Gamestop Crackdown
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February 12, 2007, 10:43 am
Filed under: Play On!
Filed under: Play On!
From GamePolitics we have an article of a new crackdown, from Gamestop/EB Games, on the sale of M rated video games to minors. While the penalty may seem harsh, this is really where the crackdown needs to take place. The ESRB and Video game companies can put as many labels on a game as they want, in the end it is up to the retailer to enforce it. Without the enforcement at retail, the system falls apart. Ol’ Jack “I am gonna make you regret playing games” Thompson, can cry foul at the ratings boards and the game companies until the break of dawn, but the truth of the matter is, Parents and Retailers have been disregarding the labels.
Now if we can only work on the parents part. . .
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While I don’t have a problem with retailer control, I don’t think the retailers are the critical link in the chain, but rather the game system. Both the Wii and Windows Vista have parental control mechanisms that restrict based on rating (I can’t speak to the X360 or PS3, though I assume they have similar functionality). Further, I’m a fan of the implementation of parental control into EQ2 that set time limits.
It’s not that I think parents should be let off the hook, but they most certainly need to be educated about parental locks of this sort and the ESRB. But, I think that ability to find a way to circumvent parental authority will trump any attempts here.
Comment by Zach February 12, 2007 @ 2:21 pmReminds me of an interesting moment at my house…One of the kidlets friends came over and noticed that the spouse had GTA, and wanted to play it. John gave him this look like, “over my dead body”, with the added effect of “I don’t think so”. Kid proceeded to complain that he could play it at home, to which the reply was “then go home.” /giggle
Personally parents are the critical link, if you don’t care enough to find out what the hell a game is about, then you shouldn’t bitch about it after you find out that your lovely 10 year old is blowing away cops.
Comment by Kendiara February 13, 2007 @ 1:26 pm