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No Barriers to Fun!
We met our friend Giddeon at the AbleGamers Accessibility Arcade in Atlantic City, New Jersey. When he first sat down with the AbleGamers crew, Giddeon didn't want to play any games. He told us that with his disability gaming was difficult. Giddeon has a rare disease that caused the growth of his arms .. Read More -
A Window to the World
Shepherd University invited the AbleGamers Foundation to come on campus and do one of our Accessibility Arcades for the students and local disabled community. The event was a roaring success with hundreds of children and adults coming out to see the technology and in some cases experience gaming the first time. Read More
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About the AbleGamers Foundation
Since 2004, the AbleGamers Foundation, a 501(c)(3) public charity, has served more than 56 million members of the disabled community by advocating greater access in video games. Today, AbleGamers is a leader in the development of equipment, programs and services to those living with disabilities, hardships, and quality-of-life issues that are a result of chronic illness or trauma. It is our goal to ensure that all people, regardless of their disability, can use gaming as a tool to have enriched social experiences with friends, family, and the world at large.
{sidebar id=3}{sidebar id=1}According to Bloomberg, the FCC plans to add a more extensive rating system to include TV, cell phones, and video games. These new restrictions on digital entertainment would further the stranglehold the FCC has on what we can view or play and when.
Senator Mark Pryor, a Democrat from Arkansas, requested the FCC report highlighting the need for further ratings. According to an article released in March, parents are forced to defend their children from a constant onslaught of inappropriate material.
"Parents worry not only about the TV in the den, but about the computer in the kitchen, the gaming console in the basement, and the mobile phones in their kids' pockets," Genachowski said in testimony July 22 at the Commerce Committee. "No wonder parents increasingly find themselves playing the digital media equivalent of a ‘zone defense' across this increasingly wide playing field."
As you would expect, the industry conglomerates are already fighting the proposed changes. Leaders from the Walt Disney Corporation, NBC, and CBS held a meeting in early August where the proposed changes were unveiled behind closed doors. These officials declared that these changes may infringe upon the right to free speech and are unnecessary.
Likewise, officials from Verizon and AT&T agree that much is already being done to censor as much inappropriate material as possible. Cell phones come with an immense amount of software to help parents shield their children from unwanted material.
According to the Entertainment Software Association, the FCC has neither justification nor jurisdiction to include any additional ratings on software already rated by the ESRB. Their reply to the commission's statement is rather strongly worded that the government has no business trying to control the video game industry any further.
The ESRB itself was created in 1994 to avoid such ratings. By self-imposing some form of governing regulations, digital entertainment software giants had hoped to evade such obligatory ratings forced upon the system by our government.
Other countries, such as China and Australia, already have regulatory boards that can ban individual gaming titles from the entire country. These boards are often controlled by three to five people, which control the fates of massive titles such as World of Warcraft.
Is America headed for such overbearing censorship?
AbleGamers reached out to Hal Halpin, president of the ECA, to find out what he thought about the possibility of this new broad-spectrum rating system.
"Like the respective trade associations which represent the entertainment industry's various media, we were surprised to hear of the FCC's interest in exploring the possibility of a universal ratings system. It is odd that video and movies were not included, which would have then been encompassing and more valuable to consumers, in theory," said Halpin.
"As for if the ECA is in favor of such an endeavor, it would be too early to speculate, not knowing anything more than the cursory details. Our position remains that we fully support the ESRB and believe it to be an important component in the product purchasing process."
We can only hope that the software juggernauts in combination with some of the other national conglomerates can hold off these new regulations. Keeping children away from inappropriate material is one thing but it is a very slippery slope from there to controlling what we are allowed to see, watch, and play.
Although this is not a political website, we can all appreciate the gravity of the possibilities. For example, years ago, we would have never fathomed that our government would control what we eat. Yet, now with national campaigns against Trans-fat changing the way our food is made, like the new KFC. Now, ruining good food is one thing but the thought of the government controlling our entertainment is frightening.
Considering other countries can already ban any game for any reason, we do not need to see America following suit. Again, rating a game for the appropriate audience is one thing but a broad stroke rating system across all digital entertainment is ridiculous. Our government needs to allow parents the responsibility of safeguarding their own children and not try to become overbearing grandparents watching everything we do.
I for one want the ability to choose any game I see fit and not have to hope some pencil pushers sitting on some board approve of my game of choice.
Keep your hands off my entertainment, Mr. Government!
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AbleGamers Foundation News
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Comments
Instead of taking an active role in what their children consume, Those type expect the government to essentially be surrogate parents.
I understand a parents job is never “‘easy†but using games & movies as an easy scapegoat is downright despicable!
The current President just gives these whacko liberals more excuse to spread their whacko, fascist agenda.
I don’t exempt conservatives either. Both belief systems aren’t innocent of degrading America’s core beliefs & principles via the excuse of “protecting the childrenâ€.
On the other hand, While I whole heartedly support free speech that is free from censorship & excessive regulation, Content creators need to be responsible & use restraint in what they create.
What’s next? A license to fart?! ;p I thought the creation of the ESRB ratings system was created to head off issues such as this?
While this isn’t a political site, Topics such as this force us into politics lest we quickly get smothered by malarkey imbued politicians with their heads stuck up their butts!
Another thing I just thought about, if the FCC tries to regulate user created content, that could give some parents a false sense of security, which could lead to more problems. Parents need to look over their kids' shoulders and at their web browsing history.
I honestly can't see this going through and being upheld, if challenged.
And saying it's for the parents? Come on. Games have a rating on them ALREADY on the FRONT AND BACK of the box. A good parent (hell, even a mediocre parent) can look at an 'M' rated game and conclude it isn't right for their 9 year old. If you need more help than "Mature Rated Game for sexual themes, drug use, violence and language" you probably need help and ratings by FCC wouldn't really help anyway....
Great article, Steve.
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