This is a momentous day for video games in general. This is a fight that I’ve watched go on over the years with a passion that only a gamer would have.

The censorship of video games is something that has always roused me to arms to argue against with everything I have. I don’t believe in censorship, and apparently the Supreme Court doesn’t either in this case citing grounds of the First Amendment with a vote of 7-2. They only wish to restrict the sales of any sexually explicit material to minors, which is perfectly fine. No porn for the kiddies, I think we can live with that.

The court wants the only other restriction placed on the sales of violent video games to be managed by the industry itself with the ESRB rating system. The ESRB system is good, maybe needs to be expanded a bit more and non-gamer parents need to know what the ratings mean before they buy little Johnny the newest GTA.

Now, let’s stop right there on that note. Time to clearly state my views and opinions on this. These are things I sat and thought about as a kid when I couldn’t buy M rated games, so I’ve had a long time to consider all this. I didn’t mind that I wasn’t allowed to purchase some of the “cooler” games off the shelves without handing my parents money to do it. Want to know the one question that was asked by my mom before she ever did that the first time?

“Do you understand the difference between fantasy and reality.”

That’s it, and she knew exactly what was going to be in the games that I wanted to play. Why? Because I explained the ESRB system to her, and was very honest that in such and such game I was going to be shooting aliens and in this one I would be annihilating other humans. That knowledge never changed her original question, and is the basis of how I believe parents should model their own actions when it comes to their kids.

It isn’t the game industry’s job to help you police your children, that is your job parents. The industry provides a rating scale, and the internet provides all the information you could ever need about any game you can think of. Use it. If you don’t want your little Johnny playing a GTA, Modern Warfare, or Halo until he is older, then don’t let him. That is your right as a parent, and I will never argue against that.

Educate yourself, parents, and then make your decisions. The industry isn’t going to discipline your children for you.

Now that my little rant is done, I don’t think I need to recount the other times that similar bills have gone through the various court systems. If you want to read up on this and some of the background if you are unfamiliar, check the source link at the bottom for the original article.

[source: USAToday]