Congressman Rules Video Games as Bad as Smoking
Posted on 13 January 2009 by Manny
Of all the (alleged) retarded people that govern masses of other people, Congressman Joe Baca is trying to pull one bonehead move. You know those Surgeon General Warning labels they put on Cigarettes trying to get you to stop smoking because they cause lung cancer, gum disease, yellow teeth, etc… Well the California Congressman is trying to put one of those Surgeon General warning labels on video games.
Baca and co-sponser R. Wolf are proposing to add one of these labels on all video games rated “T” for Teen and “M” for Mature, in what they like to call “The Video Game Health Labeling Act of 2009” or as I like to call, the “ruin gaming for the unfortunate teens who rely on their parents to get video games for them” act.
The label is set to read:
“WARNING: Excessive exposure to violent video games and other violent media has been linked to aggressive behavior.”
I believe that even more aggressive behavior may result from putting such labels on video games. Then again, it may not make much of a difference. I usually read the Surgeon General warning on beer as I wait in line to buy it, and then just run along my merry way. This might impact sales though, and in this economy, I think that would be a big no-no. Any opinions?
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Tags | censorship, Gaming, surgeon general warning on videogames, video game
May 2nd, 2009 at 3:01 pm
the most violent acts documented by humanity occurred before video games.
if you are looking for anything besides a scapegoat for society’s faults, there are hundreds of documented studies by prestigious universities and organizations disproving the notion that video games are linked to violent behavior.
correlation does not equate causation.
February 23rd, 2009 at 3:38 pm
please forgive me beforehand. but these guys are a bunch of bleeps. I love, adore video games. been a gamer for
30 (thirty) years now and don´t plan to mess up my lfe because some congressman has bleep in his head
thank you very much and please excue the lingo
frank pagan (caracas venezuela) long live blizzard
January 27th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
I’m conflicted about this issue. I think it’s a little too early for anyone to claim that video games cause violent behaviour. It took decades to realize smoking causes cancer, and video games – especially violent ones – are relatively new in comparison.
Then again, the military uses video games and virtual reality games to train soldiers, which is meant to result in real life violence, ie. war. That being said, there are way more violent things out there such as movies, TV shows, songs, and real life.
Maybe it’s a cycle, both video games and real life influencing and reflecting each other.
Maybe that means we need a warning label for reality.