I Was a Teenage Adventure Gamer
Presidential Politics and How They Could Change the Future of the Gaming
World
With the presidential elections coming up on Tuesday, what will it mean
for the gaming community if say for example, Al Gore and Joseph Lieberman
get elected? Well, it could mean a lot to us. Joe Lieberman is constantly
vocal about what is going on in the gaming community and in the movie
industry. He hates seeing games and movies that kids buy that have blood,
guts, gore, and more blood, guts, and gore.
What this will also mean is that we will be carded when we buy games
and movies. It’s happened to me before. I tried to buy Grand Theft
Auto, got carded at the register, and they wouldn’t sell it to me.
Bought Sleepy Hollow a few weeks ago–again, I got carded, and
my mom told the cashier that I was allowed to have the movie. They still
wouldn’t sell it to me, so my mom had to hand over the money. Imagine
what this will do to us as a community. Just imagine.
There will be severe limitations on what a company can put in its games.
And it wouldn’t surprise me if Joseph Lieberman and company force the
ESRB (the Entertainment Software Ratings Board) to change its ratings
system. Or at least the way that they rate software. Now, if that’s true,
they’ll take all of the fun out of games. Remember when it was common
for an adventure game to be about catching a mass murderer or a serial
killer? If Gore and Lieberman are elected, we won’t have any games like
that anymore. We’ll be stuck with games about finding magical eggs (Dinosaur
for the Mac) or something dumb like that.
Now, I’m not saying to vote for George W. Bush, either. Bush and Cheney
could mess things up in the gaming community as well. Imagine if all adventure
games were about some hick sheriff (no offense to anyone who lives in
a small town) that can catch a cold better than a criminal. Not that it
will happen, but it could. And that’s scary.
Ralph Nader could do the same thing. He’s a Green Party member; the Green
Party is for the environment. We could say goodbye to our nice, big cardboard
boxes and have to exchange them for boxes that DVDs come in. And given
some of the games I’ve seen lately (Blair Witch series should have
come in DVD boxes because a box to hold a CD case and the manual is inside
the CD case is a waste of space), that might not be a bad idea.
Now, if I’ve gotten off on a rant here, don’t be offended. However, on
election day this year, pick the candidate who you feel would be the best
person for the job. Think of the issues and think of what they stand for.
And think to yourself the next time you play a game, “Would any of
the candidates like to play a game like this, or would they be offended
by a game like this?” Then ask yourself “Who is the best choice?”
And while you’re at it … play a few adventure games.
