Wow, for anyone who listened to the Gamespot Gameplay podcast yesterday this was actually brought up. After the news with Angry Birds doing this with Star Wars, Peter, Tom and Carolyn talked about other franchises that could do the same kind of practise and pokemon was the main one they thought of. Weird to see a story on it the next day...
@skunkpants @Dgarl67 Thank you. If we want to show that games can be a positive influence on our lives, then we should be the ones to set the example that we aren't the stereotypes that the media/politicians/interest groups portrays us as.
@dlCHIEF58 @Dgarl67 Hmm...that is a very interesting point. I would argue that there is a difference between banning content (which would absolutely violate the first amendment) and taxing it, specifically if they can cite scientific sources that back up claims of violent games causing violent behaviour. However, it would be interesting to have a case like this go to the Supreme Court because I think they could use poll taxes as a precedent. I am not sure if that could hold water, especially since poll taxes were designed to stop minorities from voting but thanks for pointing that out. I would just like to emphasize that the main idea I wanted to convey in my comment was that this was a semantic talk about the legality of taxing games done in no official setting, and most comments here did not seem to reflect that point.
@ecs33 @Dgarl67 I'm not stupid, I know there is a really strong chance of legislation coming forward. But the "quality" of the discussion coming from the side of gamers since Leland Yee's proposal in California a couple years ago has been atrocious. Right now, the best way to convince non-gamers that videogames can lead to violent behaviour might be to take them through a comment section of articles like this.
@Anxiety21 @Dgarl67 I agree to an extent with you. I do think that gamers are being used as a scapegoat by the NRA as well as some politicians like Leland Yee. However from what I have seen so far it seems like Biden has not used games as an easy out but has instead been taking time to look at all possible causes to violent behaviour as well as listening to many different sides. Notice that he was not the one to bring up the concept of taxing violent games but was just responding to Reverend Graham's questions.
People need to calm down a bit. There is no proposal on taxing M-rated video games. All he said here was that there would be no legal issue with it, which there isn't. The federal government is allowed to implement and collect taxes, that is one of their central roles along with things like national defense. If/when an actual piece of legislation comes forward, we can all chime in and write our congressmen with our opinions. However, this idea of demonizing any effort to even talk about video game violence is ridiculous.
Tom, I disagree with you on you comment about having a fallout location overseas. There are two main reasons for this
1. The dystopian America that is represented is one of fallout's greatest charms.
2. Part of the experience (and i'd argue fun of the game) is the fact that you dont know what is happening anywhere other than your specific location. I personally love to entertain the idea that the rest of the world is actually completely fine and has just decided to leave North America to die in a sea of radiation.
Sounds like an interesting location. I'd be excited for it although i did really like the setting of New Vegas better than fallout 3. Still, cant wait for a new fallout!
Brendan I thin k you are wrong on the diablo 3 point. Basically, a variety of industries produce products that potentially harm and kill people. Even going beyond your example of casinos or other obvious ones like alcohol and cigarettes, the car companies create products that kill more people than any others. I dont expect some one who works at a car company to feel guilty of every car crash and i dont feel developers to feel guilty for some one who cannot control themselves. I do feel bad when anyone dies and I feel horrible that this guy lost his life over a video game. However, I blame him for his own actions just as I blame a drunk driver for his actions and not the car company or the alcohol company that produces the product. I do think the industry and developers should try to help dissuade people from over gaming through public service announcements, but I think that is the extent that the developers have a responsibility to do.
I'm so happy that we have a spiritual successor to the Hotspot. I love just listening to you guys talk about gaming! The gamespot UK podcast is great but I am glad you guys are back!
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