Take your ratings and shove it. (Warning: Rated Mature.)

So I walk into the video store in the city that's about 12 miles away from my house. I drop the game I had due back in the drop box and sidled on back to the XBox section. Nothing looked particularly intriguing, but Conkers: Live and Reloaded was in for a change, so I thought I'd check it out for a giggle.

It gave me a fuckin' giggle, alright.

The lady behind the counter looked at me, and asked my age. "17" I responded, thinking nothing of it. "Sorry, but you have to be 18 to rent this. It's mature." What the fuck. So I thought, hell, maybe it was rated AO, and she mispoke. After all, it does have some pretty suggestive themes. Sure, it's all animals, but with the Hot Coffee ruckus, maybe they relabeled it.

I was wrong. I looked at the game, it WAS Mature. So I thought maybe they bumped up the ratings. Mature became AO, Teen became Mature, etc. Wrong again. I scanned the shelves. Darkwatch: Mature. 187 Ride or Die: Mature. Nearly all the new releases were Mature. I noticed, however, the label said 'MATURE' and under it '17 and up.' So I breathed a sigh of relief. The lady was just mistaken on the age.

Guess what? Wrong a-fuckin'-gain. I asked her, she said "No, the governor just passed a law in the last month or so. Now you have to be 18 to rent them."

I was pissed out of my mind. This bitch can make a law prohibiting me from something that is well within my legal rights by a longshot. A law that I can't vote against, and no practically no one else will vote against. Parents who've bought into this bullshit about video games causing violence will support it all the way, and those old enough to vote ar uneffected, and thus most won't much give a damn, and just not vote on it. Does that not strike you as one of the most unfair things you've ever heard? Does this not breech on multiple core democractic values? EQUALITY, for one. Passing a law regarding people who are prohibited from defending themselves from it. Yeah, that's equal. Persuit of Happiness, for another. Sure, I can be happy playing Lego Star Wars (the game I had to resort to renting) but eventually, I'm gunna wanna blow someone's damn skull in. Thank God I've got a small stash on my computer for just such an event, but nothing so good as Conkers, or Doom 3.

I hope that this is just in Michigan, and is only effecting a small portion of this site.

Fuckers.

A small bit of solace for this moment: http://www5.gamesville.lycos.com/html_p ... enguin.htm

Well, it's a good thing I'm eighteen, otherwise I wouldn't be allowed to read your topic.

Bloody hell, if the ESRB rating wasn't enough, now the government has to add more restrictions?

Ohmigod, Vegeta just flicked off Krillan! I just looked over, and there he was!

Sorry, back on track.

I know the "Hot Coffee" issue has tarnished the good name of video gaming even more than it has been before, but gaming will bounce back, it always does.

I just hope the Millenial generation (born 1985-2000) won't be coddled so much that we can't handle something simple like fake violence. *rolls eyes* If we can't do that, how on Earth can we handle such complicated issues such as REAL violence?

My thoughts exactly.

Sheltering a child produces the kind of children you see on SVU.

Most of this stems from a flaw in our democratic system. There's an chinese proverb that states "Those who seek power are least fit to handle it." Our government ensures that those who are ambitious enough to get into government are the same people who will do anything to appease the masses (so they'll get voted again.) The flaw with this, is that no politician can stand up and say "You know what? We developed the ESRB rating board to show what kind of content was in each game, now it's up to you, the parents, to give your kids boundries. It's your fault if your kid doesn't have the decency to listen to you because he or she doesn't respect you enough."

That'd get them voted right out of the office.

So to stay in, they make these complicated rules to make it look like they're actually doing something to "prevent violence"

Pisses me off.

That penguin is evil, by the way.

*Slap!* The penguin kept me sane!

The rest, though, that's legit. >_>. I just hope there's enough others 'round here pissed off enough about it that when voting time comes 'round, she's out, 'cuz next time around, the ones she fucked over are gunna be able to hit the polls.

... So a 17 year old can go see an R-rated movie if they want... but they can't rent a video game rated M? That's bizarre. In essence, that governor is saying that you, being 17, are not mature. Kinda rude, really... But hey. I'm not in an outrage about it. Since, you know, I can rent whatever the hell I want. >.>

I still feel it's up to parents to teach their kids values, morals, etc. The government honestly has no business saying what sort of entertainment is allowed. *shrugs* Governments are just messed up. That's why I have nothing to do with them.