Return Fire

Brett's worried about photorealistic games turning into murder simulators, desensitizing future generations with realistic violence and provoking Congress to intervene. Which leads me to wonder where he's been since Columbine. Because from where I'm sitting, it looks like this is exactly what's already happened.

To be fair, Brett's point seems to be that the situation will get worse as technology improves and violence gets more realistic. But I think Brett, like so many other people, misunderstands the situation. No one's trying to censor games or ban violence. The issue is, and has been all along, protecting minors from inappropriate content. There's a ratings system that determines what's appropriate for unsupervised minors, but retailers are ignoring it. Enter Congress with the Federal Trade Commission. This is, after all, their job.

If there's any 'censoring' going on, it's on the part of powerful retailers that might elect not to carry controversial games (the often cited urban legend that Wal-Mart doesn't carry M-rated games is easily debunked by browsing their website). But guess what? They don't have to carry any game they don't want to. You might be worried that this will discourage developers from creating mature content, which is a valid concern. But blame market forces, not government. Rail against Wal-Mart, not Joseph Lieberman. Then go exercise your freedom and flex your power as a consumer by buying a dozen copies each of Postal 2, Soldier of Fortune II, and Night Trap.