“Schwarzenegger a Hypocrite,” Says EA’s Green

Recently, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has associated himself with a piece of legislation which will soon stand before the Supreme Court, seeking to make it illegal to sell or rent video games to minors that are deemed by the state of California to be “excessively” violent. As one might guess, this has not set well with a lot of people, including a number of those in the industry.

Among those who have been quite verbal in their disagreement are the people at Electronic Arts, such as Chief Executive Officer John Riccitiello, who said such a situation “will screw us up in a real way” if it came to pass.

More recently, EA.com Editor-in-Chief Jeff Green pointed out on his blog that the Governor would have a co-starring role in the upcoming move The Expendables, which is rated “R.” But while the “R” rating voluntarily restricts those who are under the age of 17 from viewing the film, it is not illegal for them to do so.

Here’s the thing, though. As bloody as this movie may be, it’s not actually illegal for a theater to sell a minor a ticket to this movie, nor is it illegal for a parent to let his or her kid in with them. The MPAA movie ratings is a voluntary system not enforced by law. For the past 48 years, people have used the MPAA ratings to decide for themselves whether a movie was appropriate for themselves or their children. So when you see young teenagers or little kids sitting with their parents at The Expendables next month for two hours of bloody carnage, this is why. It’s not illegal. And it’s not news.

…

…So had there actually been an Expendables videogame, chances are that while it would have been perfectly legal to sell your kid a ticket to the movie, it would have been illegal to sell him the game.

Green goes on to point out that no one is trying to market or sell these games to children; however:

…by making it illegal to do so–especially given the vagaries of what constitutes “excessive”, it could have a chilling effect on the gaming industry as a whole–both the makers and sellers of the games, who will have to seriously think twice about the kind of product they can and want to sell, out of fear of ending up in jail. And therein lies the bigger question at hand. Because if you substitute books or movies or music in the previous couple sentences, you can see just how wrong this is.

Returning to the Expendables comparison, he concludes:

If Schwarzenegger really believed in the underlying message of the law with his name on it—that it should be illegal to sell or rent material deemed excessively violent for kids—then he should take the first step and make it illegal for kids to see “The Expendables.” Until then, this is all nothing but hypocrisy of the highest order.

The Entertainment Software Association has a page dedicated to covering the issue, while the Entertainment Consumers Association (ECA) now has a petition. Green is urging people to check out the page and sign the petition if they care about the issue.

Source: via GamePolitics, GoNintendo