Xerxes
06-16-2006, 11:48 PM
Game Hearing Gets Nasty
Interesting read very funny:)
Subcommittee: "We are very disappointed in you, Game Industry. Go to time out!"
by Daemon Hatfield
June 15, 2006 - At yesterday's hearing entitled Violent and Explicit Video Games: Informing Parents and Protecting Children, members of the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection took turns taking jabs at the videogame industry, the ESRB, and even the FTC.
Subcommittee Chairman Cliff Stearns (R-FL) began by recognizing the creativity, fun and educational value of games. The sweet talk ended there, however, as it seems Stearns is still not over the whole Hot Coffee incident. Rockstar Games and the FTC recently reached a settlement on the issue, but that wasn't good enough for the Chairman. He called on the FTC to submit a full report to Congress on the settlement.
Other Subcommittee members aired grievances with the FTC as well. Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-TX), who claims to be a Civilization IV fan, said the organization has been "tardy" in reporting to Congress, adding: "I am fed up with games like Grand Theft Auto being marketed under false pretenses."
http://images.capwiz.com/img/photos/559.jpg?size=147x105
Barton: "Videogames ate my soul!!"
Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) also took a turn wagging his finger. "I guess I thought the FTC would have had some more teeth than they apparently have... I'm not at all happy with the consent decree... In essence there are no consequences. None... I would like to have thought that (Take-Two and Rockstar) would have been able to be fined for millions of dollars for the trash they put out across this country."
In essence, the settlement between Rockstar and the FTC forewent any fines at the present time, instead setting guidelines the developer must follow in the future.
ESA president Doug Lowenstein testified in defense of the ESRB rating system, saying, "It may not be perfect, but we have really made a commitment to working with parents." He showed a video of several best-selling games that couldn't be described as offensive, including Tiger Woods Golf, Age of Empires III, and The Sims 2. The Committee didn't have time for any of that nonsense, apparently, and turned off the video before it was over.
Lowenstein added, "Defining this industry based on its most controversial titles would be like defining the film industry based on Kill Bill, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Natural Born Killers..."
Two witnesses were called to speak out against the game industry: Harvard's Kim Thompson, who was co-author of a recent study finding the ESRB content descriptors were inconsistently applied, and Dr. David Walsh of the National Institute on Media and the Family, which gave the ESRB a failing grade on its 2005 Annual Video Game Report Card.
Thompson suggested that the ESRB might actually play the games it rates. Currently, the ESRB relies primarily on game publishers to tell them what type of content their games contain. Thompson added she would like to see the ESRB disclose exactly how it determines the ratings for games. She also took issue with comments ESRB President Patricia Vance made earlier criticizing the results of Thompson's study.
"For the record," Thompson said, "I would like to emphasize that the ESRB has never provided any scientific basis for its allegations about flaws in our methods and we were very surprised to see the ESRB make such statements. We ask the ESRB to provide evidence of this assertion and we believe their assertion of 'flaws' in our methods is a very serious scientific allegation. The ESRB in my opinion should focus much more on ensuring the quality of its information and less on promoting its rating system... And finally, one of the most important things the ESRB needs to do is distinguish real, peer-reviewed scientific studies from non-publicly available market research that it commissions."
Dr. David Walsh of NIMF expressed concern about the upcoming Naughty America game and confessed his fears about the videogame industry getting in bed with the porn industry. Pointing out the recent Sex in Videogames Conference in San Francisco, Walsh said, "Last week, for the first time ever, there was a meeting between video game developers and the pornography industry."
In truth, the list of speakers at the conference could hardly be called representative of the game industry, featuring no one from the major hardware or software developers, nor any major publishers.
Walsh also called for a universal rating system for all media. "The present alphabet soup is just confusing," he said.
Vance announced the ESRB would starting imposing fines on industry members of up to $1 million for the "most egregious offences," and could suspend publisher's access to the ratings system. Most retailers will not carry games without a rating.
