Health warnings on video games

Francis64 · Post by **Francis64** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 1:56 pm

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/01/13 ... ning_bill/

Discuss.

blargg · Post by **blargg** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 2:27 pm

Damn, your link to a UK news site had me expecting it was those crazy people on another continent, but then I see it's California, where everything can cause cancer. There is probably a neurological link between violence and fantasy violence: those who "have it in their system" go to fantasy to "get it out of their system" (never mind where it comes from, oppression from those in power). But do they really think putting video games in the same health-risk class as cigarettes will make teens less-likely to play them?!?

ZH/Franky · Post by **ZH/Franky** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 3:06 pm

Heh.. this is funny.
Just like all the bullshit these crackpots come up with.

EDIT:
Oh shit, is my use of the term "bullshit" a result of play videogames?
Oh my, I think I'm infected

Francis64 · Post by **Francis64** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 3:12 pm

Yeah the Register is an English IT magazine, but they cover news from all over the world. This article is about a law in California, but I wouldn't be surprised if a similar thing was announced here in the UK.

As for the constant bashing of video games, saying they're causing violence, they used to say the same thing about movies and rock'n roll.

Maybe it's a way to make people feel less responsible about the consequences of their actions?

"It wasn't my fault. The video game made me do it."

Post by **Agozer** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 3:28 pm

Moral panic at its finest.

Starman Ghost · Post by **Starman Ghost** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 4:47 pm

Quoted for truth, and hilarity.

Article wrote:The type of parent who would buy their 8-year-old Grand Theft Auto is also probably not someone who's going to catch the additional warning — given they've already ignored the ESRB warning, the title, the guns on the cover, and the description on the back of the box.

Neo Kaiser · Post by **Neo Kaiser** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 4:53 pm

Those shit heads seems like they are out of laws. I think there are more important issues than video games. They'll have to do the same with movies.

Johan_H · Post by **Johan_H** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 5:42 pm

Francis64 wrote:As for the constant bashing of video games, saying they're causing violence, they used to say the same thing about movies and rock'n roll.

and violin music.
Anything that young people do that old people don't must be what is causing them to misbehave. Genius!

sweener2001 · Post by **sweener2001** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 6:09 pm

a california congressman that isn't yee?

it's spreading

snkcube · Post by **snkcube** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 7:57 pm

This law will fail like the other retarded gaming laws thought-out.

Post by **grinvader** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 11:38 pm

Warning: prolonged and/or intense exposure to politics can cause major stupidity

ZH/Franky · Post by **ZH/Franky** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 1:00 am

Article wrote:The type of parent who would buy their 8-year-old Grand Theft Auto is also probably not someone who's going to catch the additional warning — given they've already ignored the ESRB warning, the title, the guns on the cover, and the description on the back of the box.

This just looks like complete politically-correct garbage to me.
A parent who buys for their child a copy of GTA4 is a bloody good parent.

...A health warning for fully grown adults is absurd. "Hey you, this game contains a lot of violence. You probably shouldn't play it. You're picking it up and thus are thinking about buying it. It's your money to spend and you probably want it, BUT FOR FUCK SAKE DON'T BUY IT".
A child goes in to buy the game: "Hey you, this game is gonna make you grow up violent. And it'll give you aids". I imagine most of these "children" would laugh.

I personally work part-time at a videogame store. When a kid ( who's obviously under 18 ) comes in wanting to buy a game rated 18+, I fucking sell it to him. He wants it, I'm here to give it, and he has the money. No problem. Hey, at least the store gets more money! If I didn't sell it to him, he'd just go to another store!

Gil_Hamilton · Post by **Gil_Hamilton** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 1:10 am

I'm gonna borrow this for a second...

grinvader? wrote:Warning: prolonged and/or intense exposure to Franky can cause major stupidity

ZH/Franky · Post by **ZH/Franky** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 1:12 am

Gil_Hamilton wrote:I'm gonna borrow this for a second...
grinvader? wrote:Warning: prolonged and/or intense exposure to Franky can cause major stupidity

Prolonged exposure to me will give you cancer. Because I'm awesome.
Yeah.... I'm an idiot. I'm so stupid that I looked at a stop sign and thought it was a tree! Doh!

sweener2001 · Post by **sweener2001** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 1:19 am

Franky wrote:
Article wrote:The type of parent who would buy their 8-year-old Grand Theft Auto is also probably not someone who's going to catch the additional warning — given they've already ignored the ESRB warning, the title, the guns on the cover, and the description on the back of the box.
This just looks like complete politically-correct garbage to me.
A parent who buys for their child a copy of GTA4 is a bloody good parent.

