I know the correct view in the blogosphere is that The Blagorgeous is a right wing fascist nanny state leftist who should be more libertarian about video games, but I’m at a loss as to why any decent business is selling Leisure Suit Larry to children. Or why it’s so absurd as to suggest kids shouldn’t be able to buy just any video game off the shelf.
Let’s be clear about the proposal. It affects children and children only. There are not limitations on what adults can buy or rent. We keep children from buying many things including sexually explicit movies and magazines.
Unless one argues that pornography should be available to children who want it and only it’s the parents responsibility to keep it from them even though the kids could theoretically buy it themselves, the issue is essentially the same except it includes violence as well. I see no reason that a responsible business shouldn’t already be restricting sales of such games to minors if they carry them.
Is he jumping on an issue and making a big public show of it? Absolutely. And welcome to politics, but that doesn’t make the position horrible.
There are materials we restrict from minors and we do it for a reason–it’s adult subject matter and it affects a developing mind more than an adult’s.
Should a 17 year old be able to play Doom? Most probably can handle it, but their parents can decide that and then the next year the adult can decide for himself or herself. Should a 10 year old play Doom? No. And if a parent wants to buy it for their kid, well, the law would allow them to be irresponsible, but the adult decides.
Rich Miller has a hysterical bit analyzing the Governor’s announcement scheming.
All that said, trying to write the legal definition narrow enough to pass Constitutional muster on the violence bit will be really difficult.
Why do we need a law to enforce this when we apparently don’t need one to enforce movie ratings? I haven’t played Leisure Suit Larry, but I don’t think we’re talking hard-core porn here. There are probably more explicit sights on a cable movie channel. I’m not saying kids should be able to buy violent games, just that ESRB ratings exist, and parents should be the ones doing the enforcing, not the state.