"Last year, a widely publicized incident involving Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas showed how effective and forceful an enforcement system we have at our disposal," said Vance. "I submit there is no other industry self-regulatory system willing or capable of imposing such swift and sweeping sanctions on its own members, which in this particular case resulted in the removal of a top-selling product from the market and a major loss of sales."
http://ps3.ign.com/articles/712/712872p1.html
Interesting read very funny:)
Subcommittee: "We are very disappointed in you, Game Industry. Go to time out!"
by Daemon Hatfield
June 15, 2006 - At yesterday's hearing entitled Violent and Explicit Video Games: Informing Parents and Protecting Children, members of the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection took turns taking jabs at the videogame industry, the ESRB, and even the FTC.
Subcommittee Chairman Cliff Stearns (R-FL) began by recognizing the creativity, fun and educational value of games. The sweet talk ended there, however, as it seems Stearns is still not over the whole Hot Coffee incident. Rockstar Games and the FTC recently reached a settlement on the issue, but that wasn't good enough for the Chairman. He called on the FTC to submit a full report to Congress on the settlement.
Other Subcommittee members aired grievances with the FTC as well. Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-TX), who claims to be a Civilization IV fan, said the organization has been "tardy" in reporting to Congress, adding: "I am fed up with games like Grand Theft Auto being marketed under false pretenses."
http://images.capwiz.com/img/photos/559.jpg?size=147x105
Barton: "Videogames ate my soul!!"
Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) also took a turn wagging his finger. "I guess I thought the FTC would have had some more teeth than they apparently have... I'm not at all happy with the consent decree... In essence there are no consequences. None... I would like to have thought that (Take-Two and Rockstar) would have been able to be fined for millions of dollars for the trash they put out across this country."
In essence, the settlement between Rockstar and the FTC forewent any fines at the present time, instead setting guidelines the developer must follow in the future.
ESA president Doug Lowenstein testified in defense of the ESRB rating system, saying, "It may not be perfect, but we have really made a commitment to working with parents." He showed a video of several best-selling games that couldn't be described as offensive, including Tiger Woods Golf, Age of Empires III, and The Sims 2. The Committee didn't have time for any of that nonsense, apparently, and turned off the video before it was over.
Lowenstein added, "Defining this industry based on its most controversial titles would be like defining the film industry based on Kill Bill, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Natural Born Killers..."
Two witnesses were called to speak out against the game industry: Harvard's Kim Thompson, who was co-author of a recent study finding the ESRB content descriptors were inconsistently applied, and Dr. David Walsh of the National Institute on Media and the Family, which gave the ESRB a failing grade on its 2005 Annual Video Game Report Card.
Thompson suggested that the ESRB might actually play the games it rates. Currently, the ESRB relies primarily on game publishers to tell them what type of content their games contain. Thompson added she would like to see the ESRB disclose exactly how it determines the ratings for games. She also took issue with comments ESRB President Patricia Vance made earlier criticizing the results of Thompson's study.
"For the record," Thompson said, "I would like to emphasize that the ESRB has never provided any scientific basis for its allegations about flaws in our methods and we were very surprised to see the ESRB make such statements. We ask the ESRB to provide evidence of this assertion and we believe their assertion of 'flaws' in our methods is a very serious scientific allegation. The ESRB in my opinion should focus much more on ensuring the quality of its information and less on promoting its rating system... And finally, one of the most important things the ESRB needs to do is distinguish real, peer-reviewed scientific studies from non-publicly available market research that it commissions."
Dr. David Walsh of NIMF expressed concern about the upcoming Naughty America game and confessed his fears about the videogame industry getting in bed with the porn industry. Pointing out the recent Sex in Videogames Conference in San Francisco, Walsh said, "Last week, for the first time ever, there was a meeting between video game developers and the pornography industry."
In truth, the list of speakers at the conference could hardly be called representative of the game industry, featuring no one from the major hardware or software developers, nor any major publishers.
Walsh also called for a universal rating system for all media. "The present alphabet soup is just confusing," he said.
Vance announced the ESRB would starting imposing fines on industry members of up to $1 million for the "most egregious offences," and could suspend publisher's access to the ratings system. Most retailers will not carry games without a rating.
"Last year, a widely publicized incident involving Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas showed how effective and forceful an enforcement system we have at our disposal," said Vance. "I submit there is no other industry self-regulatory system willing or capable of imposing such swift and sweeping sanctions on its own members, which in this particular case resulted in the removal of a top-selling product from the market and a major loss of sales."
http://ps3.ign.com/articles/712/712872p1.html