Posted Oct 10, 2006 at 08:34PM by Chris L. Listed in: Nintendo DS, Wii, PlayStation 3, PSP, Xbox 360, MMORPG Tags: Penny Arcade, ESRB
Ó

Maybe COngress doesn't get it - but Penny Arcade does!

Perhaps these esteemed representatives of the people themselves should sit down with their children or grandchildren and play a video game or two. You know, like anyone who reads Penny Arcade. A Gaming Insider article implied this in reaction to the proposed "Truth in Video Game Ratings Act" working its way through Congress right now.

As mentioned by a MyQJ blogger last month, the new law would require the ESRB to play through the entire video game to "properly" rate it, and to develop a "general rating system" to cover all electronic media: TV, movies, music, and video games.

The reason why "Congress doesn't get it," as industry watchers have noted, is because video games aren't like movies, music, or TV. This isn't a two-hour snorefest with a clean beginning and a clean end. Video games are time-intensive, player-interactive, storyline-branching, Easter-egg-dropping entertainment that nothing else can compare to - and that's just the beginning. Add user-created content and the online experience, and the ratings job becomes Herculean, if not impossible.

Article's conclusion: ask the ESRB to play through an entire game to see all its hidden and overt content, and it's practically asking them to sign their own death warrant, by Congressional act. While the ESRB may need some beefing up, this Congressional solution it seems, is taking a sledgehammer to the entire thing.

Whatever happened to simply playing these games with your kid? Freedom of expression in media and in the net notwithstanding, it's responsible parenthood, and kids growing up need a responsible role model - or at least someone to remind them that unlike Grand Theft Auto, the real-world police will pawn you. Heck of a lot cheaper than any bill Congress would pass, too.

Speaking of which, this reminds me of a joke. Pro is to con as Progress is to...


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8 Comments


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   by nic (Unregistered) - 2006-10-10
 » !

congress doesn't get alot of things

   by imkro - 2006-10-10
 » ‘Top Class’ news for Virtua Fighter 5 or PlayStation 3 fans

‘Top Class’ news for Virtua Fighter 5 or PlayStation 3 fans (This news’ really good, believe me)

Most of you probably haven’t watched high quality Virtua Fighter 5 movies (replays) since all the famous US and Europe based gaming sites only have poor quality movie files.

http://www.hk-vf.net/tv/index.html

This site which is maintained by SEGA has about 3,000 high quality VF5 movies which have been played on the Sega Lindbergh arcade machines in Japan by Japanese players and Japanese fighter gamers are best in the world in this genre. Sega Lindbergh machines are much more powerful than the X360 but weaker than the PS3.

Go to the above site, and you can only watch movies on the fly; however if you want to save the ‘streaming’ movies on your computer, I can tell you how. You can save all kinds of ‘streaming’ movies on the web on your computer as ‘events’.

1. You must install and run ‘FlashGet’ – the number 1 & most powerful download manager in the world (ironically this best manager is totally free).

2. Such as, ‘FN_02985’, is the order of files, and something like this ‘SHU(SH)_vs_(SA) 25.5M’ is the ‘name’ of the movies.

3. Right mouse click the ‘name’ then go to ‘property’.

4. Now you can see the URL of that file. It’s something like the following.

javascript:callleftvideo('mms://www.hk-vf.net/vf5_rev.1/SHU_vs_SARAH_04.wmv')

only pick out the ‘core portion’

mms://www.hk-vf.net/vf5_rev.1/SHU_vs_SARAH_04.wmv

5. Run ‘FlashGet’ then press ‘F4’ (starting download).

6. Just put the ‘core portion’ of the URL and download away – FlashGet is so powerful so it can save streaming movie files as events.

They’re adding about 10 new movies every single day since a few months ago. You can also check how good the players are at the start of each round. Some of the world’s best fighting gamers have stats like 2,000 wins and 500 losses (against other human players).


I have heard so many times that VF5 is regarded as the best fighting game in this genre, moreover actually VF5 is one of the most anticipated PlayStation 3 titles. After watching as many movies as you can, you can post feedbacks or small thanks note here in the comment box.

   by Chris L. (QJ. NET Staff) - 2006-10-10
 » Blame the parents...

