Rockstar Fights the Law

TeamXbox are reporting that a court injunction to prevent the sale of GTA 4 will be served shortly in the US before the game is even released or completed. The US Attorney Jack Thompson, who is an anti-video game advocate, has threatened to serve the injunction.

Once again the problem is blamed on the game and not the ineptitudes of a system which does not make any attempt to enforce ratings upon underage sales of software and videos. Why don't they put their money where their mouth is and actually come down hard on stores which sell video games to underaged youth. Furthermore, why don't they punish parents who don't fulfill their role as parents by providing their children with these games to play.

Once again it makes me think of the saying, "Guns don't kill people, people kill people." I think video games are blamed as the cause of the problem as opposed to society and other factors. It is easy to blame video games.

TeamXbox have reported Thompson as saying, "There is absolutely no chance that GTA IV will be rated anything other than "Mature. So good luck in having your Blank Rome lawyers trying to persuade a court of law that it should be sold to minors, especially in light of the United States Federal Trade Commission's findings that 42% of the time underage kids can buy "Mature-rated" games.”

In Australia we have the problem that there is STILL no R rating category for video games. Mainly because politicians here are completely misinformed and believe that video games are played only by children. Whereas current surveys conducted show the average age of a gamer being between 28 -32.

Rockstar didn't do themselvs any justice with the way they handled the Hot Coffee scandal. Their denial and then admitance to the inclusion of the hot coffee code in San Andreas was a poorly conceived public relations exercise.

Anyway, games don't kill people, people kill people. I am yet to see a video game jump off the shelf and strangle someone to death.