LogFAQs > #965401455

jsb0714 posted...

There isn't the equivalent a big, stupid fucking organization like the NRA being incorrect about the 2nd amendment for video games.

No, there's a big stupid organization like the ESRB being incorrect about the 1st amendment, and acting as a deliberate shill for the games industry and attempting to defuse regulation discussions when it comes to underage gambling and loot box mechanics.

The ESRB has always been portrayed as a review and regulatory board that protects consumers, but it has literally never been that. It's an advocacy group that acts as a mouthpiece for the industry and toes the party line of the major publishers, outright lying to government agencies and inquiries and attempting to give the illusion of self-regulation to prevent those governments from taking regulation into their own hands. It's a smokescreen to protect the industry from negative public reaction - even when said reaction is 100% justified.

The only reason most people don't see it that is because a) the only people who really pay attention to or give much of a shit about the ESRB are gamers, who themselves have a vested interest in defending their own hobby from what they see as out of touch lawmakers, and b) because in a lot of cases, the ESRB was defending against out of touch lawmakers pushing ridiculous and stupid assumptions about what gaming actually is.

But the industry as a whole has become more and more powerful and more and more anti-consumer over the last decade or so, so a lot of gamers are starting to turn against publishers in what always used to be seen as an "us-versus-them" scenario. Between loot box gambling controversies and behind-the-scenes problems like Activision basically imploding mixed with overhyped game launches that are borderline broken stirring up questions of responsibility and refunds, a lot of people are starting to ask whether or not gaming SHOULD be regulated in some way, and whether moral and ethical responsibility (or the current lack thereof) trumps artistic integrity (or the current lack thereof).