...A health warning for fully grown adults is absurd. "Hey you, this game contains a lot of violence. You probably shouldn't play it. You're picking it up and thus are thinking about buying it. It's your money to spend and you probably want it, BUT FOR FUCK SAKE DON'T BUY IT".
A child goes in to buy the game: "Hey you, this game is gonna make you grow up violent. And it'll give you aids". I imagine most of these "children" would laugh.

I personally work part-time at a videogame store. When a kid (who's obviously under 18) comes in wanting to buy a game rated 18+, I fucking sell it to him. He wants it, I'm here to give it, and he has the money. No problem. Hey, at least the store gets more money! If I didn't sell it to him, he'd just go to another store!

throw a party when your boss finds out and fires you

it's the same as if you were letting underage kids into R movies

ZH/Franky · Post by **ZH/Franky** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 1:27 am

throw a party when your boss finds out and fires you

it's the same as if you were letting underage kids into R movies

My boss has seen me do it. She's cool with it.

Rashidi · Post by **Rashidi** » Fri Jan 16, 2009 1:18 am

after seeing the thread title, my first thought was, it something related to Pokémon's seizures or stuff, but then, most games already displaying the lame Epileptic Warning ...

neo_bahamut1985 · Post by **neo_bahamut1985** » Fri Jan 16, 2009 2:18 am

They've gone as far as making games have less strobe effects. Take Chrono Trigger DS or Secret of Mana on the virtual console. When the cannon shoots, the flash is now a dim, white pulse (instead of the bright, flickering strobe). In CT DS, Lightning 2/Thundaga no longer has the same
flicker effect, either. Why can't they leave them alone. They don't give anyone I know headaches. Health warning indeed.

Johan_H · Post by **Johan_H** » Fri Jan 16, 2009 2:28 am

neo_bahamut1985 wrote:In CT DS, Lightning 2/Thundaga no longer has the same
flicker effect, either. Why can't they leave them alone. They don't give anyone I know headaches. Health warning indeed.

That's a little bit like saying "Why can't they remove all these wheelchair ramps everywhere. No one I know's in a wheelchair." but ok.

Gil_Hamilton · Post by **Gil_Hamilton** » Fri Jan 16, 2009 3:14 am

neo_bahamut1985 wrote:They've gone as far as making games have less strobe effects. Take Chrono Trigger DS or Secret of Mana on the virtual console. When the cannon shoots, the flash is now a dim, white pulse (instead of the bright, flickering strobe). In CT DS, Lightning 2/Thundaga no longer has the same
flicker effect, either. Why can't they leave them alone. They don't give anyone I know headaches. Health warning indeed.

That's actually been a common VC problem.
They actually use the original ROM image, then patch it.

Anyways, it's all because some dipshit sued them for not warning them about flashing lights triggering some kinds of seizures... despite the warning being packed in with every game from the NES and up, and printed on the back of every Gamecube package or later.

Anyways, I'm actually agreeing with Bahumat here. It is a day that shall live on in infamy.

You can't make anything safe for everyone, and the fact that it took decades for someone to get around to suing for something that's been there since the fucking Atari era pretty much highlights how dumb the lawsuit was in the first place.

neo_bahamut1985 · Post by **neo_bahamut1985** » Fri Jan 16, 2009 3:35 am

Are people really that ignorant to not read the warnings in the first place? Leave it up to one jerk to ruin it for the rest of us.

Panzer88 · Post by **Panzer88** » Fri Jan 16, 2009 4:31 am

Franky wrote: Prolonged exposure to me will give you cancer....
Yeah.... I'm an idiot.

oh man I think this might actually be true. breakthrough.

Deathlike2 · Post by **Deathlike2** » Fri Jan 16, 2009 4:40 am

Panzer88 wrote:
Franky wrote: Prolonged exposure to me will give you cancer....
Yeah.... I'm an idiot.
oh man I think this might actually be true

QFT

Gil_Hamilton wrote:You can't make anything safe for everyone, and the fact that it took decades for someone to get around to suing for something that's been there since the fucking Atari era pretty much highlights how dumb the lawsuit was in the first place.

How about hot coffee? I mean... c'mon.

Gil_Hamilton · Post by **Gil_Hamilton** » Fri Jan 16, 2009 4:56 am

Deathlike2 wrote:
Gil_Hamilton wrote:You can't make anything safe for everyone, and the fact that it took decades for someone to get around to suing for something that's been there since the fucking Atari era pretty much highlights how dumb the lawsuit was in the first place.
How about hot coffee? I mean... c'mon.

Sorry man, I don't swing that way.

Panzer88 · Post by **Panzer88** » Fri Jan 16, 2009 5:13 am

AWKward.