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Subtle as a Jack Hammer |
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It was a beautiful day for the Texas Independent Game Conference here in Austin, Texas. A terrific lunch was provided care of Bigfoot Industries. We all flew to free food like flies. I found myself sitting at a table with Warren Spector, Greg Costikyan, Allen Varney, various members of Gamasutra Press and a few lecturers from Austin Community College. We could have talked about something simple and lighthearted like ethnic cleansing or how fun it is to go baby seal clubbing. Instead, I brought up a topic surely to get under everyone's skin. I launched the topic on the government’s recent interests in Take2 Interactive and their overall finger in what we do as developers in the industry. Are they being unfair? Is the ESRB doing enough?
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I asked if the government was being just in their constant barrage against Take2 for the "hot coffee" incident. We see so many examples of what may or may not be considered extreme content in many other areas that has not drawn the attention that they have. The general consensus was that they had indeed brought this upon themselves by not disclosing the entire nature of their questionable content. I asked further how the ESRB determined the full rating of a game without playing it all of the way through. My question was actually fielded by Warren, himself, who explained that a gaming company discloses their storyline in a combination of videotaped gameplay and manuscript. He also said that the ESRB’s descriptors were the most detailed out of the various media regulatory agencies. He is biased, though, as he himself helped define them.
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I held my stance that I believe that some form of regulation should be enforced on retailers to simply watchdog the sale of clearly marked age inappropriate material from being sold to minors. Boy, this made me a marked man until I was able to fully articulate that I want both a self-regulated industry without government control and a system that keeps kids from circumventing parents' wishes. All at the table agreed, after sometime, that in more ways than one that is what they wanted as well. The problem this poses, according to Greg, is that big box retail chains will not sell non-rated or Adults Only (A.O.) material. So we now create a forced situation to keep independent gamers from ever reaching the shelves without paying large fees to the ESRB.
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Is the ESRB the answer? Well, it is for now. There are a lot of things that need to be addressed, and this is a young industry. There has to be a way to answer the moral obligations of the content we put out and at the same time not sensor those who want this material, and are of age, from getting it. No answers were found in epiphany at the lunch table today, but I actually think that everyone involved in the conversation holds true to the fact that government intervention is not the answer. It is still ultimately up to the courts to decide all of the legal ramifications of this media. Until then, advocacy for gaming is still needed throughout the industry.
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-WUMPUSJAGGER, GameVortex Communications AKA Bryon Lloyd |
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