A US consumer poll has revealed that 60% of those surveyed are in favor of government regulation when it comes to violence in videogames. 51% would like the government to directly regulate videogame content while 54% believe videogame violence can alter a child’s behavior, and none of us are absolutely sick and tired of hearing about those ******* children.
The Entertainment Software Association has called shenanigans on the survey, stating it was intended as part of a business pitch between poll conducter Hill & Knowlton and the ESA. The release of these results was branded as “unethical.” and the ESA stated that only portions of results had been made public which skews perceptions of the games industry.
Among the more positive results that Hill & Knowlton conveniently left out were findings that two-thirds of 18-34 year olds play videogames, that less than 1 in 5 Americans think playing games is a bad family activity and that over half of the people polled believe it is in fact a positive one.
Back to the somewhat unnerving idea that people want politicians to regulate game content — no … just, no. While these types of surveys are rarely reliable, the very idea of government involvement in the videogame rating process, especially in light of the various ESRB attacks of late, is an absolutely horrendous one. The government should never, ever be given the power to censor what we watch and play, and the fact that clearly more than zero people think otherwise makes me worry for human evolution even more than usual.
