http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/09/09/news_6132907.html Well, they still need Arnold's say in it for it to become a law (Which will be quite interesting, since he has been in quite a few violent games and movies). Normally, I wouldn't be too worried, but this is a matter of concern: Bacially, they want to completely ignore the ESRB and enforce their own rules, which is utter bullshit. Not only that, but they want to put their own sticker on the games. Plus, they are using the tired "THINK OF THE CHILDREN!" line. What pisses me off about this is they are going to end up having the people pay for this with their own tax dollars. Since, lets face it, they would need a entire new council to deal with this. That, or hire people in a already existing government organisation to manage all this. Not to mention printing materials, enforcing this, complaint department, etc. So, Californias, how do you feel about possibly paying people to say that "OMG THIS IS VIOLENT PROTECT THE CHILDREN OR WE WILL FINE THE PLACE YOU BOUGHT THIS FROM!"
and So they are using the media attention from things like that to spur a bill into action that wouldn't really do anything anyway... And these are the things elected officials are spending time with???
Thats our money being flushed down the toilet, but thing is, it looks liek they are doing something about it, when in fact it isn't. Some stuff happened and now they get off their asses to make it seem they are fixing a problem when in fact all it does it is helps them get re-elected. They really do have the legal power to enforce their own rating. The ESRB as well as the ratings for movies, etc. Really isn't backed by the federal government, so they can be stricter, more lax, or just stay the same as the ESRB but make it look like they did something useful..
The thing that pisses me off more than anything is that these people have more pressing issues to worrying about than video game ratings, which have already been taken care of anyway. I'm glad I don't live in California, I wouldn't like the idea of having to order all of my games from out of state to avoid a big fucking sticker on the front. If I want that, I'll go to EB Games.
What pisses me off is that they don't seem to know what is ESRB, like if it wouldn't even exists. ''Hey, we're going to rate games, what a great idea!'' BUT THERE'S ALDREADY A RATING SYSTEM! No parent read it, or even know what it means though. couldn't they just tell people to watch the ESRB. ...And this law is comming from mister Terminator itself, the guy that kill for clothes, shot innocent people for no reason, and have alot of violent movies and video games that have his face on it.
Well the ESRB is more of a profit centre than anything else (game companies have to pay a pretty penny to get a rating on the box). As for Arnold, keep in mind the law is not coming from him, but the legislature. What's mostly amusing however is this little line which should exepmt just about *any* game: "...so long as it's offensive to community standards and without artistic merit..." Hard to prove that something has no artistic merit. -hl718
It's a shame. None of this would have ever been a problem if kids who are already unstable had better parenting.
