, this is gonna seriously damage my wallet!
I like how politicians always try and tax things that they don’t like because they can’t run a country properly.
And then blame their incompetence on their own mother before themselves.
Omg if they sold Yamster t-shirts I’d buy the, I would. I’d also buy a yamster soda or a yamster action figure (even though I already made one myself).
Omg yamster I wubs u lotz.
WOOOO!!! How to fuel the pirates? There you have it, like they need an excuse to pirate a video game anyway.
Adding some good ole tax onto a violent game is admitting that the age rating system doesn’t work (which it doesnt, just covers some arses) and simply punishing EVERYONE for….. Somethinggg, ? I dunno what but it feels like punishment.
If this taxing of violent material works (yeah funny), then it should not cover only video games surely? It should also cover dvd’s etc, yeah, pay extra for a film rated “18″ why? Because some guy says that this game/film whatever will cause you to go round shooting people, beating people, robbing, plundering, general swashbuckling and basically being a very bad person indeed.
Imagine how evil everybody would become if they were exposed to this evil material that is known as mature?
I really want to have a 1 on 1 discussion with some of these people. They are frustrating me. On reason its not going to end is because not too many people are stepping up to them. The sane always allows this which in turn always gives the crazy people the audience to listen without an arguement.
this is insulting. So basically i stuck to the are rating system only to be told them now i’m 18 i have to be charged? That’s completly unfair. I wonder which one-eyed scottish idiot we blame for this happening!
I’m refusing to pay Tax on videogames. You can’t do that, charging becasue a videogame is violent isn’t going to solve anything and the only reason the british goverment is doing this is becasue flash gordon needs to steal our money becasue the moron spent all the goverment’s on the banks.
This is silly and I totally agree with you. I’m 27 and so now according to this I now have to fork out £50 instead of £40 for a game like Gears of War 2 or Fallout 3 just because it has an 18 rating. I wonder what the movie going audiance would say if they had to pay extra for the DVD just because it has an 18 rating.
Blaming games for all the ills of the world is the same as back in the late 90s when they blamed rap music for all the crime in London. It’s an easy visible scapegoat!
What the politicians and retailers should do is educate the parents. I remember one time going into Game and waiting at the till when a 8 year old kid was trying to get COD4 with his grandad. Instead of refusing the sale or informing the grandad that it’s a 15 rated game, the guy at the till basically just said,
“I can’t let you buy it, but give the money to your grandad and he’ll buy it for you.”
It was obvious that the grandad didn’t understand the rating system and he went ahead and bought it.
All i’m saying is buying second-hand works out well in this situation.
And i can see where he’s coming from, but using games as an excuse? Come off it.
And this extra “tax” is just an excuse for a one eyed scotsman to rob us blind, and then pay out in unemployment money, banking bailouts, youth projects that couldn’t be less helpful, speed cameras and other stuff that shouldn’t be needed.