So I’m reading a few articles today which just seem to rub me the wrong way. The United States Congress wants to put warning labels on video games. An ESRB warning system is already in place, to warn parents and children alike of the games content, but it’s just not good enough, they say. They want health warnings now. Still, the biggest complaint comes back to the mental well being of children after playing violent games.
I am all for a game rating system, and I believe that the ESRB does a fine job. I would hope that they would be willing to stand up before congress and ask how they can make their labels better, before allowing congress to go create yet another obnoxious label to put on our games, as though they were a pack of cigarettes. What worries me most about them calling this the Video Game Health Labeling Act of 2009 is the simple fact that they could begin warning against the “addictive nature” of video games. And you can place your bets now as to when they would tell you that you’ll get fat, like some Nutrition Facts.
I’m all for making a rating system where the warning has to take up 50% of the packaging, go nuts. But please don’t start putting wild inaccuracies and over generalized assumptions all over our games. I’m sincerely starting to wonder whether the movie industry ever actually had to go through all of the crap the video games industry is still dealing with.
