Politicians. Don’t we just love all their various outbursts and opinions on things they know absolutely nothing about?
The latest person up on the soapbox is none other than Labour Party member Keith Vaz, who wants cigarette packet-style warnings on the front of all violent video games, stating that violent video games are worse than violent films.
“A film with inappropriate content is not interactive. The point about video games, which is backed up by research from America, is that the player is part of the process. Players shoot and stab people in a videogame, and that is different. I accept that inappropriate content is wrong, wherever it is found, but videogames are different.”
I love how he cites “research from America” without really specifying anything. Vaz used the current source of controvery, Modern Warfare 2′s “No Russian” level, as an example of violence in a video game.
“If a young person gets hold of Modern Warfare 2, for example, they will be asked to participate in a terrorist attack; they will be asked to shoot at civilians in Moscow airport as part of the game.”
Apart from the fact that the scene is completely optional and you can get through it without shooting anyone.
Vaz stated he wasn’t against censorship, but merely wants people to “please think of the children!!!” So maybe he should go after the people buying these games for their kids, instead of being mad at the game designers?