"Whatever happened to simply playing these games with your kid? Freedom of expression in media and in the net notwithstanding, it's responsible parenthood, and kids growing up need a responsible role model - or at least someone to remind them that unlike Grand Theft Auto, the real-world police will pawn you. Heck of a lot cheaper than any bill Congress would pass, too."

Why does every article I read about ratings state something about parents being parents. Do you see groups of parents marching in protest? Do you see parenting organizations donating tons of money to politicians to change law? I don't. I see politicians doing what they always, getting lead astray by a few zealots. I am a parent with children that game, I game with them. If the majority of parents were behind capitol hill on these things, don't you think the laws would have been passed long ago? Think about these things before posting about parents being the problem.

Edited by Chris L. (Q.J. NET Staff) , because:
tijir: It wasn't my intention to "blame the parents" when I wrote the paragraph. Although I myself don't have children, I regularly take care of and play with the grandchildren of a family friend. Yes, I play a couple of video games with these kids, too, and I am perfectly aware of what they are and are not ready to play with. You yourself mention that you game with your children. Although that is part of what I am implying - and that I advocate wholeheartedly - the general thrust of this article is responsibility at the personal level rather than leaving it to government. Again, it's not about parents being any kind of problem. I was a kid once myself, and I'd like to think that my parents raised me right - not too many controls, but they reminded me that there's a real world out there, and it hurts people. They didn't exactly game with me, but they were there when I needed them - as you are with your children, I honestly believe. I hope this clarifies the point you've made. And thank you for the post. Critical as it may be, it also makes me see that parents are still taking a proactive role in raising their kids. Chris L. (QJ.net staff)

   by Advertising -


Edited by Chris L. (Q.J. NET Staff) , because:
tijir: It wasn't my intention to "blame the parents" when I wrote the paragraph. Although I myself don't have children, I regularly take care of and play with the grandchildren of a family friend. Yes, I play a couple of video games with these kids, too, and I am perfectly aware of what they are and are not ready to play with. You yourself mention that you game with your children. Although that is part of what I am implying - and that I advocate wholeheartedly - the general thrust of this article is responsibility at the personal level rather than leaving it to government. Again, it's not about parents being any kind of problem. I was a kid once myself, and I'd like to think that my parents raised me right - not too many controls, but they reminded me that there's a real world out there, and it hurts people. They didn't exactly game with me, but they were there when I needed them - as you are with your children, I honestly believe. I hope this clarifies the point you've made. And thank you for the post. Critical as it may be, it also makes me see that parents are still taking a proactive role in raising their kids. Chris L. (QJ.net staff)

   by Zector - 2006-10-10
 » I think...

Its more or less the irresponsible gamers fault, rather than the parent.
I mean... "
Oh, I ate my friend... because uh... I did it in checkers... ¬_¬"

   by Mike (Unregistered) - 2006-10-11
 » .

This is pretty much the same thing as parents that complain about their kid being addicted to WoW and bring the press in almost saying that game is the devil and then they say the biggest problem of our society is addiction to technology. All that when in fact I bet its the parents who pay monthly for WoW.

In the end, its not addiction to technology, even though they should say electronics because the term technology is too vague for this, a fork, s***** or knife is technology, its more like lack of discipline.

   by Mike (Unregistered) - 2006-10-11
 » WTF?

I can't say the word s-p-o-o-n?!

   by Zam (Unregistered) - 2006-10-11
 » ?

"Pawn?" I thought it was "Pwn?" Oh well.

   by MCP_tz (Unregistered) - 2006-10-11
 » .. .

'I ask you, have you ever simply tried sitting down with your child, and hitting him?'
ESRB is there to help parents make responsible choices. Sure congress(and most management) shouldn't be in charge of decisions like this, but at least they want to help parents help themselves. It really should be up to the ESRB to decide how content is rated and as far as I know game ratings are rarely off. But apparantly there may have been one or two big mistakes >_>...



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