News Staff Writer
Dear Honorable Senator Hillary Clinton,
On November 29th, you announced your plans to introduce a new Congressional bill called the “Family Entertainment Protection Act” to further regulate the game industry. This bill includes fines for the sale of M-rated games to minors, allows the Electronic Software Rating Bureau (ESRB) to annually review all games and authorizes the Federal Trade Commission to investigate ratings as to whether they are misleading and to audit retailers. Senator Clinton, I believe that you and others like you, who are mostly of an older generation, hold a number of misconceptions towards video games, which I would like to address.
The most common misperception of video games is that they are all mindless shooters in the mold of Doom 3 or Grand Theft Auto - gratuitous violence and appalling ethics. Between 2003 and 2005, however, the majority of video games were rated “E,” meaning they were suitable for everyone. In fact, only 12% of all games were given a rating of “M” for mature. Your proposed law, while seeking to target the most violent games, puts a burden on all game developers and publishers, regardless of each game’s content. By allowing any citizen to send complaints to the Bureau of Consumer Protection, you allow any mother to complain about any game she finds questionable; these complaints get sent to Congress, who direct the criticism to the ESRB. Then, the ESRB needs to take action and curb the publisher. The publisher is forced to limit the developers’ games to stop the flow of complaints. Consequently, the game developers on all levels are constricted in terms of creativity and expression in fear of losing publisher support from the complaints.
According to Section 3 of your proposed bill, if the ESRB doesn’t take the action that you think is appropraite, the current ratings system could be overhauled by a new federally regulated system. There is a misconception about video games and their violence. The current ratings system is more than adequate, and parents need to take responsibility. Additionally, games hold an educational value which many people are unaware of.
First and foremost, the responsibility for children’s access to games needs to lie with their parents. When it was found that sexual content could be unlocked in Grand Theft Auto by hacking the code and changing a Boolean variable, a grandmother sued the publisher, Take-Two. Florence Cohen, 85 years old of New York, stated that she was upset by the hidden explicit sexual content that was in the game. Yet on the back of the box, it states: “Mature for blood and gore, intense violence, strong language, strong sexual content and use of drugs.” Did this grandmother believe these values to be acceptable, but a sex mini-game to be degrading? The label clearly articulates the contents of the game. If the parents (or grandparents) do not find a game to be acceptable, they need to show discipline and take the game away from their children, or they shouldn’t buy it in the first place! Instead of attacking publishers and retailers for distributing these games, why don’t you focus on educating parents on game ratings?
You state that the current ESRB ratings are inadequate. Let’s compare warning labels on movies against games. In comparison to Grand Theft Auto, the warning label of a highly violent movie such as Kill Bill is a third of the size (0.4 square inches for KB versus 1.2 square inches for GTA). The Kill Bill DVD label merely states of violence and strong language — hardly an equal description to the 5 point spread of GTA. Yet for their unequal descriptions, the violence of GTA is no worse than the violence of Kill Bill. Is it acceptable to show decapitations in a movie, but not in a game? Senator Clinton, you may have grown up with movies as your most common form of popular entertainment. Our generation, however, is growing up with video games. If you wish to limit the rights of free expression for those who entertain us, then shouldn’t you do the same for Kill Bill, and its producers, Mirimax, and the Weinstein brothers? Considering how the Weinstein family from Miramax has donated to your husband’s legal defense fund, and your campaign, it may be understandable why you have never voiced discontent to violence in their movies or have never moved to restrict DVD sales.
Mrs. Clinton, your misconception of video games and the video game industry is leading you to propose unjust legislation. Instead of educating parents, you are putting limits on the creativity of developers everywhere. You take a stand against the current ratings system, yet they are more evident than the ratings of similar movies.
The world is moving at a faster pace today. Low-level jobs are being sent abroad — ones that involve standardized skills. The jobs that are going to stay here are the ones that demand creativity and problem solving ability. Video games challenge the player to solve problems. In some cases, such as racing games, the game play is limited to whoever has the most skill with a controller. But even in a combat game like Call of Duty 2, one must constantly make decisions. Does one take a sniper rifle and guard the hill, try to storm the base with a tank, or call in the assistance of artillery? What if the road has landmines on it?
Video games challenge the players to think and to make decisions. They must analyze the situation, and then follow a plan to success – otherwise they lose. How is this any different than the business world, where one must analyze the market and build a strategy? In real time strategy games, such as Age of Empires, the player is a king trying to lead an empire to victory. The game includes gathering resources, buildings alliances, and leading armies. With different civilizations having different bonuses (such as the Chinese who have the power of gun powder first), one must examine the situation and come up with a strategy for success. What are videogames, other than a virtual game of chess? While not all games challenge players intellectually, many do.
The value of problem solving is a highly important one. If we wish to maintain our dominance in the world, the next generation must be ready to solve problems – and what better way than to play video games?
I hope that my letter has presented information you weren’t previously aware of, and will convince you to reconsider your legislation. Please do not underestimate the importance of video games for my generation, and overestimate the threat.
