Manitoba To Rate Video Games

Cowards Anonymous writes "The government of Manitoba has introduced legislation requiring video games to have ratings system similar to that of movies, according to this story in The Winnipeg Sun. There is no word on how much this will cost, or what criteria the Manitoba Film Classification Board will use to determine whether a game should be available to those under 18 or not."

I don't get it.

[Txiasaeia]

The blurb says that Manitoba wants to bring in video game ratings, and the story confirms that most video games *already* have ratings. What's going on here? Do they really want to waste more taxpayer's money on coming up with a new classification scheme? Why don't they just pass a law that says "Don't let kids under 13/18 play Teen/Mature" games and save us all a whack of cash?

Re:I don't get it.

[Drakin]

Make the gaming companies provide a -proper- rating.

There's a lot of games that aren't rated quite as they should be (I beleive that was the subject of a previous story)

But either way, the Manitoba film board goes and re-rates movies to thier own standards.

Re:I don't get it.

[Curtman]

I'm a Manitoban. Yes they absolutely want to waste taxpayer's money. Our current provincial government is what you would call extremely populist. They've been doing all kinds of whacky things like "reforming" labour laws. You'd really have to live here to understand just how nuts these guys are. Check out the fantastic back-patting [ndpcaucus.mb.ca] on their web page.

They even have the intestinal fortitude to put on there "Balanced Budgets and Lower Taxes". The reality of the situation is that the Conservative party that they took over from, balanced the budget for many years in a row after cleaning up the mess left over from these yahoo's. Then passed legislation saying that if the government did run a deficit there would be all kinds of salary implications for the mucky mucks.

They just released their latest budget, raising many taxes [canoe.ca]. The NDP had now run a defecit 3 years in a row. You'd be VERY hard pressed to find anyone outside of NDP caucus who can call this a surplus budget. In fact there are many examples of news stories condemning their accounting.

Manitoba auditor: Budget contains deficit [canoe.ca]
Manitoba set to bring down 'realistic' provincial budget [canada.com]
Manitoba increases taxes [canoe.ca]

I could go on, but I think I'm about to explode with rage.

Re:I don't get it.

[Curtman]

This is pretty off topic I admit, but it's another local story that is definitely YRO. I just thought I'd share it.

The seeds of hate Racists' move into Manitoba alarms activists [canoe.ca]

But what about books?

[lightspawn]

How should I know which books are appropriate for my kids?

Take the bible [nobeliefs.com] for instance. Is this really appropriate for under-18s?

Are we going to see this every time a new artistic medium is created?

Re:But what about books?

[nifboy]

Are we going to see this every time a new artistic medium is created?

Yes, yes we are.

Re:But what about books?

[black mariah]

Go into a bookstore. Books are separated and clearly labeled as to target audience and genre. Most book stores have separate sections for children and young adult books. Stores that carry videogames don't have anything like this.

Improved ratings on videogames is something that EVERY gamer should promote and welcome. If it keeps morons from jumping up the ass of videogames every time some dipshit kid shoots his friend, it's something that should be supported. So you're 13 and can't buy GTA 3 on your own. Guess what? You shouldn't be able to, any more than you can get into an R rated movie.

Personally, I'd let my 13 year old play GTA, but whiny jackasses need all the deterrance from bitching we can throw at them.

Re:But what about books?

[phorm]

That's because games are sorted by console, and then alphabetically, which - as faras finding the game you want - is a smart thing.

Sorting games by console/rating/letter might get a bit confusing, and stores wouldn't want games to be unsold because they couldn't be found.

Re:But what about books?

[Txiasaeia]

Asking about whether the Bible is appropriate for kids under 18 is like asking whether a short-story anthology with 30-40+ contributing authors is appropriate for kids under 18.

"How should I know which books are appropriate for my kids?"

Same way as you *should* know for video games - try them out. Letting the government decide for you is, IMHO, bad parenting. Caveat: this is coming from a guy whose oldest son is 5 weeks old.

Re:But what about books?

[cammoblammo]

I guess it's ultimately the parents who have the job of parenting. I'm as guilty as anyone (that's right! A /.er with children!) of expecting the almighty PlayStation to do my babysitting for me. But all of the games my children play have been played by me, and the TVs in a place where I can see what's going on.

In a few years the kids are going to want a bit more leeway in the games they play. I sort of hope that if I've been doing a good enough job of parenting they're going to make good choices when they

Re:But what about books?

[lightspawn]

The difference is the bible does not, unlike games today, contain wonton violence, rape, widespread destruction, abuse of minorities and killing of our fellow humans without also carrying A POSITIVE MESSAGE.

Context, people.

Could you please provide a positive context for these?

"Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt. Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but sl